How Dallas’ ultrawealthy manage their money: What to know about family offices

Dallas has long been home to rich dynasties. But as wealth balloons and moneymakers flock to North Texas, more families are setting up private firms called family offices.

Family offices have long existed with varied setups, but they ultimately help families manage money, assets and personal affairs.

Over the last decade and a half, though, many family offices have evolved into major investors involved in all kinds of industries, from AI to real estate and tech, with North Texas as a hub. Although Praxis Rock Advisors says there are between 280 and 340 Texas family offices managing $320 billion in assets across the Dallas, Houston and Austin metro areas, the impact of single family offices is hard to track because they don’t have to register as investment advisors with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“They’re very influential,” said Leslie Gunawan, a Dallas-based managing director at UBS. “Part of the reason why you’ve seen this great growth in the family office community, particularly in Dallas-Fort Worth, is that the community is very well connected.”

Private wealth intelligence platform FINTRX has identified 137 family offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area out of 2,387 nationwide, according to data shared with The Dallas Morning News, although many family offices are not publicly trackable. 

Here are five things to know about family offices:

Many family offices have become magnets for private equity and companies seeking direct investment. 

“Some people just want to be deal shops,” said Carter Tolleson, CEO of multifamily office Tolleson Wealth Management. “Nobody wants to be left out. Everyone wants to go to the country club and say they were in the SpaceX IPO.”

In Dallas, family offices often team up on deals and share ideas, with the exclusive Old Parkland as a hotspot.

North Texas family offices still invest in the state’s historic oil and gas and real estate industries. However, wealth advisers, family office staff and lawyers said they’re also diversifying and investing in industries such as technology, AI, AI infrastructure, private credit, medical innovation and financial services. 

Many family offices invest in the industries that made their founders money. In North Texas, common sources of wealth include oil and gas, real estate and insurance. Others seek out a variety of investments. 

Family offices hire staff to handle investments, estate planning, legal affairs, accounting, philanthropy, household staff, homes and even travel. They might have chief investment officers or chief executive officers. 

“Their wealth has either gotten so large or so complex that they need someone full-time helping them with structure, and they want to do so in a somewhat private nature, where they would hire people beholden to them,” said Jamie Lavin Buzzard, regional head of investments and advice for the south region of J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

Some family offices are more investment-focused than others. Staff numbers can vary from a few to 20 or more, and they may outsource tasks to financial firms.  

Brendan McGuire, regional president at PNC, used to work as a technology banker in Atlanta. There, “entrepreneurs would build a business, they would sell it, they’d monetize it and they would start another business.”

In Dallas, “I saw these entrepreneurs take that money and structure it into this family office concept,” he said.

Major North Texas family offices include Crow Holdings, Deason Capital Services, the Hersh family’s HFI Capital Management, firms associated with the Perot, Bass and Hunt families and philanthropist Lyda Hill.

There are also multifamily offices — including Tolleson Wealth Management, Legacy Knight and Cresset — for those who don’t want to spend money on a single family office.

“When we’re pitching our services, I say, ‘we will do everything that you don’t want to do, so you can focus on what you want to do,’” Tolleson said.

Preparing the next generation to steward a family’s wealth is a top concern as the “great wealth transfer” begins.

Some family offices find ways to get their children involved in early conversations about money or philanthropic work. 

Others are less prepared, though. Kate Flume, senior managing director at the family office run by Angeles Investments, said tax and estate plans often get “shelved,” but updating them is key to smooth succession.

Decisions about spending can get complicated when family members have different interests and personality types.

“It is really important to know what the purpose of the wealth is and what are the values that the family holds dear, and how do they operationalize those things?” said Emily Bouchard, who consults family offices in Texas.

Family dynamics can also get complicated when assets get involved. Bouchard posed a Texas-friendly hypothetical: A ranch may get passed down by grandparents that some families want to preserve and others want to update. Disputes can also arise over income-generating properties, she said.

Many single family offices like to keep their investments private.

That’s made easy since they aren’t required to register with the SEC, which critics say is unfair. Allison Tait, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said people deserve to know what family offices are investing in because they’re impactful.

“It’s important for us to think about what type of legal exemptions we give to high-wealth families because at a certain point they should be treated more like a corporation,” said Tait.

Those who work in the family office say that unlike traditional investment firms, they’re managing their own family’s wealth.

“Family offices are deeply personal. They’re relational, they’re family,” said Flume. “It’s a private operating business.”