I'll spare you another platitude about August and cut to the chase. I want your help!
This afternoon, we published the first Modus Family Office Technology Map, a visual representation of software and services used by single-family offices.
I've considered creating a snapshot of this fast-changing universe since I started Modus last year. Other priorities and my indecisiveness kept it from happening until now.
A few Modus readers recently reminded me: Offices, consultants, current and prospective investors in the companies on the chart, and other stakeholders will all be interested in the map; it is worth the time to create it.
They also told me not to stress about it the same way I might about reporting. The map will always be incomplete and imperfect, they argued, so why not just release a version into the wild, work on it over time, and use feedback as guidance?
With that advice, I present to you v1 of the tech map. I expect to make many additions and changes to it, especially in the near term, and I will strive to make it as helpful as possible. I already have a lot of ideas...
And if you have a moment, please check out the map here. Share it with others and online. All comments and suggestions are welcome. You can reply to this email or message me.
More News
- Matthew Christopher Pietras, a Soros family employee and high-profile donor to the Metropolitan Opera, the American Ballet and the Frick Collection, was recently found dead after it was discovered he was distributing funds that allegedly didn’t belong to him. It’s a sad story for many reasons: After a Young Arts Patron’s Donation Did Not Clear, He Was Found Dead.
- “Fellow philanthropy nerds will enjoy this story [about Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison]. For all the Elon Musk coverage, it's kinda shocking how little scrutiny there is of the world's *second* richest person,” New York Times reporter Teddy Schleifer rightly pointed out.
- Asseta, a startup building accounting and other types of software for family offices, hired Nathan Kotler to be its head of investments. Kotler was previously the head of trading at the wealth management firm GenTrust and worked at Bridgewater Associates and BNY before that. Asseta rebranded and raised $1.5 million in the spring.
- One year into the job, Aquilance CEO John Carey shared this week that the company has “reduced onboarding timelines by weeks… tightened our reporting, upgraded our technology, and increased client retention to record levels.” He also revealed that Aquilance has a long-term goal of helping wealth management firms offer accounting and other services to less-wealthy clients.
- Cache, an exchange-fund company that has attracted family-office clients with its funds benchmarked to the S&P 500 and rebalanced using an ETF created by a Section 351 in-kind transfer, raised $12.5 million in a Series A round.
- Stanford University researchers Ashby Monk and Dane Rook are hosting a new podcast called The Technologized Investor (TTI), which will explore with guests how tech and A.I. are revolutionizing the job of investing.
- Citi Oversaw $1 Billion in Deals for Trust While Sanctioned Oligarch Held Concealed Interest.
- Trigger warning for all the LPs who read Modus… How One Big Private-Equity Fund Makes Its Numbers Incomprehensible.
- Buckle up for this long New York Magazine story about the two men charged with an outrageous kidnapping scheme: “The Crypto Maniacs and the Torture Townhouse”.
Jobs
- The Wonderful Company, Lynda and Stewart Resnick’s family office $6 billion business that includes Wonderful Pistachios, Halos, POM, FIJI Water and JUSTIN wine, is hiring a senior family office accountant. The job is based in Los Angeles, pays $110,000 and offers a long list of other benefits, including 24/7 online physician consultations, virtual mental health resources, and life coaching.
- The Dalio Family Office, which supports Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio and his family, as well as Dalio Philanthropies (OceanX, Dalio Education, Endless Network, and the Beijing Dalio Foundation), is hiring a senior project associate, a senior human resources director, and an estate and tax planning legal associate in Westport, Connecticut. The office is also looking for a finance operations associate in Singapore.
- Northern Trust is hiring a global family office investment practice associate. They want someone in Chicago with 3-5 years of experience (preferably with their CFA) and are paying a salary of $133,400 and benefits.
- UBS is hiring an OCIO portfolio analyst in Weehawken, New Jersey. Along with endowments and foundations, this person will be working with family offices (which should arguably be doing more outsourcing). Compensation is a salary of $205,000 and other benefits.
Other Stuff
- v1 of the Modus Family Office Technology Map (again).
- Follow Modus on LinkedIn (1,500+ people already do).
- Know a family office doing something truly unique or interesting? About a software or service provider for sale? High-profile personnel changes? Modus covers all of those things. But what’s a good news tip? Documentation and other things. You can reply to this email and share information with me in confidence, or message me on Signal using a personal device that is not accessible by your employer.
I'll be...
- In NYC.
- Headed to L.A. for Future Proof in early September.
- Attending a family office forum in Chicago in October. Let's meet up while I'm there!
