Carroll - who was appointed as GenSpring's new CEO in October 2012 - took on a newly-created role of head of division wealth management, while Hattink also retained his role as head of SunTrust private wealth management specialty groups.

GenSpring, which is wholly-owned by SunTrust, is an independent RIA with its own governance structure and client base. One of Carroll's goals as GenSpring's new CEO in 2012 was to strengthen the relationship between the two entities – something which Hattink is particularly enthusiastic about going forward.

“We are committed to preserving the advisory culture on which GenSpring was founded while simultaneously benefiting from increased collaboration with SunTrust,” Hattink said.

SunTrust recently expanded its corporate and investment banking group in Texas, Chicago, IL, San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Boston, MA.

“For GenSpring this is a great opportunity because we have offices in some of those markets and we can collaborate – on both the corporate and individual side,” Hattink said. “The introductions we're getting today from that channel is super. Conversations are taking place and, while it takes time to build credibility and get the relationship going, it's on very good track.”

Meanwhile, Hattink said there is “tremendous” opportunity for GenSpring to work in the international wealth management sector: “It's something I'm looking into carefully.”

At present, GenSpring serves around 330 wealthy families, based primarily across the US. The firm created an international business when it bought TBK Investments, an MFO focused on Latin America and Southern European, in 2007. That business was however divested back to its original owner in 2012.

While these ideas are not necessarily brand new to GenSpring, they're “taking on a whole new dimension,” Hattink told Family Wealth Report.

Broader trends

Overall Hattink said the multi-family office space is “alive and well,” but noted some shifts that are taking place.

“There was a time when multi-family offices wanted to do everything for families all at once,” he said. “The beauty of the MFO model is that you can deliver everything a family could possibly need because you're prepared to handle all of it.”

However, not every client needs all services available at any given time, he added. “The fact we can go to market with an unbundled approach, and price it accordingly, is where I think business is headed.”

On the technology front, Hattink believes that customization is going to “win the day,” a big part of which is aggregation – the ability to report across multiple advisors and asset classes. “We're making investments in that,” he said.

He noted that ultra high net worth families often invest in sophisticated asset classes with certain provisions, making the reporting process more complex because they might not have a daily valuation, for instance.

According to The Family Wealth Alliance's inaugural Client Reporting Study, numerous factors have recently combined to sharpen the industry’s focus on client reporting issues.

“On the demand side, the unbundling of wealth management services, particularly where ultra-wealthy clients are concerned, has increased the need to pull in data from disparate sources and present it in a consolidated fashion,” the Wheaton, IL-based research and consulting firm said.

Meanwhile, the highly talked about transfer of wealth sweeping the US has been recognized by many individuals operating in the family office sector. Notably, the issue has attracted a lot of attention as it relates to the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, but one area which Hattink said GenSpring is very conscious of is how, in many case, it's a question of how control over family wealth may shift from the patriarch to the matriarch, or indeed vice versa.

GenSpring's Patricia Soldano has noted previously how, because women are set to control two-thirds of US consumer wealth within the next ten years, financial education tailored to this investor segment is a “critical component” of the role as a family office.

“We think there has been a lack of focus for women inheriting or earning wealth, and while they need the same education as men, they may learn it a little differently,” Soldano said.

Similarly, Hattink emphasized how the issue of healthcare is increasingly in the limelight as families prepare for long-term care. Indeed, recent research explored three major forces that are “redefining” how individuals plan for later life, including an “empowered” Baby Boomer generation of healthcare consumers, the potential rise of chronic disease due to longer lifespans, and how longevity is causing health and wealth to converge “like never before.”

Asked about what he sees as the main challenges associated with running an MFO, Hattink said it's becoming increasingly apparent that “you're only as good as the talent you have.”

He said the trick is to have advisors with “comprehensive” skills that can address all the issues a wealthy family may have. This means that no matter where a client is based, a team can be assembled quickly to accommodate their needs.

“Having the right talent in the right spots is critical,” Hattink said. “It's the people that make the difference with clients.”

Indeed, talent is the "life blood of any family office,” said GenSpring's Michael Woocher at the Family Wealth Report Summit in March.