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April 21, 2024
In the present scenario, outsourcing has become a popular tool for diverse businesses around the world. To maintain pace with the evolving market requirements, several companies and organizations are offering practical and holistic outsourcing solutions while addressing the challenges facing the industry today. One such illustrated company providing comprehensive and result-oriented services within the fast-paced industrial scenario is the Kontora Family Office.
Established in 2006, Kontora is a multi-family office located in Hamburg. The Family Office Business Model was first established by wealthy families in the USA and GB, which was later expanded to include more than one family (Multi Family Office). The concept is much appreciated and considered the best way for entrepreneurial families to manage their wealth. Looking back at the early 2000s, there were hardly any multi-family offices in Germany, despite the abundance of affluent entrepreneurial families. These factors, incorporated with time-tested ideas to the German market, paved the way for the establishment of Kontora. However, it was challenging to show and convince families to demonstrate there can be much allocation than just a 60-40 Equities-bond-portfolio. In the early days of Kontora’s commencement, it was also challenging for the then-compact team of the company to convince families of Kontora’s staying power to serve them for multi-generations. Despite the odds, the company thrived and continues to cater to the evolving needs of its clients.
Kontora operates with the mission to understand complex wealth and leverage that understanding for the benefit of its clients—with strategic advice, investment outsourcing and screening, monitoring and administration. Its range of services is comprehensive due to the complexity of the matter. It helps define and achieve life goals, and its contribution is to ensure financial and entrepreneurial freedom for entire generations. Through its unique understanding of markets and mechanics, Kontora takes pride in achieving drastic results.
Kontora is a family office, outsourcing service provider and advisor in one—its services are one-off audits or in a permanent structured process. The company’s one-stop offers are beneficial for its clients. Besides working tools and insights, Kontora offers access to institutional investor groups, club deals and private placements. Moreover, it has also developed outstanding expertise in illiquid asset classes.
As a hands-on team, Kontora aims to deliver its world-class services without the financial gibberish often associated with the industry. It has an entrepreneur-to-entrepreneur mode of communication with its clients and enables them to take investment decisions the way they used to do in their own companies. This unique and suitable approach to clientele makes Kontora a leader in the market. With its solutions, the company’s primary goal is to set up a robust asset architecture with the associated returns. In addition to capital allocation, the company also supports the clients in achieving joint family goals, especially regarding the next generation.
Moreover, Kontora has a reputation for achieving outstanding results. The company invests on behalf of its clients in public and private markets and generates returns that outperform their peers found on non-transparent markets (both in terms of asset preservation and asset growth). It aims to regularly send out reports on the development, costs and compliance with the investment objectives. In addition, Kontora continually monitors the wealth. It aims to provide clients with an allocation and analysis tool. Besides, it is also dealing with the complex admin wealth management details such as processing payments associated with the investments.
Kontora’s understanding of the market, mechanics and people has earned it numerous recognitions and appreciation within its industry. The company has won a lot of awards over the past few years. Amongst its most laurelled recognitions, Kontora considers its clients as its most prized possessions. “We have the privilege to work with a group of outstanding entrepreneurs that challenge us every day. These people really make the world go round and we admire them for what they do,” gratifies Dr. Patrick Maurenbrecher, CIO at Kontora Family Office
Speaking of its most popular product, Kontora’s digital reporting tool is highly appreciated by its clients. Clients prefer investing across the globe in private equity, real estate project developments or world-class listed equity managers.
They check the developments of their liquid and illiquid wealth through Kontora’s fully digital reporting tool that will include films, photos and all the updated numbers on their mobile devices. It is the combination of the preciseness of the bookkeeping with an easy-to-use toolset that gives clients the power to stay on top of their game.
“For Kontora, there is no conflict between ‘old world’ and ‘new world’-one is based on the other,” says Dr. Patrick. The company leverages technology as well human insights to thrive within the industry. Technologically, it uses the power, speed and efficiency of digital tools, and humanly, it relies on expertise and understanding.
Remote communication and digital reporting can be rightly expected from any modern family office. With that being told, Dr. Patrick remarks on the importance of benefiting from Kontora’s digital tools. In terms of communication, the company on hybrid solutions for optimal accessibility and fast interaction. In addition, multimedia facilitates the understanding of complex contexts and the experience of investments.
To date, Kontora has significantly served its clients and catered to them as per their latest requirements and demands, apart from the entrepreneurial families, the company has a second group of clients that it is excited to work for. These include foundations and institutions within the church and it is often hard to invest in complicated and illiquid investments such as private equity or real estate project developments in the case of these clients. Moreover, there has been a change in the law in Germany (so-called “Sondervermögen”) in August 2021 which makes it further easier for such clients to make such investments.
In addition to the above services and anticipated solutions, Kontora has established a framework to help foundations profit from these new opportunities. The company is anticipating more comprehensive work for its clients in the upcoming months.
For Kontora, very ambitious clients were the key. They pushed us beyond our limits but also trusted us in a very deep way. Sometimes you can go to your clients with the trickiest problems and they might come up with a good solution. A second important insight was to give large responsibilities to colleagues with the right mindset even if they are junior or might lack some of the skills. You can always train skills but not the attitude.
