A year ago, SMU launched the Business Families Institute at SMU (BFI) backed by the Government to build an ecosystem buttressing the boom of family offices. According to a recent joint report by Deloitte and BFI, trusted non-family advisors are growing in importance to facilitate leadership turnover. Successive generations are also more open-minded to accept non-family member management in the business. SMU Vice President (Business Development and External Relations) and Academic Director of BFI, Associate Professor Annie Koh shared her thoughts on how private banks have had to strike mutually beneficial partnerships to manage the rising fortunes of Asian tycoons, as family offices rapidly expand in Singapore. The alliance of private banks with independent advisers of family offices helps to gel synergies that yield mutually beneficial results.