International Federation of Family Offices (IFFO)

The International Federation of Family Offices is an independent non-profit association bringing together professionals involved in family office work across borders. It was founded by two national bodies, AFFO in France and AIFO in Italy, and operates from Paris.

Its purpose is to share and develop methodologies, best practice and experience across different countries, on the reasoning that some things can only be achieved by acting together rather than nationally.

Who joins

Membership is open at three levels: representative professional associations at national level, single family offices, and multi-family offices. Family offices of any size are welcomed, so this is not restricted to the associations themselves.

The badge on this listing marks it as an advisers and professionals body. That reflects what a federation is. Its work happens between organisations rather than between families, and a family joining directly would find the activity institutional rather than personal.

How membership works

Membership is by application and the federation publishes no fees.

For most readers of this directory, the more useful route is indirect. If you belong to a national association that is a federation member, you are already connected to it. If you are looking for the national body covering your country, the federation's member list is the fastest way to find it, which is why this entry links there.

What it does

Three things. It promotes the family office profession, which in practice means arguing that it is a profession rather than a label. It trains and informs members through meetings and by publishing educational and technical material. And it works on comparing and aligning standards between countries.

That last strand is the reason a federation exists at all. National associations have developed very differently: Italy has state-recognised certification under Law 4/2013, Switzerland runs its own certification for family officers, Germany's body concentrates on standards and research, France has the longest history and the largest publishing output. Each solved the same problem inside its own legal system, and none of the answers automatically travels.

For a family with interests in more than one European country, that fragmentation is the practical issue. A family officer certified in Italy has no recognised standing in Germany. The federation is the mechanism through which that might eventually change, and in the meantime it is the clearest map of which national body governs which market.