YPO

YPO calls itself the global leadership community of extraordinary chief executives. It matters in this directory because a large share of the people who eventually establish a family office pass through it first, and because it publishes both its qualification criteria and its fees in full, which almost nothing else in this category does.

Who joins

Four criteria, and a candidate must satisfy all of them.

Age comes first and is the one that catches people: you must be under 45 to qualify. YPO is a young presidents' organisation by design, and joining is not something you can defer.

Second is the role. You must be the top operational leader of a company or division, with final decision-making authority, full profit and loss accountability, and the power to hire and fire across it. Title alone is not enough.

Third is scale of employment: at least 50 full-time employees, or at least 15 full-time employees combined with annual employee compensation of at least US$2,750,000.

Fourth is revenue, which varies by business type. Sales, service and manufacturing businesses need US$16 million or more. Agencies need US$13 million. Financial institutions need US$330 million in assets under management or US$27 million in enterprise value.

How membership works

Application against those criteria, with verification. The fees are published: US$4,790 to join and US$4,790 a year thereafter, with local chapter dues on top. Budget for the chapter element, since it varies by location and is a real addition rather than a rounding error.

What members get

The forum is the heart of it. Members sit in a small confidential group that meets monthly, under strict confidentiality rules, and work through what is actually happening in their businesses and their lives. Everything else YPO offers is arranged around that.

Beyond the forum sit chapter events, a global learning programme, and family and next generation programming, which is the part most relevant to readers of this directory. YPO does not treat members as individuals detached from their families, and it runs material for spouses and children of members.

For a family office, the practical observation is about timing. YPO members are typically running substantial companies and often approaching or just past a liquidity event, which is exactly when a family office gets created. If your family is at that point, the forum is where you will meet people a few years ahead of you on the same path. If you are already past it and over 45, the door is closed, and the peer networks in this directory are the relevant alternative.