Approach
Selective, independent, personally managed.
At Silk & Vines, how the work is done is as much a part of the service as what the work covers. Every principal has one partner accountable for the relationship and one team behind that partner, both held as settled as possible over time.
How A Relationship Begins
- First Conversation
- Almost always by introduction. Unhurried and calibrated to establish whether Silk & Vines is right for the family.
- An Assessment Period
- A partner works with the principal to understand the affairs as they stand today: the assets, the corporate arrangements, the advisers already in place and the questions that have brought the family to us.
- A Decision on Both Sides
- Nothing is committed to until this stage has run its course. Where the office cannot take on a new principal, we say so plainly.
How The Office Coordinates Across a Family's Advisers
- Existing Advisers
- Most principals arrive with capable advisers engaged. Our starting position is to keep them in place. The partner meets each of them, understands what each is doing and takes over the working relationship on the family's behalf.
- New Appointments
- Where a new adviser is needed, we run the selection openly and negotiate the engagement.
- Where an Arrangement is Underperforming
- We address it directly and manage the transition to a replacement.
How Decisions Get Made
- The Principal Decides
- Silk & Vines' role is to give a partner's assessment, lay out the options carefully and see the chosen course through.
- Working Within a Family's Arrangements
- Where a family has established its own decision-making arrangements, we work within them. Where those arrangements are being established for the first time, we help the family set them up at whatever pace suits.
- On The Record
- Recommendations are made in writing, so the reasoning is available to the family and to the next generation who may read the file years later.
How Progress Is Reported
- Cadence
- Settled with the principal and then held steady. Most families take a full portfolio and estate review on a quarterly rhythm, with shorter updates around specific matters as they arise.
- The Annual Review
- Looks at every part of the mandate together. It is the occasion on which the partner and the principal review the year and settle the priorities for the year ahead.
- Prepared For the Reader
- Length, level of detail and language are calibrated to the principal and to any family members or professional advisers who receive them alongside.
