Gleneagles Group extended family office was founded in 1997 to serve ultra-high-net-worth families. With a mission of guiding their families to more effective wealth management decisions, Gleneagles’ services include consolidated financial reporting, tax planning and management, investment oversight, family governance, generational planning, and continuing education guidance.
“We serve a small number of multigenerational families that come to us wanting more control over their increasingly complex financial situations,” says Lyle Ross, Partner and Managing Director at Gleneagles. “Our business is designed around full customization because each family has different needs and requests.” Because family expectations vary, Gleneagles staff focuses on delivering highly tailored experiences for each relationship. They analyze and report on over three billion dollars in assets, a variety of ownership structures, illiquid investments, generational wealth transfer strategies, operating businesses, and family foundations.
With their legacy system’s technology, the analysis, calculations and manual entries involved were burdensome for the Gleneagles team; they wanted to dedicate more time to delivering exceptional experiences to the families they serve. “It took our team a lot of time to give our families a full picture of their finances,” adds Catherine Jackson, a Family Chief Financial Officer for the firm. Gleneagles needed a user-friendly tech solution that could free up highly-skilled team members to dive deeper into data analysis and develop meaningful insights for families.
When Ross joined Gleneagles, he immediately recognized the constraints of their legacy system. He and Jackson helped the firm evaluate six potential alternative solutions. The advantages of Addepar, which offers features relevant to the needs of family offices, were clear and compelling. After an extensive vetting and due diligence process, the firm selected Addepar.
Lyle Ross"One of our biggest concerns was that we had decades of data and history we didn’t want to lose. Addepar experts worked closely with our senior leadership to figure out what data was most critical to bring over. That was a big hurdle and Addepar handled it well."
Gleneagles realized that converting to a new system would take time and pose challenges internally, but notes that Addepar made the process virtually seamless. “One of our biggest concerns was that we had decades of data and history we didn’t want to lose,” recalls Ross. “Addepar experts worked closely with our senior leadership to figure out what data was most critical to bring over. That was a big hurdle and Addepar handled it well.”
Addepar’s training program and intuitive product design also contributed to the ease and speed of implementation. “The Addepar Academy training we attended during implementation was very good,” says Jackson, “and the easy user interface made it straightforward to educate our staff.” Jackson has also been pleased with Addepar’s service. “The support team never stumbled; they were never stumped. Every time we have had a question, they’ve been very helpful and responsive.”
Catherine Jackson"The support team never stumbled; they were never stumped. Every time we have had a question, they’ve been very helpful and responsive."
Gleneagles began to experience the benefits of Addepar early in the partnership. Even for the most complex financial portfolios, Addepar provided accuracy, efficiency, and transparency in integrating, calculating, and reporting data. The ability to report on alternative investments was a differentiator and removed the need for manual calculations. “Those calculations took an incredible amount of time—that’s something that Addepar does automatically and we love and appreciate that,” says Jackson.
Catherine Jackson"The time it takes to create reports has been cut by 50%–60%, giving our team the opportunity for higher- value activities that benefit our families."
“The time it takes to create reports has been cut by 50%–60%, giving our team the opportunity for higher-value activities that benefit our families,” attests Jackson. Because the system is so intuitive and there’s no need to learn code, “staff and family members aren’t afraid to get their hands in the system,” says Ross — which has meant more information and better control of data for everyone involved. “Now, when a family member calls with a question in the middle of the day, our staff can find the needed information on their desktop as the client is talking.”
And for next-gen family members who want direct access to current data, they can log in to the Addepar portal at any time and get a full financial picture down to the family member level — a feature especially appealing to tech-savvy 2nd and 3rd generations accustomed to on-demand functionality. “Family members tell us they value being able to retrieve the data on their iPad or phones,” says Ross.
The efficiencies bode well for growth, too. “The Addepar solution has enabled us to attract more experienced and ambitious staff because they are able to spend time on more complex and higher impact financial tasks,” says David Plyler, Founder and Chief Executive Officer. The improvements also allow for the possibility of serving new families, while enhancing the value Gleneagles delivers to current families. “With Addepar’s R&D, the tools and features are constantly improving,” says Ross. “Having a dynamic system gives us confidence that we can meet the evolving needs of our client families.”