Antevo

Antevo / Setting up a family office

Setting up a family office.

288 active companies are registered in Switzerland with “family office” in their name, 170 of them in Zurich, Geneva and Zug. Whether one of them needs a FINMA licence depends on whose assets it manages, not on its name. These pages answer the questions that come up when a family sets one up, each with its sources and one place in Antevo to act on it.

Written by Antevo · 17 October 2026

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01 / The questions

Five questions, answered.

The rules from fedlex.admin.ch and FINMA, and our own count from Zefix, the federal index of the commercial register, each with its source on the page.

1.Single or multi family office: what is the difference?Whose assets it manages. An office managing only the assets of persons with family or business ties to it is outside the Financial Institutions Act; one managing others’ assets commercially is a portfolio manager.2.Does a family office need a FINMA licence?Not if it manages solely the assets of persons with family or business ties to it. Managing assets for others on a commercial basis needs FINMA’s authorisation first.3.What can a family office delegate, and what stays with the family?Portfolio management can go to an authorised portfolio manager, who must then ask about the family’s situation and objectives. The overview across all mandates stays with the family.4.When does managing assets become a commercial activity?At any one of three published thresholds: gross earnings over CHF 50,000 a year, more than 20 contractual partners, or power of disposal over others’ assets above CHF 5 million. Family assets are not counted.5.Where in Switzerland are family offices registered?Mostly in three cantons. Of 288 active companies registered with “family office” in their name, 170 are in Zurich, Geneva and Zug.

Antevo count from Zefix open data (the Central Business Name Index of the Federal Commercial Registry Office, opendata.swiss), accessed 17 October 2026: active entries in the commercial register whose registered name contains “family office”, also written “familyoffice” or “office familial”, without those in liquidation, by the canton of the registered office. Every legal form counts. A name says nothing about the business: the count includes offices that serve one family and offices that serve several, and misses family offices whose name does not say so. Counts only: no company is named.

Sources

Where this comes from.

The count behind the figures and the primary sources for every legal point. Intelligence, not advice: nothing here is legal, regulatory or tax advice, and your lawyer confirms whether and how the rules apply to your office.

1.Zefix open data, opendata.swiss, accessed 17 October 2026: the Central Business Name Index of the Federal Commercial Registry Office, source of the Antevo countopendata.swiss2.fedlex.admin.ch: Financial Institutions Act (FinIA, FINIG), SR 954.1, Arts. 2, 5, 17–20, 22 and 61www.fedlex.admin.ch3.FINMA: Portfolio managers and trusteeswww.finma.ch

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