Peppermint Grove, a suburb of Perth, has all the trappings you’d expect of one of the wealthiest postal codes in the country: sprawling riverside mansions, exclusive schools and a yacht club.
But the wealthy don’t live only in global glamour cities. Family offices are now popping up in places like Perth, on the coast of the Indian Ocean, more than 2000 kilometres from Adelaide, the nearest major metropolitan area, and closer to Jakarta than Sydney. Shaun Parkin, who helps families set up and manage their offices, says he works, or has had meetings, with more than 20 of these companies, each of them overseeing more than $200 million in assets. “A lot of the ones that I meet, I had no idea that there was that level of wealth,” says Parkin, co-founder of local consulting firm Hall Road Services. “And I would say that most people haven’t, either.
“I’m just a person that enjoys the cut and thrust of being in business, putting time and effort into picking good opportunities and backing them up,” he says. Cookie-cutter pitches are of little interest. “To invest with someone, I’ve got to meet you, I’ve got to understand you, I’ve got to know you, I’ve got to feel comfortable with you.”