A problem the wealth sector faces is when people use the term "family office" to describe a group, but don't have the resources to qualify for that title, a figure in the sector says.

The head of a recently-launched multi-family office has strong views on how the term “family office” should be used. This is at a time when the term is frequently thrown around, perhaps inevitably as this sector has become so large.

In late September, Americana Partners announced that it was pushing into the ultra-high net worth space with an MFO. It is led by Matt Celenza (main picture), who is managing director and partner. Celenza joined Americana Partners in 2025 to help build and expand its family office capabilities. The overall Americana business, which was founded in 2019, managed more than $12.1 billion in client assets at January 31.

“One of the biggest issues in this business is that a lot of people use the name of family office group but don’t have enough resources to do the business that is needed,” Celenza told Family Wealth Report in a call. “We do a lot for clients who are underserved in their needs.”

“A family office can have meaning if it is a business beyond the running of a business,” he said, answering FWR’s question on whether the term “family office” gets used too loosely these days.

In too many cases, he said, service providers don’t understand trusts, estates, liabilities, and other factors. “People with financial means will fall for the propaganda and realize they fall short of what is needed.”

The need to have some benchmarks for deciding why a family office is important, given the scope of the sector. For example, Deloitte estimated that the number of single-family offices (SFOs) worldwide reached 8,030 in 2024, up 31 per cent from 2019. Together, they managed an estimated $3.1 trillion. By 2030, Deloitte projects that there will be nearly 10,720 offices managing $5.4 trillion. 

This publication has encountered firms using the tag “family office,” when they are often little more than private investment firms, or adjuncts to a venture capital business. (See a two-part guest article here and here as an example of conversations on these points.)

Celenza began his career at Morgan Stanley before moving to Smith Barney Citigroup where he was one of the original members of the Citi Family Office. After 12 years there he moved to the Merrill Lynch Private Bank and Investment Group. He later founded and was CEO of Boulevard Family Wealth, a registered investment advisor in Beverly Hills, California with over $1 billion asset under management. He joined Americana Partners in 2025. 

One key lesson from his career to date was that “I got to understand the liabilities and the assets of a balance sheet,” Celenza said. He also became well versed in areas such as collateral management, uses of derivatives in risk management, and more.

The launch builds on Americana Partners' acquisition this year of NRT Consulting, a financial consulting and accounting firm. Its capabilities were integrated into Americana's family office services offering.

“My job is to do business development and look for revenue opportunities, speaking at events, engaging with various alliances,” said Celenza, whose team is based in Southern California. 

Americana, which serves HNW and UHNW clients across the US, also has a division catering to UHNW Latin American clients.

A parallel issue, as mentioned by Northern Trust to FWR recently, is the “accidental family office.” As rising markets and liquidity events mint new UHNW individuals, many families accumulate investment managers, attorneys, accountants and other specialists. Consequently, the family is left with the responsibility of bringing all the strands together, often in ways that lack coordination. (Perhaps, unsurprisingly, large firms see this as an opportunity to help families impose order on the “chaos.”)

The business of defining the qualities that those working with UHNW families should demonstrate is continuing to evolve. This news service is exclusive media partner with the UHNW Institute, which recently explained its thinking to FWR. (See more here on the Institute's website.)