The application takes around four minutes. You will be asked for your details, your preferences for the office, and your formal declaration that you do not, in any meaningful sense, require a family office. We find this clarifies things.
You are applying for a desk in Changsha, a person to sit at it, and the right to say the words I have a family office in Asia in a context where nobody will ask what it does. That is the product. The application exists to confirm you understand this before we take your money.
There are three steps. They are: your details, your office, and your declaration. There is no means test. There is no credit check. There is no interview. Marcus Feng conducts the interviews in his head, on your behalf, and reports that you performed admirably.
Once submitted, your application is reviewed by two people. They are:
Marcus reviews your application in Changsha. He checks that the family name you have chosen will fit on the relevant plate, that the tier you have selected corresponds to an available desk, and that the office you have been allocated has functioning air conditioning. He has never met Rupert. He considers this normal.
Duncan reviews your application from a desk in a WeWork on Borough High Street. He confirms your billing details, answers any questions you do not ask, and posts your welcome pack. He previously worked in private banking at a firm that asked him to leave. We did not ask why. We feel the parallel is sufficient.
Review times are currently 2–3 weeks, depending on how many applications Marcus has and whether Duncan's WeWork has WiFi. You will receive your office activation letter by post. Gold and Platinum clients also receive a WeChat photo of the desk, the ayi, and, where applicable, the fruit.
Remarkably little. Specifically:
You do not need: a business plan, a reference from your bank, proof of funds, a reason, or any prior connection to Changsha. The city, as we have noted elsewhere, speaks for itself. So, increasingly, does the absence of a reason.
You may. We are not sure why you would, given that the entire proposition is built around not needing to, but the option exists. Both of our offices are staffed during business hours by people who will nod patiently while you explain what you are looking for.
Marcus Feng, Operations Manager
Room 412, Changsha International Commerce Building,
88 Yuelu Avenue, Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan
WeChat: CrestbridgeOps-MF (responses within 3 business days; Marcus is thorough)
Do not call the Changsha office. The phone is answered by whichever ayi is closest. She will say 你好 and return to what she was doing. This is not rudeness. It is process.
Duncan Pemberton-Smythe, Head of Client Relations
Desk 14 (third floor), WeWork Borough High Street,
20 St Thomas Street, London SE1
Email: [email protected] · WhatsApp preferred
This is a correspondence address. No money is managed here. No money is managed anywhere, strictly speaking, but particularly not here.
Alternatively, you may simply begin the application online. It is faster. Marcus prefers the form. Duncan prefers WhatsApp. Both, ultimately, prefer not to be contacted at all.