In many family fortunes, a substantial share sits outside the banks. The family business, real estate at home and abroad, stakes in start-ups, a loan to a family member, an art collection. These assets are often the most significant — and the worst documented.
Why they distort the overall view
Bank custody accounts deliver daily prices and regular statements. Non-bankable assets deliver nothing by themselves. Consolidating only bankable assets shows wealth that, depending on the family, is far too low. Carrying them at an old value shows a figure that looks precise and is out of date. Both mistakes are common.
Valuation with date and method
For each non-bankable asset three pieces belong together: the value, the valuation date and the method. For real estate, an appraisal or tax value; for participations, the last financing round, a multiple or book value; for art, an expert opinion or insured value. What matters is not the perfect figure but a traceable one. A report that shows how old each value is is more honest than one that makes everything look equally precise.
Structure and ownership
Non-bankable assets are often held through companies: a property company, an investment holding. The overall view therefore needs look-through consolidation, including the debt sitting in those companies. A property without its mortgage is not an asset but half a piece of information.
Relevance for compliance
In establishing source of wealth, non-bankable assets play a large role: the family business is often the source of the wealth, a company sale the reason for a large inflow. At the same time they are harder to evidence, because no bank confirms them. Clean documentation with contracts and valuations eases both tasks.
Ongoing upkeep
Valuations go stale. Sensible practice sets a revaluation frequency per category and makes overdue valuations visible. A regular reconciliation that flags stale valuations prevents a five-year-old estimate from slipping unnoticed into the monthly report.