Family offices that had formerly served just one family opened their doors to other families, and the term Multi-family office was coined. It came into more general use in the elite retail (or 'Private Client') divisions of firms such as Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley (before the Dean Witter Reynolds merger of 1997), to distinguish those divisions' services from mass-market offerings, but has since spread throughout the financial-services industry. The term 'wealth management' occurs at least as early as 1933. Portfolio investment techniques that provide individuals with after tax returns that meet their objectives must address such taxes. Individuals are more likely to face a variety of taxes on investment returns that vary by locality.This is commonly known as accumulation and decumulation.

These transfers are subject to laws and regulations that vary by locality and therefore the strategies available to address this situation vary. This fact requires strategies for transferring assets at the end of an individual's life. Individuals face a finite life as compared to the theoretically/potentially infinite life of institutions. The CFA Institute curriculum on private-wealth management indicates that two primary factors distinguish the issues facing individual investors from those facing institutions:

With an increase in the number of affluent investors in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for sophisticated financial solutions and expertise throughout the world. Traditionally, the wealthiest retail clients of investment firms demanded a greater level of service, product offering and sales personnel than that received by average clients.

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