A family office is, among other things, an instrument of discretion. It is set up to manage a family's affairs in one capable place, and part of its purpose is to bring order and privacy to something that would otherwise be scattered. It generally serves that purpose well. It is worth noticing, though, that the office is itself a structure, and structures leave a trail.

A family office is an entity, or a set of them, and entities are documented. It has premises, and premises have an address. It engages people, and the people it engages have their own professional visibility, their own listings, their own histories. It deals with banks, advisers, managers and counterparties, and each of those dealings leaves a record with the other side. The office may, in the ordinary course of its work, hold interests or appear in filings, and filings are records.

The consequence is that a family office can become a recognisable point. Once it is identified, it functions as a hub: a single thing that connects to the family it serves, to the advisers around it, to the entities it oversees, and to the dealings it conducts. For someone assembling a picture of a family, finding the office is often the most efficient route, because so much converges on it.

This is not an argument against family offices, which are sensible and often necessary. It is a reminder that the instrument created to manage a family's affairs is not outside the family's exposure. It is part of it, and frequently a central part.

An honest assessment of a family's visibility therefore has to include the office itself: what it is, what it discloses by existing and operating, and how readily it can be identified and used as a way in.

The structure built to protect privacy should itself be held to the standard of privacy it was built to provide.