Özge Doğan founded Karman Beyond, an independent multifamily office in Turkey, after her own experience working to help her family manage its wealth. She talks about her path to the family office and what she has learned about promoting family offices in emerging markets:
Why did you initially need to learn to manage wealth?
My dad is a lawyer for banks in Turkey — he used to have almost 400 people working in his law firm. As the successor of the family business, and the inheritor of the wealth accumulated by my family, I had to start planning ahead.
Forward planning became even more important when my parents separated. My dad and I agreed that the family needed more diversification. Similarly, my mom had capital that needed to be managed better – she was used to my dad taking care of this. She said, ‘You’re going to be the one to inherit. Let’s strategize together.’ It became a full-time job to manage my family’s wealth. And that’s how Karman Beyond started.
How did you learn about family offices?
I went to London to help both my parents. I know what type of person my dad is when it comes to investments, and I know what type of person my mom is. I was thinking, ‘How can I diversify the wealth to be more safe?’
I was trying to understand the options for how to grow our wealth. I was collecting data to bring to the family so I could act like a bridge between asset managers, financial institutions, and other service providers, and my family. But I couldn’t find one party who could understand our family dynamics.
I ended up working with independent advisors to tackle the many various aspects of wealth management which require different specializations. I also brought my questions to trustworthy family friends with expertise in these areas. Their advice helped me make informed decisions with a wider perspective. That was a eureka moment for me – it helped my family a lot, and I realized other could use this kind of help as well.
Why did you decide to start Karman Beyond?
I talked with private bankers, real estate people and others. Everyone is saying their product is perfect. Everyone is there, of course, to market their own expertise. I said, ‘This is like a full-time job.’
That is how I founded Karman Beyond — to help other families make these decisions. Today, we have eight people, including two in London. We work with families to develop strategies to preserve and grow their wealth. We help to solve their governance problems. We even helped one buy an aircraft.
Everybody is curious about why I am in this job, as a young woman whose background is not in finance. But I have learned that you don’t have to be an expert on everything – you just have to find the right expertise on your team.
You work specifically with families in Turkey and other emerging markets. How has the idea of a multifamily office been received?
Every family is different. But there are cultural differences, and there are patterns.
In general, I think issues such as estate planning and succession are not that different in emerging markets. But how we deal with them changes depending on the culture.
And I think in emerging markets, the wealth culture mindset is not as developed as in Europe and the U.S. Wealth is newly accumulated and growing. In the U.S., you have families like the Rockefellers, and in Europe there are families in the seventh generation of business. They have been there, done that in those cultures. In Turkey and other emerging markets, we’re just getting there.
Family ties are so important. Turkey’s people are thriving – we are great entrepreneurs. Coming from an emerging market, we are so strong. Pushing them to be successful is not an issue at all. But we have this pattern which I’m trying to break: The first generation makes, the second generation earns, the third generation loses.
How do you approach NextGens?
I’m a NextGen, coming from a founder dad.
My observation is that the first generation, the people who created the wealth, are playing not to lose — they don’t want to lose what they have in their hands. On the other hand, those in the second or third generation want to win. We are exploring other worlds, trying to see what others are doing, discovering alternative investments or private investments. We have the freedom to do so thanks to our families.
How do you explain the concept of a multifamily office to potential clients?
It’s not easy. They compare you to a bank or financial institution. I have to explain that we are not an asset manager or portfolio company. I like to position us like Michelin stars. Michelin doesn’t have any restaurants or chefs, but they decide who is the best in the food industry. We want to be the Michelin of wealth management and help decide which strategy is best for each family. Every family is unique, and you have to find the right partner. I explain to them that we are helping families protect, preserve and transfer the wealth for future generations. We have lawyers and real estate experts on the team, and we have a great financial team. We have all the expertise at one table. We start with understanding you, your needs, and what you want the future to look like. Then we work to make it happen for you.
