Choosing and Stress Testing Regions for the Family Office: Iberia as One Case Study

By Mahir Eyvazov - Founder, Family Office Strategist | Visiting Professor | Doctoral Candidate | MBA | Author & Speaker | Startup Mentor and Arnaud Le Strat - K-ALS Relocation Private Office | Founder & Managing Partner

Family offices today face a different question than a decade ago. It is no longer only “Where do family members enjoy spending time?” but “Where should the family office anchor decision‑making, next‑generation development, and resilience over the next 10–20 years?” Leading jurisdictional analyses now emphasise political stability, rule of law, regulatory quality, access to talent, education, connectivity, and time‑zone fit as core criteria for choosing a base.¹²³ In that broader framework, the Iberian Peninsula—Portugal and Spain together—has become one case study worth examining, particularly for family offices that want to invest in next‑gen readiness while staying close to established hubs such as Switzerland and the UK.

Core criteria for region selection

Before looking at any specific region, a family office typically needs clarity on three clusters of criteria.¹²³

• Governance and operating environment. Political and economic stability, predictable legal systems, and regulatory regimes that are workable for cross‑border structures.

• Connectivity and talent. Time‑zone alignment with core markets, access to financial and professional services, and the ability to recruit or collaborate with high‑calibre advisers and operators.

• Next‑generation standards. Availability of strong schooling and universities, credible early‑career opportunities, and ecosystems where rising‑gen members can build networks without losing touch with the family’s governance system.

These criteria apply whether the office is considering Singapore, London, Dubai, or Iberia. The value of a case study is to see how a specific region performs when viewed through this lens, without turning that region into the default answer.

Why Iberia is on the short list, not the pedestal

Viewed against those criteria, Portugal and Spain together offer a set of attributes that explain why they now appear more often in family‑office conversations, especially in the current geopolitical climate.

• Rule‑of‑law EU jurisdictions. Both countries sit inside the EU and Schengen, which many family offices still treat as part of their “core” jurisdictional set for legal, regulatory, and mobility reasons.¹²

• Time‑zone and proximity logic. Lisbon and Madrid operate in Western and Central European time bands, close to London and Switzerland and several hours ahead of New York, which supports real‑time contact with major financial centres without chronic schedule strain.²⁴

• Structured residency tools. Portugal’s investment‑residency framework (ARI) continues to exist but has shifted away from property‑driven routes toward qualifying investments such as regulated funds, research, and cultural support.⁴ Spain’s Startups Law (Law 28/2022) introduced specific residence and tax measures for international entrepreneurs and remote workers, designed to strengthen its innovation base.⁵⁶

None of this makes Iberia “better” than other hubs. It does make it a region where family offices can plausibly combine EU anchoring, time‑zone compatibility, and evolving talent ecosystems in ways that are strategically interesting when global risk feels more concentrated elsewhere.

Next‑gen expectations: education and ecosystems

One of the most consistent pressures on family offices is maintaining or raising standards for the next generation. University and early‑career ecosystems are therefore central to regional selection, not a side issue.

In Portugal, English‑taught degree programmes have expanded in fields such as management, economics, and engineering at institutions including NOVA University Lisbon and the University of Lisbon, particularly at the master’s level, reflecting a broader push to internationalise higher education and attract global talent.⁷ In Spain, IE University (including IE Business School in Madrid) offers a wide range of English‑taught bachelor’s and master’s programmes and attracts a highly international student body, with reports that more than 75% of its students come from outside Spain.⁸

For family offices, those facts matter less as marketing points and more as inputs into questions such as:

• Can heirs obtain internationally recognised degrees without having to leave the region entirely?

• Are there enough English‑language options to support transitions for children educated in international schools?

• Do local ecosystems—accelerators, venture communities, professional firms—offer meaningful early‑career opportunities?

Iberia does not need to be the sole answer to those questions, but it increasingly offers one viable configuration that can be weighed against alternatives.

From family preference to family‑office architecture

A recurring trap is treating regional choice as a private family preference and asking the family office to adapt afterwards. A more strategic approach reverses that order.¹²³

A governance‑led process might run along these lines:

1. Define the mandate. Is the region meant to be a secondary operating hub, a next‑gen development base, a diversification of living risk, or all three?

2. Screen regions against core criteria. Use a short list—perhaps including Iberia, the UK, Switzerland, and one or two non‑European hubs—and compare political stability, tax/regulatory environments, education, and connectivity in a structured way.¹²³

3. Test the 365‑day reality. For each candidate region, map a normal week in November for the principal, key executives, and next‑gen members, including governance calls, travel, schooling, and social networks—not just the August view.

4. Decide the role of regional assets. Clarify whether any properties will be true operating bases or primarily retreats, and measure expected utilisation accordingly. Under‑used flagships are usually a sign that life architecture and strategy were misaligned.

In this framework, Iberia becomes one case study rather than the protagonist: a region that meets many of the base criteria and offers specific tools—such as Portugal’s non‑real‑estate ARI paths and Spain’s Startups Law—that can be deployed if, and only if, they fit the family office’s defined mandate.⁴

A strategic question for family office leaders

For principals, CEOs, and advisers, the real question is not “Should we move to Portugal or Spain?” but “Which regions, if any, deserve to be built into our long‑term operating map, given our governance needs and next‑gen ambitions?” Iberia is one useful case study because it illustrates how a region can evolve from lifestyle destination to arguable candidate for strategic anchoring—without yet being over‑financialised or over‑concentrated.

In a world where shocks feel closer and cycles shorter, family offices that treat region selection as part of their governance infrastructure—explicit criteria, structured comparison, and periodic review—are likely to be better placed than those that treat it as a one‑off property decision. Iberia may or may not be the right answer for a given family office, but it provides a concrete context in which to practise the discipline of choosing.

References

1. IFC Review. (2024). Structuring and Jurisdictional Selection for Family Offices.

2. Charles Russell Speechlys. (2025). Jurisdictions: Choosing the Right Base for Your Family Office.

3. Jersey Finance. (2022). Choosing the Jurisdiction for Your Family Office – Getting It Right.

4. AIMA. (2025). Autorização de Residência para Investimento – Art. 90.º‑A.

5. Portugal Startup News. (2025). Unicorn Factory Lisboa Portfolio Startups: €263M Turnover, 2,695 Jobs, €140M Raised in 12 Months; 1,100+ Startups Supported.

6. Garrigues. (2023). Spain: The Startups Law Regulates International Remote Working for Foreign Digital Nomads.

7. Ingwe Immigration. (2025). Universities in Portugal Offering Post‑Secondary Degree Programs in English.

8. IE University. (2025). Facts and Figures – Student Body and Internationalisation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or any other advice.