Independent assurance that the people, agreements and processes around you are acting in your interest.
For principals of single family offices and private family structures, including those established in DIFC and ADGM.
The investment officer, the external manager, the lawyer, the trustee and the office's own staff are all trusted. No one inside the office has both the independence and the remit to test that trust, so the people, the agreements and the processes are rarely looked at together.
The head of the office is often expected to manage risk as well as investments, staff and reporting. Controls that a regulated bank would take for granted, such as segregation of duties, dual approval and independent reconciliation, are often informal or absent.
Dashed lines are relationships that are trusted but not independently tested.
Most requests come at a point of change, or when something no longer adds up.
Fathom is a private self-check of 20 questions. It compares how confident you are in the people around you with the evidence behind that confidence. It takes about six minutes. Your answers stay in your browser and are never sent to us.
family-related entities registered in DIFC by June 2026, up 36% year on year.
of family offices worldwide have a formal governance framework with board-level oversight.
of Gulf family businesses have a comprehensive succession plan in place.
More offices, more staff and a generation of handovers. Each adds people, agreements and processes around the principal that no one has yet looked at together.
Sources: DIFC figures reported by Gulf News, October 2026. Governance figure from the UBS Global Family Office Report 2026. Succession figure from the Lombard Odier GCC Succession Planning Survey 2025.
Whether the people around you are who they say they are, and act in your interest.
Whether the mandates, authorities and controls of the office work for you, not against you.
Whether a concern can be substantiated, or put to rest with evidence.
Kompass looks at the people, the agreements and the processes together, from a position that is independent of the office. Often, the evidence confirms that trust is well placed.
The principal is briefed at the outset and at the conclusion, and at any point between when a decision is required.
We listen first. The principal's account of the office and the concern, taken in confidence. Scope, systems and people are agreed in writing before anything else happens.
People, agreements and records examined together, within the agreed scope and under counsel where it is needed.
Every finding becomes a marked item with its evidence, closing with an overall assessment and one recommendation.
The findings and the options for acting on them, presented to the principal in private.
Durations assume office records are available in the first week. They are confirmed at the initial briefing.
Every finding becomes a marker with a rating, so the principal sees at once what needs action, what needs watching and what can be set aside. Each marker carries the evidence behind it.
The report closes with an overall assessment and one recommendation.
Evidence of harm, or of intent.
A term or relationship that creates exposure the principal has not consented to.
Tested, and clear.
Unauthorised payments, diverted funds and inflated costs.
Arrangements and side terms the principal was not told about.
Performance, risk or valuations reported as better than the statements show.
The principal's name, assets or credit committed to third parties without consent.
The office's resources, access or standing used for private benefit.
We do not:
The matters in scope are agreed with the principal at the initial briefing and scaled to the level of service.
Material stays with Kompass and is seen only by named people. Nothing is shared with the office unless you decide it should be.
We work only within your mandate and the office's own policies, and confirm the lawful basis for each review with counsel first.
We manage no assets, sell no products and take no referral fees. We have no stake in the outcome beyond yours.
We work with the office's people, not around them, and we say so when the evidence clears them.
The principal defines which systems, agreements and people are in scope. Nothing outside it is touched.
Data is taken from office-controlled systems only, with the principal's authority and under counsel.
Access is limited to named people and logged. Nothing is copied to personal devices.
Chain of custody is recorded from collection to report, so that findings can be relied on if the principal chooses to act.
Each engagement is led by a partner and supported by a team drawn from banking, prosecution, regulation and financial intelligence. The team's experience includes:
Finance lawyers, litigation and arbitration counsel and forensic accountants are engaged alongside the team where a matter requires them.
For a Sense check, or Resolve a concern
Where the scope can be defined at the outset.
A defined scope, period and fee agreed in advance.
For Act and recover, and the retained role
The advisory role that follows a Resolve a concern engagement.
A monthly retainer for a defined period.
For live situations where scope cannot be fixed
Agreed day rates for each role.
A cap that is not exceeded without the principal's approval, and a weekly statement of time.
Indicative fees follow the initial briefing. Counsel, forensic accountant and registry costs are agreed separately and passed through at cost.
Many engagements begin with the principal's lawyer, trustee or private banker. We are glad to brief an adviser first, in confidence, and to work alongside them.
Kompass manages no assets and takes no referral fees, so our view is independent of every party to the office.
Briefings are held in confidence, with the principal's consent.
That is agreed with you, in writing, at the initial briefing. Nothing is accessed covertly, and the approach is confirmed with counsel before any review begins.
No. We review office-controlled systems only, within the scope you authorise.
A Sense check typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. Durations for each level of service are confirmed at the initial briefing.
In writing, before any work begins, as a fixed fee, a retainer, or time and materials with a cap.
You have evidence that your trust is well placed, and the people involved are cleared. We say so in the report.
Yes. Many engagements begin that way.
Every engagement starts with a confidential briefing with you, or with the adviser who acts for you. Scope and fees are agreed in writing before any work begins.
Prefer to speak first? Call John Kidd, Co-Managing Partner, on +971 50 661 6425 or write to jkidd@kompassltd.com.
