Ask someone with an understanding of water infrastructure in the United States about prospects for private investment in the sector, and at first their ears perk up because the possibilities seem endless. 

Done and dusted. Just like that, the first quarter of the New Year has come and gone. So what did we learn exactly?

That record-breaking low temperatures and snowfall totals got soooo old for about 90 percent of the country? That the bull stock market has further to run, setting new records on the NYSE, NASDAQ and S&P 500 Index? That oil prices seemed to stabilize at a new benchmark hovering around $50-$60, or will they instead dip down into the $30s?

Following the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, there has been a surge of interest in real assets. A survey undertaken by The Economist Intelligence Unit of over 200 institutional investors found that almost half of the respondents have increased their allocations to real assets over the past three years, and 60 percent of institutional investors plan to increase allocations in the near-term.

I’m a congenial guy by nature, and so let me apologize in advance if this column riles you up. I want to look at a few issues that are highly visible at the extremes of the income spectrum, especially as they can be seen in my hometown, New York City.

Family offices, created to help ultra-wealthy families manage their wealth and preserve it from generation to generation, are changing the way they operate so they can continue to serve their clients. At the same time they are grappling with increased regulatory scrutiny, as well as dealing with demanding clients, the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, a growing need for client security and a rising interest in direct real estate investments.

I am dedicated to working with single-family offices, and I wanted to share four things that you need to know about the single-family office industry if you want to stay current with what is happening in the private wealth and family office world.