The Coordination Problem
The Adviser Register: How to Document Who Does What
An adviser register records every adviser's scope, boundaries and authority, not just contacts. Why it beats a contact list, and what belongs in it.
Overview
An adviser register is a single document that lists every adviser to the family, what each is responsible for, what they are not, how to reach them, and where authority sits. It answers "who does what?" without anyone having to remember, and it is usually the first thing missing when a family runs on one person's recall.
A contact list tells you how to reach people. An adviser register tells you what they are accountable for. The difference is the whole point.
What is an adviser register?
An adviser register is the office's record of its advisory relationships and the responsibilities attached to each. It captures not just names and numbers but scope: what each adviser owns, what they explicitly do not, and the boundaries between them. It is the map of who is accountable for what across the family's affairs.
Its job is to make the advisory layer legible to anyone who needs it, not only to the person who built the relationships. When the register exists, a new operator, a successor, or a family member can see the whole advisory structure in one place.
A contact list says how to reach an adviser. An adviser register says what they answer for.
What should an adviser register contain?
An adviser register should hold, for every adviser, the fields that let someone act without asking. The essentials:
| Field | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| Adviser & firm | Who they are |
| Scope: owns | What they are accountable for |
| Scope: does not own | The boundary that prevents gaps and overlaps |
| Authority | What they can act on, and what needs sign-off |
| Contact & escalation | How to reach them, and who is next |
| Key dates | Recurring obligations they hold (links to the calendar) |
| Engagement basis | Fee model, renewal date, scope document |
The "does not own" field is the one most registers omit and the one that prevents the costliest failures: the obligations everyone assumed someone else was handling.
Why does an adviser register matter more than a contact list?
An adviser register matters more because gaps and overlaps between advisers, not the advisers themselves, are where complex families lose money and time. A contact list cannot show you that a responsibility has fallen between two firms. A register can, because it records scope and boundaries, not just names.
This is the raw material of the handoff: you cannot prepare advisers to work together if no one has documented what each is responsible for. The register is what turns a set of separate relationships into a coordinated advisory layer.
How do you keep the adviser register current?
Keep the register current by tying its review to the office's regular cadence and by updating it whenever an engagement changes. A register that is built once and left alone decays quickly, because advisory relationships change more often than families expect.
The lightest discipline that works: review the register at the monthly close, and treat any new engagement as not complete until it is on the register. Ownership of the register sits with the operator, so the currency of the office's advisory map has one clear owner.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an adviser register and a contact list?
A contact list records how to reach advisers; an adviser register records what each adviser is accountable for, what they are not, and where authority sits. The register captures scope and boundaries, which is what lets someone see gaps, prevent overlaps, and act without relying on one person's memory.
Who maintains the adviser register?
The operator maintains the register, because it is the coordination function's core reference. Advisers supply the detail of their own scope, but one owner keeps the whole map current, otherwise the register decays into an out-of-date contact list, which defeats its purpose.