Comparison · 9 material differences
Family Firm Institute (FFI) vs ILPA
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Professional association
Verified September 2026 Family Firm Institute (FFI)
Advisers, consultants, educators and researchers who serve family enterprises, plus family enterprise members themselves, who join at the same individual rate
Professional association
ILPA
Institutional limited partners (pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurers, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and development finance institutions) that invest in…
What the records say
- Accredited-investor status: Family Firm Institute (FFI): Not required for membership; FFI's Global Education Network certificates in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising are optional and priced separately; ILPA: No published accredited-investor status.
- Annual dues: Family Firm Institute (FFI): $975 a year; ILPA: $4,410 a year.
Side by side
| Family Firm Institute (FFI) | ILPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Professional association | Professional association |
| Founded | 1986 (FFI's history page states the organisation was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1986 with 22 founding members. It is now headquartered in Boston.) | 2002 (ILPA describes its origins as an informal networking club of a few dozen limited partners more than two decades ago; secondary sources date its formal establishment as a trade association to 2002) |
| Headquarters | Boston, United States | Washington, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Global membership; the annual Global Conference moves between cities and the 2026 edition is scheduled for New York | Members in 50-plus countries; roughly 60% US-based and 40% in Europe, Canada and elsewhere. Offices in Toronto, Washington DC and London. |
| Members | Could not be independently verified: secondary sources describe "nearly 2,000 individuals and organizations from more than 80 countries", but FFI's own about, membership and contact pages do not publish a member or country count. | 600as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | FFI has no chapters. It organises members through virtual study groups, the Global Education Network and the annual conference. | Not applicable: no chapters. ILPA runs 20-plus regional gatherings across 12-plus countries |
| Primary audience | Advisers, consultants, educators and researchers who serve family enterprises, plus family enterprise members themselves, who join at the same individual rate | Institutional limited partners (pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurers, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and development finance institutions) that invest in private market funds |
| Typical member | The core membership is professional: lawyers, accountants, wealth managers, family business consultants, psychologists and academics working with family firms and family wealth. FFI also admits family enterprise members, educators and researchers, and students, and sells organisational memberships to advisory firms, universities and associations priced by headcount. | Members are institutions rather than individuals: public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices, insurance companies, investment firms, development finance institutions and sovereign wealth funds. Around 7,000 individual professionals sit under those institutional memberships. Service providers, consultants and general partners are excluded. |
| Qualification | ||
| Accredited-investor status | Not required for membership; FFI's Global Education Network certificates in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising are optional and priced separatelyverified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published accredited-investor status |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Application process | Applicants select a membership category on FFI's membership page and pay the published rate. There is no published sponsorship, interview or committee stage. Organisational memberships are bought by the firm, institution or association and cover a stated number of named people. | An institution submits a membership application request form (a separate form exists for associate membership) and ILPA checks it against the three eligibility tests. Fees are then assigned from the four-tier AUM schedule for a 12-month term. Questions go to membership@ilpa.org. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed: FFI describes membership categories and prices but no screening or acceptance process. | Not publicly disclosed: ILPA publishes eligibility criteria but no acceptance or rejection data |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $975 a yearIndividual membership: Professional and Family Enterprise members each pay this rate.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | $4,410 a yearTier 1: total AUM under $1.5 billion. Fees rise about 5% year over year.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Programme fee | Not publicly disclosed: the FFI Global Education Network certificate fees are not published on the membership page.verified September 2026 | Fees are institutional, cover a 12-month term, and are banded by total AUM in USD. |
| Membership term | Annual | 12-month term, renewed annually |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Annual Global Conference plus virtual study groups and learning sessions through the year | Annual Summit, Legal Conference, Members' Conference and Forum EMEA, plus more than 20 regional gatherings across 12-plus countries and a webcast programme |
| Peer forums | Virtual study groups organised by topic; no confidential peer-forum structure | No standing peer forums; members convene at conferences, regional gatherings and through the ILPA Connect platform |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed | Could not be independently verified: no published confidentiality policy was found |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Event-focused, Virtual, Cohort-based | Event-focused, Virtual |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Partial |
| Local chapters | No | No |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Partial |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Partial |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | Partial | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | Not documented | No |
| Investment discussions | Partial | Yes |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | No |
| Networking emphasis | Medium | High |
| Social emphasis | Low | Low |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Family Firm Institute (FFI) · ILPA