Peer Learning as a Strategic Advantage: How TIGER 21 Complements Advisory Relationships

Guest Blog by Tommy Mayes, TIGER 21 Family Office Chair 

As I’ve spent more time talking with advisors and family office principals about TIGER 21—and what it offers single family office principals—I’ve been surprised by a recurring misconception: That TIGER 21 is directly competitive with other advisors. Financial advisors. CPAs. Lawyers. Insurance consultants. Family wealth advisors. 

In my experience, the opposite is true. 

I have worked in the advisory space in one form or another for 30+ years—and currently serve as a TIGER 21 Family Office Chair.  

From that vantage point, I believe TIGER 21 consistently strengthens advisory relationships rather than replacing or diluting them. 

Once advisors understand the TIGER 21 model, most recognize this quickly. When family office principals participate in a disciplined and confidential peer-learning environment built on candor and lived experience, they show up to advisory relationships better prepared, more aligned internally, and clearer about long-term priorities. 

Members benefit. Families benefit. And advisors benefit, too. 

I’ll explain why, starting with what exactly TIGER 21 Family Office Groups offer Members. 

TIGER 21: A Confidential Space for Peer Learning, Free from Solicitation 

TIGER 21 Family Office Groups provide a confidential environment where single family office principals can learn from each other, share experiences, and discuss best practices unique to the complexities of family offices and multigenerational management. 

Family Office Members use their Groups to discuss topics like: 

• Governance and decision-making structures 
• Succession planning and leadership transitions 
• Investments and portfolio construction 
• Family dynamics 
• Preparing the next generation 
• Outsourcing vs. insourcing 
• Operational and administrative best practices 

These discussions take place in a private setting among true peers, one that’s completely free from solicitation. Our focus at TIGER 21 is on connecting experienced peers to exchange objective insights and fresh perspectives.  

TIGER 21 is NOT selling solutions. That distinction matters. 

TIGER 21 Doesn’t Provide Advisory Services 

Contrary to a few misperceptions out there, TIGER 21 is not a provider of financial advisory services of any kind.  

It’s also not an “investment club.” 

Instead, TIGER 21 is a global, world-class peer learning environment, one that serves as a collaborative community that strengthens Members’ abilities to make informed decisions for their families and family offices. 

When Members gain perspective from peers who have lived through similar decisions at similar levels of complexity, their thinking sharpens. Their priorities clarify. And their relationship with their advisory team becomes more productive as a result. 

In practice, many Members become better clients—more thoughtful, more collaborative, and more prepared to engage advisors at a strategic level. 

That knowledge and collaboration is grounded in a framework exclusive to TIGER 21: Family Alpha.  

A Framework for Alignment & Clarity: Family Alpha 

For TIGER 21 Family Office Group Members, Family Alpha provides a multidimensional set of performance metrics organized into three realms: 

• Intent: This is about purpose and direction. It’s where families clarify what they’re trying to achieve over the long term—values and impact that last for generations to come. 
• Relationships: A focus on the human side of wealth: trust, communication, shared understanding, and the ability to navigate complexity together. 
• Wealth: This encompasses the financial strategies, structures, and disciplines that support the family’s goals. 

Each realm is further divided into specific dimensions that allow Members to assess progress and identify gaps. These realms shape both individual reflection and Group discussion. And they drive powerful group discussions where Members exchange ideas and insights with their trusted peers. 

The Family Wealth Success Plan, a component of every Family Office Meeting, grounds itself in the Family Alpha framework. Each Member prepares their Family Wealth Success Plan and presents it to their Group, sharing their family story, successes, opportunities, and questions for the Group. During this presentation, Members get a unique and invaluable opportunity to gather objective feedback and perspective from their peers. 

The result is both broader perspective—and greater clarity.  

That clarity changes how Members engage with their advisors. Members are more internally aligned. They ask more precise questions. Conversations move beyond transactions and into long-term strategy. 

In that sense, TIGER 21 doesn’t compete with the advisory ecosystem. It strengthens it by helping families do the internal work that allows external expertise to have its greatest impact.

The work Family Office Members do within TIGER 21 can also surface the insights advisors need to truly serve their clients at the highest level. 

Peer Learning as a Foundation for Strategic Partnerships 

I’ve worn many hats during my professional career. Over the course of 35+ years, I’ve been a wealth management advisor and executive, a family office CEO, an operator of multiple businesses, a YPO Member, and an entrepreneur. I’ve also served on boards of directors, and now I am a TIGER 21 Family Office Chair.

Speaking from the foundation of this experience, I firmly believe successful advisors of all types have made a career of collaborating with each other to deliver advice from respective core competencies.  

That partnership starts with understanding the family before proposing answers. Instead of falling into a “hammer and nail” dynamic—leading with products or structures before fully appreciating a family’s context—the best advisors invest time in understanding: 

• The family’s mission and philosophy 
• How decisions are made 
• Long-term investment objectives 
• Estate and governance structures 

When advisors and TIGER 21 Chairs recognize their complementary roles, the outcome improves for everyone.  

Members arrive at advisory conversations better prepared. Advisors are positioned to deliver deeper, more relevant counsel.  

And Chairs help reinforce alignment without replacing other professional expertise. 

TIGER 21 Is Complementary to Advisors 

At the end of the day, TIGER 21 Membership is not an alternative to advisory relationships.  

It is a force multiplier. 

By learning from peers and working within the Family Alpha framework, family office principals become clearer, more intentional, and more effective stewards of capital and relationships.  

That work strengthens—not diminishes—the role of trusted advisors. 

When advisors and TIGER 21 Chairs work in parallel, families are better served, decisions improve, and long-term outcomes become more durable. 

About Tommy Mayes 

Tommy Mayes is a Family Office Chair for TIGER 21. He is an accomplished founder, executive, board director, and investor with over three decades of leadership in wealth management, family offices, and regulated financial institutions. Tommy’s board and leadership experience spans trust companies, banks, insurance carriers, and multi-generational holding companies. As a single-family office CEO, he has guided families through succession planning, trust company formation, and estate transitions. Tommy has also successfully transformed single-family offices into a multifamily office, and serves as board chair and equity partner in Blueprint Investment Partners, stewarding over $3B billion in client assets. Tommy is passionate about maintaining best practices in family office operations and strategic oversight and combines hands-on operational leadership with boardroom strategy. Tommy and his wife, Katie, reside near Orlando and have three grown children.