Want to work at a family office? What you should know

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The number of family offices in Canada is growing, and by extension, job seekers who want to work for one are finding a growing number of positions available, say recruitment experts and advisors.

Curious candidates might find experiences available nowhere else. Single-family offices in particular offer a different career path than large financial institutions, such as banks, or even more conventional wealth management firms, the experts say.

“The family runs on different rules than a regular organization, and developing trust early is even more paramount than it would typically be,” says Amanda Bassin, founder of the executive search and consulting firm Persuit Group, based in Toronto. “In certain roles, there are no obvious career trajectories, but each role can be career- and life-expanding.”

Employees may find themselves working with charitable foundations, handling the purchase of a yacht, preserving generational wealth and coordinating with billionaires.

Job prospects

Wealthy families prefer not to put their names on job postings, so they use a trusted recruitment firm to fill positions, says Andrew Mushore, engagement manager, interim management and executive search, for B. Riley Farber in Toronto.

Mushore says his firm may or may not post a family office position. “We’ll reach out to a database of our candidates that we feel are good matches. We’re assessing technical skills, beliefs and values — all of those are really important for a family office.”

Carolyn Cole, founder and CEO of Cole & Associates, a family office strategy and design firm in Vancouver, says there are more jobs available in the commercial multi-family office space than in the single-family office space.

“Getting into a single-family office – or a single-family office finding qualified candidates – can be very challenging,” she says.

Qualities required

Recruiters agree that technical skills, such as investing acumen, financial management and estate planning, aren’t the only requirements in a single-family environment.

Cole describes two kinds of single-family offices: family-first and wealth-first. A family that is focused on maintaining harmony in the family unit, even if it costs money, will need leader candidates who have EQ – emotional intelligence, or the ability to connect with people and relationships within the family. Wealth-first family offices tend to focus on finding a leader to manage family wealth and investments.

“If you’re a candidate looking for a job, you’re going to want to know where that family fits into those two areas,” she says.

Bassin lists a few attributes needed by staff at family offices: creativity, diligence, resilience, integrity and humility.

An investment professional candidate must have the ability to think in a long time horizon, adds Mushore.

“It can be generational, as opposed to the 10- to 15-year horizon you look at in a wealth management firm. When you look at helping someone with their wealth beyond your own life it can be a very different prospect.”

Family offices offer a breadth of experience – and unpredictability

Duties at a family office can vary quite a bit from the job description. Mushore says staff might be asked to deal with a host of issues such as handling court settlements, paying a speeding ticket or buying a building.

Family office employees might also need to mentor younger family members on finances or business.

Working at a family office isn’t a conventional career, Bassin stresses. The family “might have properties in other parts of the world … might buy and sell investments in pet projects. They might be heavily invested in philanthropy. You’re going to get exposure to that.”

Add a dash of unpredictability, too.

An employee’s experience can vary from family office to family office, Cole says. Early-stage family offices, for instance, may not be clear on what they expect an employee to do for the family. “When they’re getting set up they don’t know who to hire to deliver on those family objectives, and therefore new employees going to work for a newly minted family office often don’t last,” she says.

“If a candidate is applying for a role in a well-established family office there are usually very clear job descriptions, compensation packages and skills required, which makes it a lot simpler to understand if the candidate fits into the role.”

Who shouldn’t apply to work in a family office?

Job seekers who like structured environments will not do well, say the experts. “If you’re a person who likes to have full structure and all the latest software tools available to you … it may not be the right place for you,” says Mushore.

Candidates who dislike unknowns and ambiguity, or aren’t resourceful, won’t thrive, he says.

A long previous career at a large financial institution doesn’t always result in a good fit, suggests Cole.

“There are oftentimes no policies, procedures or rules of engagement, and some individuals who have been in accounting and financial institutions their entire lives have a very hard time adjusting to and understanding the culture of an entrepreneurial family and a system set up for an entrepreneurial family.”

Compensation varies

Just because the families are rich doesn’t mean the compensation is higher at a family office than other wealth management institutions, the experts warn. Applicants will find a significant range of compensation on offer.

But Mushore says families are beginning to align their compensation for investment side staff with private equity firms. It can come down to long-term incentive plans.

“Some family offices might be giving their hires an opportunity to invest side by side with them. They say, ‘We have big purchasing power so you can co-invest.’” Sometimes, phantom equity can be distributed, he says.

The idea is to try to bring the employee in full alignment with the family so when the family does well the employee does well, says Mushore.

Other perks beyond pay

Recruiters say the direct relationship with a wealthy family can be rewarding.

“You have direct contact and conversation with the decision-makers. Your conversations are more likely to affect outcomes. You can make more of a difference in a meaningful way, if that’s important to you,” says Cole.

Bassin says it’s often possible to achieve a better work-life balance at a family office. The workload isn’t always predictable, but it’s usually more manageable than in a corporate environment.

It depends on the role, but generally the lifestyle can be better, she says. “It’s more like being an on-call surgeon. It’s an important job. You need to be there when you’re needed. But you’re not necessarily needed 24-7.”

Life and career options later

While opportunities to advance may be limited at a family office, since positions may not shift quickly in a smaller team environment, your experience there will play well on a resume, say consultants.

“The market views it very favourably if it comes with a technical skill,” says Cole. “There is a cache on a resume. … It will open doors in public companies.”

Get a toe wet before jumping in

Single-family offices aren’t likely a possibility for those right out of school. “It helps to have experience – any context with real-life experience helps an advisor provide a broader view,” says Cole.

“I think entrepreneurs do really well in single-family offices because most [wealthy family] entrepreneurs don’t want ‘yes’ people. … If you have entrepreneurial spirit and a technical skillset – accounting, taxes, investment, legal – and you take those skills to an entrepreneurial family office that has multiple operating companies or is very entrepreneurial, that might be a very good match,” she says.

Mushore suggests that experience at a multi-family office can build skills needed at a single-family office.

Working at a multi-family office “is not going to be as intimate as a single-family office,” says Mushore. “You will be arm’s length away [from the families], but it will allow you a chance to get a taste of the dynamics of families, what they get involved with, opportunities they look at on the investment side.”

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