And yet, even family offices with massive portfolios face headcount problems, per a survey by wealth manager AlTi Tiedemann Global and research firm Campden Wealth.
Nearly eight out of 10 family offices reported difficulty hiring and 54% expressed concerns about retaining key staff.
The survey, provided exclusively to CNBC, polled 146 family offices between November 2024 and March 2025.
Large family offices also reported higher turnover, averaging one employee departure every nine months, according to the report.
Christoffersen added that all family offices, other than the very largest, should take advantage of outsourcing to cover any gaps in-house.
The original version of this article was published in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter featuring Robert Frank, which is a weekly guide to wealthy consumers and investors. Register to receive upcoming editions directly in your inbox. According to a recent study, ultra-wealthy investment firms spend up to 72% of their budgets on C-level employees. But according to a survey conducted by research firm Campden Wealth and wealth manager AlTi Tiedemann Global, even family offices with sizable portfolios struggle with headcount. Five out of ten family offices said they had trouble finding qualified candidates, and 54% said they had trouble keeping important employees. The survey was conducted among 146 family offices between November 2024 and March 2025 and was exclusively given to CNBC. Even though large family offices can offer more competitive salaries, the issues are especially severe for them; 92 percent of businesses with annual revenue of at least $1 billion report difficulties in recruiting. The report also found that large family offices had higher turnover, with an average of one employee leaving every nine months. Generally speaking, smaller family offices with assets between $150 million and $249 million reported fewer retention problems because they could depend on family members for many important positions. As employees retire, many older family offices—regardless of size—need to hire new personnel, according to Erik Christoffersen, who leads AlTi’s multifamily office practice. According to him, there is also intense competition from institutional investors for a limited number of highly qualified investment professionals. “I’m not sure that family offices are ready for the sticker price shock of the going market rate to really attract and keep great talent year after year,” he continued. Christoffersen says that the absence of obvious or alluring long-term career opportunities in the family office sector may be a greater obstacle than pay. Just 26% of respondents mentioned compensation, whereas 55% of respondents said this was a significant barrier. “I think they should spend more time highlighting the wonderful aspects of our family office,” he said, adding that the job description isn’t always that compelling. “Family offices can review the organizational structure to maximize the strengths of those talented individuals, so you can broaden and make their job more interesting and hopefully increase their compensation along with it,” Christoffersen said of current employees. According to him, “better benefits and more flexibility, especially remote work, also make it harder for employees to leave.”. According to Christoffersen, all family offices—aside from the biggest—should use outsourcing to fill in any internal gaps. Having top-tier talent is more important than ever in light of market volatility that is not expected to abate, he said. “You just saw all ships sailed great or the tide rose for all boats in the last ten years, with low cost of capital and very little volatility,” Christoffersen stated. “This decade has seen a significant increase in volatility. Additionally, you cannot depend solely on a passive index portfolio. “.
