For those that work at a family office in a VP or higher role, how did you find the gig?
I'm always hearing about great roles at family offices but I've never seen a listing for one or a recruiter with an assignment. How are you all finding them? Is it through your network? Did you join at analyst level and ride it up?
I work as a VP at a family office in a major HCOL city. Roles in my office, and others like it, are very rarely available for a couple of reasons. First, many of these offices tend to run "lean" and have very few roles to begin with. Second, most people who end up in these types of roles tend to hang onto them forever as QOL is generally very good. I don't want to assume all family offices run this way, but in my office, unless there is a major personality clash or blatant misconduct, nobody is ever really let go. I've been here for three years and there have been two people fired. One of them screamed (literally) at the President about COVID vaccine mandates, and the other was drinking vodka at her desk for a week straight. In my experience these jobs are generally networked for. My previous employer was a bank that is owned by my current family office. When I told the bank that a hedge fund had given me a great offer and I was leaving, the president of my current office reached out and offered me a role to "move up". In other cases, we have hired by word of mouth or brought in employees who previously worked as consultants. To my knowledge my office has rarely, if ever, gone to a recruiter to fill a job opening. This is just my own experience, and perhaps someone else can offer further insight. One thing I can say with 100% certainty is that I'm never leaving unless they force me out the door.
How much do you make?
Curious how large your family office is AUM and head count wise?
AUM of approximately $20B including our non-RE assets. Office is 30-40 people total.
Aren't there any issues with the IC often being the family - can influence investment decisions even on good deals?
Absolutely the case. But with very few investors we are beholden to, preservation of capital becomes more important than annual returns.
That’s the point of a family office…they have final say. It’s their money and their mandate. Just because there is an IC doesn’t make it any less likely to lose money.
I work at a family office as a VP in a HCOL city - I received the position through my mentor, and I have no intention of ever leaving. Loyalty is key at a family shop and my comp is competitive with top firms. That and my quality of life is awesome - having started at a large shop for a few years, I will never go back to an institutional shop. I am 9-5, work from home/any location whenever I want, and I will clear 600k this year (not including carry) at 31.
That's a pretty big W, man
Fuuuuuck yeah dude
How does carry work at a family office?
Two ways
1) Percentage of the promote earned which typically falls between depending on level 0 - 7%
2) Percentage of net cash flow of the firm: 0 - 7%
For partners it's typically both to capture short and long duration assets.
At this time I just have "1)" as a VP, but my boss has "1)" and "2)"
Guaranteed lie based on your other posts/comments
I got recruited into my spot. Pretty much the whole team was brought in this way because our HR group is a total of 2 people.
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