Family Office Comp Benchmarking
TL;DR seeking associate & senior associate comp data points for NYC family offices.
Just got a post-MBA full-time offer from family office based in Europe (but the seat is NYC, they're starting to invest in the US now). I really like the people there and the fund mandate, and there's a lot of room for growth as I would only be US hire #3 or 4.
The concern: My understanding is that family office comp is generally a little below regular PE, but the offer still feels very low, especially relative to the MS/Botoff and Agreus Group FO comp reports.
- Senior associate
- 170k base
- 20k bonus target
- Nominal amount of pseudo-carry per investment as it's a perpetual fund
- ~$2B AUM and growing, strictly private markets, mostly buyouts with a little early-stage VC
My only investing experience to this point is my Summer '22 MBA internship at an UMM fund (crushed it and got return offer but decided not to go back, mostly because of location). I do have 4 years of highly relevant experience in the industry/sector that this family office is focused on, including directly transferable financial modeling skills, and I was on multiple live deals in the space at my internship this summer - so it's not like I'm a complete rookie. I think I'm worth more than what they're offering.
Any NYC or comparable US markets (SF, Boston, LA) family office folks able to weigh in either with their comp packages or a general opinion on what market would be for a role like this? Feel free to DM me if preferred.
Thanks,
CJ
CJ the funky homo sapien, way too quiet in here. What about these resources:
More suggestions...
You're welcome.
Bumping this, any insight from folks in family offices would be helpful!
$20K? Seriously? Why not accept the UMM offer and continue to recruit. I am sure you will be able to find something before you start at UMM or maybe a few months into the role. I dont know about family office comp but my cousin just accepted an Associate role at a first time credit fund after a year long IB stint at a no name shop.. his bonus is $70K.
Bonus is light. Should be 75%-100% of base at sr. associate
120k salary, 60k bonus as associate 1 incoming; quitting from a boutique, taking a pay cut as most other interviews didn’t pan out and also just seemed like banking 2.0
Family office is a respected name in business but hasn’t truly spun up the practice yet
Thanks for the input, all. Was able to get them to come up significantly on comp and ended up signing once they hit my number!
That’s great.
Can you describe how you successfully negotiated? Always fun to hear how people do it. I’ve always been too scared to negotiate an offer in case they pull it.
Made a football field of cash comp for assoc/sr assoc/VP roles at PE and FO funds with similar AUMs and showed that the offer was ~$50-100k under market. Asked if we could get to 250-275k cash comp.
They took a day to think about it. Came up 30k on cash comp and gave me more carry* with a shorter vesting schedule. I said that's still on the low side but make me whole with a significant signing bonus + 18-month path to VP and I'm in. They agreed.
Still probably a little below market all-in, but it's a renewables/infra shop that is more of a JV partner to portcos and less of a PE investor both culturally and functionally. Slightly better WLB and more startup-like environment. I liked the people and the growth potential/asymmetrical upside enough to justify slightly lower near-term comp. My significant other also makes bank so this doesn't put me in a rough spot lifestyle/cash flow-wise (no kids + minimal student loans to worry about).
*really portco profit sharing, not carry, so don't have to wait until fund close for distributions
Bonus comp seems light - would target 75% to 100% of base.
How good is the WLB?
I was told 50-60 hrs and no weekends except some occasional Sunday night polishing before IC meetings. Obviously will vary with dealflow and will probably be higher in the near term with admin/ops stuff as they set up and staff up the US office.
How was your carry structured? That could be a big element.
I’m at an SFO and your cash comp is $80-100k low, but I bet the carry tweaks that.
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