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Good help is hard to find. Family offices, the private investment firms of the ultra-wealthy, are increasingly willing to pay extra for it.
The talent war between family offices and Wall Street has driven up salaries not only for top investment roles but also for administrative staff. While compensation depends on the size and scope of the family office, executive assistants now often command base salaries exceeding $140,000, according to three recruiters who spoke to CNBC. This is well above the industry average of $81,500 for a senior executive assistant post, per staffing firm Robert Half.
There are about 8,000 single-family offices worldwide with nearly 3,200 in North America, according to a survey by Deloitte Private. Family office administration roles can come with sweeping responsibilities well beyond typical duties like compiling expense reports and managing correspondence. Mandates to organize travel for the entire family or coordinate household staff at multiple personal residences, for example, are frequently fair game.
“You will have to do anything for this person, and you don’t know what that will be,” said Jonathan Hova, recruiter and senior vice president at Career Group. “If a pipe bursts in Southampton in January, that’s where you’re going.”
The median base salary for executive assistants at family offices is $100,048, according to a survey of 436 family offices and family investment firms by Botoff Consulting.
And, the larger the family office, the more executive assistants can expect to be paid. At family offices with at least $2.5 billion in assets under management, that median pay is about 35% higher, the survey found.
That’s before annual bonuses, which typically range from 10% to 20% of the base salary, according to Botoff.
The top 10% of administrative assistants at family offices regardless of size make $188,800 with a 20% bonus, according to the survey. Among the largest family offices, which are more likely to use long-term incentive plans, the top 10% of assistants can see all-in compensation of up to $240,000.
“Certainly for some families there is going to be some sticker shock,” said Trish Botoff, founder and managing principal of Botoff Consulting. “But I think they also find that when they can control services that are being provided, how it’s being done, who it’s being done by, they’re much happier with the results they get.”
Executive assistants to family offices are often required to travel with the executives they support, both on personal and professional trips.
Recruiter Dawn Faktor Pincus is looking to hire an executive assistant who will travel with the family office principal at least once a month, including on holidays. She estimated the total compensation for the role would top $200,000 between a $170,000 base salary, travel pay and sign-on and yearly bonuses.
The travel and time commitment are just part of why the role pays so much, said Faktor Pincus, a senior recruiter at Howard-Sloan Search. These ultra-rich employers are often picky, desiring candidates with top-tier or Ivy League degrees or previous experience working with high-net-worth individuals, which comes at a premium, she said. For one family office desiring an executive assistant with a creative background, she placed a graduate of a prestigious university who was an aspiring novelist.
“It’s a small pool,” Faktor Pincus said.
Most of these family offices desire at least five years of related experience with some requiring at least eight to 10 due to the complexity of the role, according to recruiter Fira Yagyaev of Larson Maddox.
“They are really in the weeds of what the family experiences day to day so it is probably one of the most crucial hires,” said Yagyaev, head of wealth management, trust and family office services at the recruiting agency.
At the same time, these accomplished assistants are expected to take on any task, big or small, without complaint. Hova said executive assistants can expect at least 10% of their work to verge on personal assistant duties.
“It is always a service role,” he said.
Plus, the work comes with thorny personalities, said Faktor Pincus.
“A lot of times the ultra-high-net-worth individuals could be difficult,” she said. “People don’t become as successful as they are by being so nice and sweet.”
