As a result of the significant growth in the Family Office space across the world, there is an increasing demand for high-calibre Family Office professionals. That being said, Family Offices often lack the infrastructure, time or knowledge to recruit staff as they are generally smaller in scale compared to larger corporations. Therefore, it is very common for Family Offices to work with external recruitment specialists to fill their open positions. This article discusses why Family Offices should work exclusively with one recruiter in the recruitment process.
Family Offices are sophisticated entities that provide complex wealth management to the families they serve. Alongside the enormous wealth, they also handle the day-to-day administration and management of the family affairs. Consequently, Family Office professionals are required to have skills and qualities beyond the traditional requirements of the wealth management sector. They have to be culturally aligned with the family, their colleagues and possessed a high level of emotional intelligence. Recruiting for a Family Office is very different from recruiting for other industries, and finding an ideal candidate is not necessarily a straightforward process. It is very common for other organisations to turn to multiple recruiters when they are in need of filling a position. On the other hand, we believe that exclusivity with a recruiter is highly beneficial, especially in the Family Office space. Working exclusively with a specialist recruiter that operates in one specific industry, will provide the employer with invaluable expertise and knowledge. A recruitment agency that specialises in Family Office recruitment would have access to the top-quality Family Office professionals in the market, and Family Offices can benefit from the highly skilled candidate network of the recruiter.
Most importantly, Family Offices are private and discrete in nature. As a guardian of the family wealth, a Family Office handles all the financial and personal information of the family members, which should only be accessed by a limited number of people. From the employer’s perspective, while working with multiple recruiting agencies will allow you to reach a wider pool of candidates, it also means that more external parties will have access to the confidential information. This may include the family behind the Family Office, the sources of wealth, the Asset under Management (AUM) and the duties and responsibilities of the role, and so on. Family Offices tend to keep a low profile and prefer to withhold the said information from outsiders. Exclusivity ensures the protection of privacy which is deeply valued by Family Offices. Working with multiple recruiters will also result in overmarketing the role, making the role in that particular Family Office appear less desirable, or risk exposing too much information to the public.
“Once you have seen one Family Office, you have seen one Family Office.” Family Offices are tailored to the needs of the family and recruitment for the Family Office should also be a tailored experience. Working with multiple recruiters will significantly lower their incentive to prioritise and focus on your mandate. Every recruiter assesses the time they should invest into your mandate. When recruiters know they are competing with others, they often tend to do a quick and brief search in order to send a CV out as quickly as possible. Whereas working exclusively with one recruiter allows them to focus on sourcing and identifying the best candidates for you. Building a close relationship with a recruiter that is well-connected and experienced in the industry will give them an opportunity to learn about your family culture and what your family looks for in a candidate. Besides, the exclusivity allows the recruiter to take their time and do a detailed and comprehensive search across their network. Without the pressure of competition, the recruiter will also be able to conduct a thorough screening and a full assessment of skills, experience and cultural fit. After all, a lot is at stake and the candidates presented to a Family Office must be of the highest quality.
Agreus is a full-service resources and recruitment consultancy dedicated to working with Family Offices. We work on an exclusive basis with our clients which allows us to be fully committed to the process. This has proven to be an effective method for many of our clients. We have had clients who returned and decided to work with us exclusively after using multiple recruiters. Without exclusivity, the needs of our clients were not prioritised in the same way that we would commit to. We take pride in understanding what our Family Office clients are looking for, we have successfully placed entry-level through to executive-level professionals within investments, legal, accountancy and finance and operational roles in Family Offices across the world. For a more tailored conversation about hiring for your Family Office, please do not hesitate to get in touch.