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Good help is hard to find. Family offices, the private investment firms of the very rich, are more and more 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. That’s well above the industry average of $81,500 for a senior executive assistant position, for staffing firm Robert Half.
According to a survey by Deloitte Private, there are about 8,000 single-family offices worldwide, with nearly 3,200 in North America. Family office administration roles can come with comprehensive responsibilities far beyond typical tasks such as compiling expense reports and managing correspondence. Mandates to arrange travel for the whole family or to coordinate house staff at several personal residences, for example, are often fair game.
“You’re going to have to go all out for this person, and you don’t know what it’s going to be,” said Jonathan Hova, recruiter and senior vice president at Career Group. “If a pipe bursts in Southampton in January, this is where you’re going.”
The median base salary for executive assistants in family offices is $100,048, according to a study 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 average salary is about 35% higher, the survey found.
That’s before annual bonuses, which typically range from 10% to 20% of base salary, according to Botoff.
According to the survey, the top 10% of administrative assistants in family offices, regardless of size, earn $188,800 with a 20% bonus. Among the largest family offices, which are more likely to use long-term incentive plans, 10% of top assistants could see up to $240,000 in total compensation.
“Certainly for some families there will be a bit of a shock,” said Trish Botoff, founder and managing director of Botoff Consulting. “But I think they also find that when they can control the services that are being provided, how they’re being done, who they’re being done by, they’re much happier with the results they’re getting.”
Executive assistants in family offices are often required to travel with the executives they support, both on personal and business trips.
Recruiter Dawn Faktor Pincus is looking to hire an executive assistant who will travel with the family office director at least once a month, including vacations. She estimated the total compensation for the role $200,000 higher between a base salary of $170,000, travel pay and sign-on and annual bonuses.
The travel and time commitment are only part of why the role pays so well, said Faktor Pincus, a senior recruiter at Howard-Sloan Search. These ultra-wealthy employers are often stingy, wanting candidates with advanced or Ivy League degrees or previous experience working with high-net-worth individuals, which comes at a price, she said. For a family office that wanted 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 want at least five years of related experience with some requiring at least eight to 10 because of the complexity of the role, according to recruiter Fira Yagyaev of Larson Maddox.
“They’re really in the weeds of what the family goes through every day, so it’s probably one of the most important 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 come from personal assistant duties.
“It’s always a service role,” he said.
Plus, the job comes with prickly personalities, Faktor Pincus said.
“A lot of times very high net worth individuals can be difficult,” she said. “People don’t become as successful as they are by being so nice and sweet.”