Most family offices hire non-family members as executives. Still, it’s not uncommon for family members to take on paid positions in the family office: Overall, 12% of family office executives are family members — and 21% of family office CEOs are.
This data comes from the recently released Single Family Office Compensation Report from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management and Botoff Consulting, a survey of over 400 single family offices in the United States.
Family members in executive roles are more common in smaller family offices. For CEOs, CFOs, CIOs and COOs, the percentage of family members was highest in family offices with less than $500 million AUM.
The most common executive role for family members to fill is CEO. The least common is CFO, likely due to the specialized expertise required. Just 2% of family office CFOs are family members. Among CIOs, the number was 12%, and among COOs, it was 10%.
How much compensation do family members who work in the family office receive? The 2023 survey found that family members in executive roles are paid, on average, 63% of what non-family members are paid.
