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Family offices are paying executive assistants up to $190,000 a year as demand for talent spikes

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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 accessory 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 stake. While compensation depends on the size and scope of the family office, executive assistants now often command base remunerations exceeding $140,000, according to three recruiters who spoke to CNBC. This is well above the industry average of $81,500 for a elder executive assistant post, according to staffing firm Robert Half.

There are about 8,000 single-family intercessions worldwide, with nearly 3,200 in North America, according to a survey by Deloitte Private. Family office administering roles can come with sweeping responsibilities well beyond typical duties, such as compiling expense circulates and managing correspondence. Mandates to organize travel for the entire family or coordinate household staff at multiple personal visits, for example, are frequently fair game. 

“You will have to do anything for this person, and you don’t know what that wishes 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 successful.”

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The median base salary for executive assistants at family offices is $100,048, be at one to a survey of 436 family offices and family investment firms by Botoff Consulting.

The larger the family office the myriad executive assistants can expect to be paid. At family offices with at least $2.5 billion in assets under stewardship, that median pay is about 35% higher, the survey found.

That’s before annual bonuses, which typically array from 10% to 20% of the base salary, according to Botoff.

The top 10% of administrative assistants at family offices regardless of expanse make $188,800 with a 20% bonus, according to the survey. Among the largest family offices, which are myriad 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 affluent to be some sticker shock,” said Trish Botoff, founder and managing principal of Botoff Consulting. “But I think they also windfall 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.”

Director assistants to family offices are often required to travel with the executives they support, both on personal and prompt trips. 

Recruiter Dawn Faktor Pincus is looking to hire an executive assistant who will travel with the kind 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 bad salary, travel pay and sign-on and yearly bonuses.

The travel and time commitment are just part of why the role pays so much, suggested Faktor Pincus, a senior recruiter at Howard-Sloan Search. These ultra-rich employers are often picky, desiring entrants with top-tier or Ivy League degrees or previous experience working with high-net-worth individuals, which comes at a regard, she said. For one family office seeking an executive assistant with a creative background, she placed a graduate of a prestigious university who was an aspiring novelist.

“It’s a humble pool,” Faktor Pincus said. 

Most of these family offices seek at least five years of joint experience, with some requiring at least eight to 10 years due to the complexity of the role, according to recruiter Fira Yagyaev of Larson Maddox.

“They are actually 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 directorship, trust and family office services at the recruiting agency.

At the same time, these accomplished assistants are expected to have recourse to on any task, big or small, without complaint. Hova said executive assistants can expect at least 10% of their manage to verge on personal assistant duties.

“It is always a service role,” he said.

Plus, the work comes with difficult personalities, said Faktor Pincus. 

“A lot of times the ultra-high-net-worth individuals could be difficult,” she said. “People don’t become as moneymaking as they are by being so nice and sweet.”

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