We recruit investment talent for Private and Family Offices. We hire for mandate clarity, delegated authority, and decision discipline, not “more ideas”.
In high-trust environments, investment decisions sit beside family dynamics, liquidity events, reputational risk, and adviser politics. If the mandate is vague, even strong candidates underperform. We pressure-test scope and decision rights before we speak to the market.
This is also why many of these searches are discreet. Often the seat is already occupied. Replacement processes require staged disclosure and tight control of who knows what, when.
Private & Family Office Investment Recruitment Agency
We run controlled, private recruitment for families and trustees who need one accountable owner for investment decisions, implementation, or decision support. We keep shortlists deliberately tight to protect confidentiality and move decisions faster.
You are usually ready for an investment hire when:
- Decisions recur across public markets, private markets, or direct deals and consistency matters.
- Delegated authority is needed to move at pace without constant principal involvement.
- Governance needs to mature: risk limits, a decision log, and a predictable cadence.
- Advisers provide inputs, but nobody internally owns the full picture end-to-end.
Which investment hire is right: CIO vs Portfolio Manager vs Analyst vs outsourced advisory
We separate options by accountability, not seniority. The right choice depends on whether you need:
- Mandate ownership and governance, or
- Day-to-day execution and monitoring, or
- Research, pack quality, and decision support.
A simple selection rule:
- Choose a CIO for mandate ownership, governance cadence, risk posture, and stakeholder alignment.
- Choose an Investment / Portfolio Manager for implementation rhythm, monitoring, liquidity planning, and decision-ready reporting.
- Add an Analyst when decision-makers exist but capacity is thin, and pack quality is becoming a risk.
- Use outsourced advisory when headcount is unrealistic, but be explicit about where accountability sits internally.
Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
A CIO owns the investment system end-to-end: mandate, portfolio construction, manager oversight, risk management, reporting cadence, and stakeholder alignment.
See: Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
Investment / Portfolio Manager
This role owns the portfolio between meetings: implementation, monitoring, rebalancing, liquidity rhythm, and exception handling within delegated limits.
See: Investment / Portfolio Manager
Investment Analyst
This role owns pack integrity and decision support: version discipline, reconciled numbers, evidence tracking, and clear written materials that make decisions easier.
See: Family Office Investment Analyst
Outsourced advisory
Outsourced advisers can work well when the family wants input without building an internal function. The gap is accountability. Advisers advise, but the family still owns decisions, governance discipline, and internal handling of sensitive context. You gain breadth, but you often lose day-to-day control and internal memory unless governance is tightly designed.
What to include in the brief
Most families write a job description before they write the mandate. The mandate is what keeps stakeholders aligned when markets move.
Include, at minimum:
- Objectives, time horizon, and liquidity needs, including known future cash calls.
- Current asset mix, concentration risks, and any legacy positions that are politically sensitive.
- Operating model: in-house, external managers, banks, OCIO, direct deals, or hybrid.
- Stakeholders and reporting: principal, trustees, board, CFO, and advisers.
- Delegated authority, sign-offs, escalation triggers, and any investment committee cadence.
- Constraints: jurisdictions, tax coordination points, and privacy boundaries.
Mandate checklist
- Who decides, and who can act without approval.
- What “risk” means for this family, including drawdown and liquidity tolerance.
- What stays in-house vs what is delegated to banks, managers, or advisers.
- How performance will be assessed, and over what time period.
- What information is private by default, and who is allowed access.
- What a “good week” looks like, including reporting rhythm and meeting cadence.
Common hiring mistakes
The failure modes are structural:
- Hiring a CIO when the real gap is execution, then judging them on day-to-day output.
- Hiring an Investment / Portfolio Manager without delegated authority, then blaming them for slow progress.
- Over-indexing on brand names and under-testing discretion and private office mindset.
- Widening the process before the mandate is settled, increasing privacy risk and stakeholder noise.
- Leaving decision style implicit (informal in practice, formal on paper), then watching friction build.
What “good” looks like
“Good” is judgement under ambiguity, disciplined governance, and a calm operating rhythm the family can live with.
Signals that predict success:
- Mandate fit: evidence of working within clear objectives and constraints.
- Decision discipline: choices are documented and revisited when facts change.
- Risk judgement: comfort with drawdowns, liquidity stress, and concentration without over-reacting.
- Stakeholder handling: clean interface with principal, trustees, CFO, and advisers.
- Family office mindset: pragmatism, low ego, calm under scrutiny.
Compensation and structuring the package
Compensation depends on authority, proximity, scope, and jurisdiction. The only safe rule is to price for responsibility and confidentiality load, not job title.
As a practical guide:
- US tends to price highest, then UK, then most of Europe, but seniority, access, and complexity can override geography.
- Clear delegated authority and clean governance often reduce “risk premium” demands.
- Incentives should reward mandate adherence, risk discipline, and reporting quality, not short-term risk-taking.
We handle compensation discussions discreetly. We share ranges and drivers, not unnecessary detail.
Next steps
If you are hiring for a Private or Family Office investment seat, we can help.
Contact us and we will respond discreetly.
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