Why More Bankers Are Choosing Family Offices
Family offices have quietly become one of the most sought-after exit destinations from investment banking, and they’re still underrated compared to the typical PE or hedge fund path. I talk to more and more analysts and associates who are actively targeting family offices, and for good reason: they offer interesting investment work, better lifestyle than banking, strong compensation, and a level of autonomy that you simply can’t find at a large institution.
In this post, I’ll explain how family offices work, what makes them different from other buyside roles, and exactly how to make the transition from investment banking to a family office seat.
What Is a Family Office?
A family office is a private wealth management firm that manages the financial affairs of a single ultra-high-net-worth family (single-family office, or SFO) or a group of wealthy families (multi-family office, or MFO). We’re typically talking about families with at least $100M in assets: many have $500M to several billion.
Family offices do far more than just manage a portfolio of stocks and bonds. Depending on the family, they might:
- Make direct private equity investments in operating companies
- Co-invest alongside PE funds
- Invest in real estate, both directly and through funds
- Manage a portfolio of public equities and fixed income
- Run venture capital investments
- Handle tax planning, estate planning, and philanthropy
- Manage operating businesses owned by the family
The breadth of what a family office does is part of what makes it attractive to ex-bankers. You’re not pigeonholed into one asset class or deal type: you get exposure across the full spectrum of investing and wealth management.
Types of Family Office Roles for Ex-Bankers
Not all family office roles are the same. The ones most commonly filled by investment bankers tend to fall into a few categories:
Direct Investment Roles
These are the most sought-after family office roles for bankers. You’re sourcing, evaluating, and executing direct investments in private companies, essentially doing PE work without the fund structure. Families with a history of entrepreneurship often invest heavily in direct deals, and they want analysts and associates who can run a deal process end-to-end. Your IB skill set (modeling, due diligence, deal structuring) is directly applicable here.
Investment Manager / CIO Office Roles
Larger family offices have investment teams that manage the overall portfolio allocation, including public equities, fixed income, alternatives, and private investments. These roles require broader investment knowledge than pure deal work, and they often value CFA candidates and people with portfolio management experience alongside their banking background.
Operating Roles
Some families own operating businesses, and they bring on ex-bankers to run finance, strategy, or M&A functions within those businesses. This is essentially a corporate development or CFO-track role, interesting if you want operational experience, less interesting if you want to stay purely on the investment side.
How Family Office Compensation Works
Family office comp is highly variable because there’s no standardized structure (every family does it differently). Here’s a general picture:
- Base salary: Typically comparable to or slightly below equivalent PE roles ($150,000 to $200,000 for a post-banking associate-level hire)
- Bonus: Can be substantial but is discretionary and based on portfolio performance, deal activity, and the family’s overall financial situation
- Carry / profit participation: Some family offices offer carried interest or profit participation on direct investments: this is the big upside component and is more common than it used to be as families have professionalized their investment operations
One important factor: total comp at family offices often looks lower than at top PE funds on paper, but the hours and lifestyle are significantly better. If you’re putting in 50 to 60 hours per week instead of 80, the effective hourly rate comparison changes substantially.
Hours and Lifestyle
This is where family offices genuinely stand apart from PE and banking. Most family office professionals work 50 to 60 hours per week in normal periods, with deal-driven spikes when a transaction is active. You’re unlikely to be pulling all-nighters regularly, and the environment tends to be less hierarchical and more collegial than a large institution.
That said, there’s a wide range. Some families with aggressive direct investment programs push their teams hard. And at smaller family offices, you might be a team of two or three people, meaning you’re doing everything yourself, which is both exciting and exhausting. Set expectations appropriately for the specific family office you’re evaluating.
How to Find Family Office Jobs
This is the hardest part of the family office transition, because most positions are never publicly advertised. Family offices are private by nature and they hire through networks and referrals, not job postings. Here’s how to find opportunities:
- Network through your banking deal contacts: Many family offices are owned by entrepreneurs who sold businesses, businesses that may have been sold through your bank’s M&A practice. Senior bankers often have direct relationships with family offices from past deal work.
- Reach out to headhunters who specialize in family offices: Firms like Korn Ferry, Egon Zehnder, and boutique family office placement firms occasionally list roles. Get on their radar early.
- LinkedIn: Search for “family office” + “investment” + your target city. Many family office investment professionals are findable on LinkedIn, and a thoughtful cold outreach can open doors.
- Multi-family office platforms: MFOs like Bessemer Trust, Rockefeller Capital, Northern Trust, and Pitcairn have more formalized hiring processes and are a legitimate entry point into the family office world.
What Family Offices Look for in Banker Candidates
When a family office is hiring an ex-banker, they’re typically looking for:
- Strong financial modeling and deal analysis skills
- The ability to work independently and manage a process without a large support team
- Genuine interest in building a long-term relationship with the family, not just using the role as a one-year stepping stone
- Cultural fit: family offices are small and the family principals often know the whole team personally
- Intellectual curiosity across asset classes, not just M&A or debt
The last point is important. If you’ve spent two years doing healthcare M&A and you walk into a family office interview saying you only want to do healthcare deals, that’s a red flag. Family offices need generalists who can adapt.
Making the Case for Yourself
When interviewing for family office roles, lean into the following:
- Your deal experience and financial modeling skills (show specific deals where possible)
- Your genuine interest in the family’s portfolio and investment thesis: research before the interview
- Your ability to own projects end-to-end with minimal supervision
- Long-term career goals that align with a stable, relationship-driven environment (not “I want to go to PE in two years”)
For more on positioning yourself for buyside exits from IB, check out our free resources. And if you want to see where our students have landed after their IB stints, visit our track record page.
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