Key Takeaways
- • Morgan Stanley's Single Family Office Advisory released its biennial 2025 Single Family Office Compensation Report, prepared with Botoff Consulting, based on insights from over 100 investment-focused single family offices.
- • 62% of investment-focused single family offices use long-term incentive (LTI) plans, versus 54% of all single family offices, and 76% of firms with LTI plans provide some bonus or reward to encourage participation.
- • Family members hold CEO and CIO roles at roughly twice the rate seen across all single family offices: 53% of CEOs and 13% of CIOs, compared with 27% and 6%.
- • 56% of investment-focused single family offices manage investments directly in-house rather than outsourcing portfolio management, versus 44% of all single family offices.
- • Women hold 24% of top positions in investment-focused single family offices, below the 29% across all single family offices surveyed.
Summary
Morgan Stanley's Single Family Office Advisory has released its biennial compensation report for 2025, created in collaboration with Botoff Consulting. The report is designed to give family office leaders benchmarks and trend analysis to inform staffing and compensation decisions. Its findings focus on how investment-focused single family offices, which manage the financial affairs of a single wealthy family with a primary emphasis on investment management, diverge from the broader single family office population, particularly in executive pay and structured long-term incentive plans.
According to the report, investment-focused offices are aligning compensation with organizational strategy and assets under management, with LTI plans increasingly used to drive performance and protect family objectives as family members become more involved. Sixty-two percent of investment-focused offices use LTI plans, compared with 54% of all single family offices, and 76% of firms with LTI plans provide some type of bonus or reward to encourage participation.
Family involvement in leadership is also significantly higher. Family members hold 53% of CEO positions and 13% of CIO positions in investment-focused offices, compared with 27% and 6% across all single family offices. The report also finds that 56% of investment-focused offices manage their investments directly in-house, rather than outsourcing portfolio management to larger investment houses, compared with 44% of all single family offices.
Gender representation remains a gap. Women hold 24% of top positions in investment-focused offices, below the 29% share in leadership roles across all single family offices surveyed.
Valerie Wong Fountain, Managing Director and Head of Family Office Resources Platform and Partner Management at Morgan Stanley, said that candidates are more sophisticated and selective, making an understanding of incentive structures essential to attracting and retaining top talent. The full study is available through Morgan Stanley's website.
According to the report, investment-focused offices are aligning compensation with organizational strategy and assets under management, with LTI plans increasingly used to drive performance and protect family objectives as family members become more involved. Sixty-two percent of investment-focused offices use LTI plans, compared with 54% of all single family offices, and 76% of firms with LTI plans provide some type of bonus or reward to encourage participation.
Family involvement in leadership is also significantly higher. Family members hold 53% of CEO positions and 13% of CIO positions in investment-focused offices, compared with 27% and 6% across all single family offices. The report also finds that 56% of investment-focused offices manage their investments directly in-house, rather than outsourcing portfolio management to larger investment houses, compared with 44% of all single family offices.
Gender representation remains a gap. Women hold 24% of top positions in investment-focused offices, below the 29% share in leadership roles across all single family offices surveyed.
Valerie Wong Fountain, Managing Director and Head of Family Office Resources Platform and Partner Management at Morgan Stanley, said that candidates are more sophisticated and selective, making an understanding of incentive structures essential to attracting and retaining top talent. The full study is available through Morgan Stanley's website.
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