RECAP: 2018 FOX Fall Enterprise Forum

FOX Compensation and Benefits Study

Speaker:
David Toth, Managing Director, Family Office Exchange 
Ken Cameron, Director, Grant Thornton, LLP

Session Description: 

Offering a competitive compensation plan is essential to attracting and retaining the top talent that can ensure a family office’s success. However, compensation is also consistently the biggest line item in every family office budget. This makes designing compensation plans that are competitive and effective especially imperative. Leaders from Family Office Exchange and Grant Thornton shared findings from this year’s FOX Compensation and Benefits Survey, providing an update on trends in family office compensation along with the peer perspective necessary to benchmark, design, and plan for maximum return on investment.


"Family offices have a very stable work environment. 69% have no staff turnover."
Key Takeaways: 
  1. Family offices have a very stable work environment. Over two-thirds of survey respondents have no turnover, and 59% are unlikely to hire family office staff next year.
  2. 82% of respondents saw an increase in their base salary in 2018.
  3. An emerging theme is flexibility headlined by flexible time off (FTO). One attendee implemented an FTO plan and employee engagement surveys showed a 10% increase in work satisfaction. Vacation plans for family offices are competitive with large firms.
  4. Work flexibility, benefits, and training (including tuition reimbursement) lead to high retention rates in family offices. 75% of respondents offered a 401k plan and offered a competitive matching structure.
  5. The group discussed that another driver in retention may be because families don’t want employees to leave and disclose private information about the family. This drives family offices to keep “the worst employees” rather than terminate employment. Additionally, the family office sector is not a large market for employment and many find it difficult to find other opportunities. 
  6. Flexible work conditions help family offices attract a more diverse pool of employees. 
  7. The biggest concern about retention is that institutional knowledge is high, yet there is a lack of clarity about how to document and retain all that knowledge to ensure the next generation of employees can eventually take over.
     

VIEW THE PRESENTATION SLIDES >
(FOX Members only)