Family Offices Turn to Private-Equity Firms in the Hunt for Talent

Family office investors in recent years have poured more money directly into private companies in the quest for higher returns and greater control over their investment portfolios.

Now, more of these private-investment firms are luring away private-equity talent, offering them a chance to manage their expanding portfolios and promising an improved work-life balance.

Executive recruiters say that searches among family office investors to recruit private-equity talent are increasing as more family offices seek to deploy more capital directly into private companies rather than solely through funds managed by outside firms.

Direct investments by family offices surpassed an estimated 9,000 deals at the end of 2019, from just a few thousand at the beginning of the year, according to Russ D’Argento, founder and chief executives of Fintrx, a family office database and research provider. In 2019, at least 49.7% of all family offices in North America made direct investments, according to a Fintrx report released in August 2020.

Even family offices managing less than $1 billion in assets are searching for specialized investment talent as they seek to make more direct investments, recruiters say.

Source: Wall Street Journal