In the last few years, the Australian family office sector has experienced massive growth. The number of family offices in Australia has increased by 150 percent over the past decade. One of the most pressing concerns facing the expanding industry is attracting and recruiting talented executives with the unique skill sets required by family offices. Solving this challenge starts with proper remuneration.
To enhance talent acquisition and retention, family office professionals require insights into the industry’s remuneration trends to help them build sound salary structures – insights that haven’t previously been available.
KPMG’s 2023 Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report was undertaken with the Agreus Group to collect information pertaining to global family offices and surveyed a variety of family office professionals around the world.
The Australian Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report 2023 is the first of its kind in Australia; we’ve leveraged Australia-specific data from the global report to provide family offices in Australia with unique insights into remuneration benchmarks and compensation trends.
Compensation benchmarks at a glance
See how Australian family offices compare to their peers around the globe.
Australian Family Office Compensation Benchmark 2023
Explore world-first insights into the sector and learn how you stack up against your global counterparts.
Register to download the report
Compare global family office compensation benchmarks
Select different regions below and discover how your family office in Australia compares to its international counterparts.
- 23% of CEOs are Family Members in Australia
- 92% of CEOS in Australia are male
- CEOs in Australia are most commonly aged between 45 and 49 years old
- CEOs in Australia most commonly come from an Investment Management Background (36%)
- 100% of CEOs in Australia-based Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 38% of CEOs in Australia have a master's degree
- Family Office CEOs in Australia most commonly take home a salary of $396,001 AUD - $500,000 AUD with an additional annual bonus of 21% to 30% of salary
- 31% of CEOs are Family Members in Asia
- 100% of CEOS in Asia that took our survey are male, the highest globally
- CEOs in Asia are most commonly aged between 35 and 44, the youngest globally
- CEOs in Asia most commonly come from an Investment Management Background (36%) or a Banking background (27%)
- 100% of CEOs in Asia-based Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 69% of CEOs in Family Offices in Asia have a master's degree making them the most educated
- Family Office CEOs most commonly take home a salary of $198,001 - $330,000 SGD in Singapore and $158,001 - $198,000 SGD in other parts of Asia. They most commonly take home a bonus of 21% - 30% across the continent.
- 10% of CEOs are Family Members in the USA (lowest globally)
- 87% of CEOs in the USA are male
- CEOs in the USA are most commonly aged between 50 and 59 years old
- CEOs in the USA most commonly come from an Investment Management Background (48%)
- 100% of CEOs in US-based Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 33% of CEOs in the USA have a master's degree and another 17% have a Doctorate
- Family Office CEOs in the USA most commonly take home a salary of $264,001 - $330,000 USD - the highest globally with an additional bonus of 21% - 30% of annual salary.
- 27% of CEOs are Family Members in the UK
- 63% of CEOs in the UK are male
- CEOs in the UK are most commonly aged between 45 and 49 years old
- CEOs in the UK most commonly come from an Investment Management Background (32%)
- 91% of CEOs in UK Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 32% of CEOs in the UK have a master's degree
- Family Office CEOs most commonly take home a salary of £198,001 - £264,000 with an additional bonus of 41% - 50% of annual salary.
- 26% of CEOs are Family Members in Europe
- 77% of CEOS in Europe are male
- CEOs in the Europe are most commonly aged between 45 and 54 (56%)
- CEOs in Europe most commonly come from an Investment Management Background or a Banking background with both industries acting as a foundation for an equal 28% of CEOs in Europe
- 90% of CEOs in Europe Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 40% of CEOs in Europe have a master's degree
- Family Office CEOs most commonly take home a salary of €198,001 - €264,000. They also most commonly take home a bonus of 21% - 30%.
- 50% of CEOs are Family Members in Mexico
- 75% of CEOs in Mexico are male
- CEOs in Mexico are most commonly aged between 55 and 59 years old
- CEOs in Mexico most commonly come from a Banking or an Investment Management Background (33% respectively)
- 100% of CEOs in Mexico Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 67% of CEOs in Mexico have a master's degree
- Family Office CEOs in Mexico most commonly take home a salary of $99,001 - $132,000 USD with an additional bonus of 51% - 60% of annual salary.
- 75% of CEOs are Family Members in the Middle East
- 75% of CEOS in the Middle East are male
- CEOs in the Middle East are most commonly aged between 40 and 44
- CEOs in the Middle East most commonly come from a Banking background (50%)
- 100% of CEOs in Middle Eastern Family Offices are university-educated
- 100% of CEOs in the Middle East who took our survey also had a master's degree
- Family Office CEOs in the Middle East have as much chance of earning $264,001 - $330,000 USD as they do over $1M+. More than half are also able to earn more than 200% of their salary as an additional bonus.
- 22% of CEOs are Family Members in Americas
- 80% of CEOS in Americas are male
- CEOs in Americas are most commonly aged between 55 and 59 years old
- CEOs in this region most commonly come from an Investment Management Background (46%)
- 100% of CEOs in North and Central American Family Offices are university-educated
- A further 39% of CEOs in the region have a master's degree
- Family Office CEOs most commonly take home a salary of $198,001 - $264,000 USD with an additional bonus of 21% - 30%.
Primary challenges facing Australian family offices
Interest rates and wage pressures
The family office sector may be facing a more challenging environment for managing investment returns. This has flow on implications to the structure of salary and bonus arrangements for Family Office staff and the CIO and their team specifically.
Operating cost management
Over 50% of operational costs come from salary costs. Family office leaders should closely examine their operating costs to remain competitive, to ensure they are not eroding returns and can continue to support the family's goals.
Role of tech
87% of family office professionals feel they play a hybrid role, which could lead to specialist issues being handled inefficiently. Family offices must embrace the benefits of generative AI to help bridge gaps between available resources and expertise.
Changing skills
Working in a family office requires a unique set of skills. As the family office grows, the lack of capacity to fill the 'skills gaps' will lead to an increase in 'outsourcing'. A key skill in the future will be managing external third party resources.
Benchmarking
Family offices must routinely measure their performance against the wider sector. This landmark survey provides the relative data necessary to compare notes.
Benefits
Australian family offices offer highly competitive remuneration rates compared to their global counterparts. However, Australian family offices fare poorly in a number of other areas when it comes to benefits such as employee benefits, gender diversity at the CEO level, and more.
Unique insights into the evolving family office sector
The 2023 Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report is one of the world’s largest datasets on family office compensation. We received responses from 625 family office professionals worldwide and extracted primary data from Agreus Group’s existing database, which encompassed 1,500 global family offices, 3,360 family office contacts and 7,800 registered family office candidates.
We examined their performance bonuses and compensation structures, potential long-term incentive plans (LTIP), family office staff member compositions, and more.
Given the relative newness of the Australian family office sector, data of this kind and scale has been sparse until now.
By comparing data from family offices globally, the executives of Australian Family Offices can gain valuable insights into talent acquisition and retention.
Download full report
Australian Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report 2023
Our Australian report contains insights that will help Australian family offices navigate an evolving talent market.
How can KPMG help with the talent acquisition challenge?
We understand that no two families are the same – and neither are any two family offices. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to family offices, so whatever your team and your goals look like, we’re here for you.
The Australian family office sector is in the midst of an exciting growth period – we’ll help your office mature and evolve to support future generations. The data we’ve collected with Agreus Group in the 2023 Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report can guide us in benchmarking your family office against the wider sector to encourage sustainable growth.
The KPMG Family Office team can help family offices through every step of their journey, from establishment to growth and preservation. Our deep insights into the sector and our experience working with family offices globally means we can help Australian family offices maximise their operational efficiencies, enabling them to concentrate on the delivery of their purpose on behalf of the families they serve.
Connect with a KPMG Family Office adviser to find out more.
