Family offices that limit their search to one geography almost always compromise on the hire.
The best family office professionals in the world are not clustered in one city. They are in London, Geneva, Singapore, New York, Dubai and dozens of specialist private wealth jurisdictions in between. Since 2019, the number of family offices globally has increased by nearly a third, surpassing 8,000 worldwide. As structures become more complex, spanning multiple jurisdictions, asset classes and time zones, the demand for internationally experienced talent has grown sharply. The supply has not kept pace.
The talent pool for world-class family office professionals is small, globally dispersed, and rarely found through a local search alone.
At Achieve Professionals, our Private Family Office division operates across the UK, US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. What our experience consistently shows is that constraining a search to a single market almost always means accepting a compromise. The right candidate is out there. They’re just not always sitting locally.
The Global Nature of Modern Family Offices
Ultra-high-net-worth families are, by their very nature, international. Their assets span continents. Their principals may split time between multiple residences. Their investment portfolios often involve holding structures across Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Singapore and beyond. Their philanthropic interests cross borders. Their legal and tax obligations are multi-jurisdictional.
It stands to reason that the professionals who manage these affairs must be equipped to operate in that same global context, and that the search to find them must reflect it.
Consider what this means in practice:
- A family office based in Hong Kong may need a Legal Counsel who understands both common law and civil law systems, and who can navigate the relationship between Asian and European regulatory frameworks.
- A Gibraltar-based office managing wealth across the UK and US requires a Treasurer who is across the specific compliance requirements of each territory.
- A principal with business interests in Asia and Europe needs a Chief of Staff with genuine cross-continental experience, not someone who has read about it.
The right candidate for each of these roles may not be sitting locally. And limiting the search to a single market almost always guarantees a compromise.
Why Cross Border Searches are Unavoidable
Family office recruitment is built on confidentiality, fit and discretion. Roles are rarely advertised, candidates are rarely looking, and the wrong hire in a high-trust environment is costly in ways that go well beyond the financial. That context matters when you consider the cross-border dimension, because it means you cannot simply widen a job board search and expect better results. You need a network that already operates globally, and the sector knowledge to assess candidates across very different professional cultures. It’s why our Principal Recruitment Consultant for family office, Andrew Bell, spends as much time understanding a family’s culture and values as he does assessing a candidate’s technical credentials.
Cross Border Recruitment in Practice: Recent Placements
Our Private Family Office division operates across the UK, US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Over the past year, we’ve managed searches that have crossed borders in both sourcing candidates and placing them internationally. Here is a snapshot of our recent placements:
| Role | Location(s) | Filled In |
| Family Office Legal Counsel | UK / Hong Kong | 17 days |
| Chief of Staff | Japan / Hong Kong / UK | 35 days |
| Personal Assistant | Sweden | 12 days |
| Executive Assistant | Gibraltar | 30 days |
| Executive Assistant | New York | 21 days |
| Family Office Treasurer | New York | 29 days |
| Family Office Accountant | New York | 7 days |
| Treasury Assistant | Gibraltar / Dubai | 10 days |
| Investment Analyst | London | 27 days |
| Personal Assistant | Hong Kong | Active pipeline |
| Bookkeeper | Florida | 5 days |
Each of these searches carried their own complexity. A few examples illustrate what cross border recruitment actually involves.
Chief of Staff , Japan / Hong Kong / UK
One of our most complex recent searches, spanning three countries across two continents. The role demanded a candidate with true international experience, exceptional organisational capability, and the ability to serve as a trusted confidant to a principal with significant business interests across Asia and Europe. We completed this search within 35 days from instruction.
Treasury Assistant, Gibraltar / Dubai
This family office had a specific requirement: a candidate willing to be based in Gibraltar, with frequent travel to Dubai and prior residency and knowledge of the UAE. Gibraltar’s growing community of family offices means demand for experienced treasury support is rising faster than local supply, making cross-border sourcing essential. Lewis Clennell, our Managing Director found the right match within 10 days.
Investment Analyst, London
London remains one of the world’s foremost centres for investment talent, but finding analysts with specific family office experience rather than institutional backgrounds requires a more targeted approach. This office wanted expertise across alternative investments, health and pharma, and renewables. Andrew Bell, Principal Consultant for Family Office sourced the right fit within 27 days from instruction.
Personal Assistant, Sweden
A discreet placement for a UHNW principal, requiring trilingual capability in Swedish, Dutch and English alongside the professional rigour of a corporate environment. Nordic markets carry their own cultural expectations and employment norms. We filled the role in 12 days.
The common thread across all of these: the right person was not sitting in the immediate local market. Finding them required a global network, sector-specific knowledge, and the ability to move quickly without sacrificing discretion.
The Real Challenges of Cross Border Hiring
For any family office considering an international search, it’s worth understanding the practical complexities involved, and why specialist support makes a significant difference.
Relocation is a human decision, not a logistics exercise
Asking a highly capable professional to relocate from Stockholm to Gibraltar, or from London to Hong Kong, involves conversations about family, lifestyle, financial implications, and long-term career trajectory. The best candidates need honest, well-informed guidance and a recruiter who understands the human dimension of the move. Transactional recruitment will fail in this situation, but consultative recruitment doesn’t.
Jurisdictional complexity is real
Employment law varies significantly across markets. What constitutes a standard contract in the UK is materially different from what a candidate in New York expects. Tax implications for internationally mobile professionals can be considerable. Visa requirements, notice periods, and benefit structures all differ. Getting these elements right at the offer stage is critical to a successful placement.
Time zones demand active process management
Running a recruitment process across multiple countries, managing candidate availability, coordinating interviews, and gathering feedback requires active management and clear communication. A search spanning Japan, Hong Kong and the UK, as we conducted for a recent Chief of Staff appointment, involves significant logistical coordination to ensure the process remains efficient and the candidate experience remains positive.
Confidentiality becomes more complex across borders
Maintaining discretion across multiple geographies requires careful process management. Controlling who knows what and when, and protecting the family’s identity across different markets is part of the process.
Our Approach to International Family Office Searches
We treat every family office search as unique. There is no standard process, no template shortlist, no off-the-shelf approach. What we bring to every international search is a combination of genuine global reach and deep sector knowledge.
Our network spans established financial centres including London, Geneva, Dubai, Tokyo and New York, as well as specialist private wealth jurisdictions including Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Singapore and Hong Kong. This is not theoretical reach. It’s an active candidate network built through years of engagement with the family office community.
Our Private Family Office division works exclusively with single-family and multi-family offices, UHNW individuals and their advisors. We understand the structures, the dynamics, and the vocabulary of this world. That expertise shapes every conversation we have with clients and candidates alike.
Every search begins with a thorough brief and discovery process. We take time to understand not just the role specification but the family’s values, working culture, and long-term vision. That understanding shapes who we approach, how we approach them, and how we assess fit.
Andrew Bell, Principle Recruitment Consultant – Family Office
For candidates considering international moves, we provide clear, practical guidance on what the role involves, what relocation means in practice, and what the realistic trajectory looks like. For clients, we provide transparent market intelligence on candidate availability, salary expectations and competitive dynamics.
Our commitment to both client and candidate does not end at the offer stage. We maintain contact through the onboarding period and beyond, ensuring that the placement is working well on both sides.
For Candidates: The Opportunity in Global Family Office Roles
For professionals considering a move into or within the family office sector, cross-border roles represent some of the most compelling opportunities in the market.
The level of responsibility is often significant relative to seniority. The proximity to the principal and their family creates a working relationship unlike anything in institutional finance or corporate environments. The exposure to complex, multi-jurisdictional wealth management across investment, legal, tax, operations and administration builds a breadth of experience that is genuinely rare.
For those open to an international relocation, the combination of a compelling role in a private wealth jurisdiction, competitive remuneration, and a genuinely high-trust working environment can represent a career-defining move.
If you have a background in finance, legal, treasury, investment or private executive support and you’re open to exploring opportunities globally, we’d welcome a confidential conversation.
For Family Offices: Starting the Conversation
Whether you’re building a new family office team from the ground up, replacing a key hire, or adding specialist capability as your office grows, the right starting point is a conversation.
We work with family offices and their advisors to understand the search in full before we begin. There’s no obligation, no template briefing form, and no pressure to move quickly. Our role is to give you an honest assessment of the market, a clear view of what is achievable, and a process you can trust.
If you’re facing a cross-border hiring challenge in your family office, or if you simply want to understand what international talent is available in your market, reach out to the Achieve Professionals Private Family Office team.
For context on compensation across international roles, our UK Family Office Salary Guide 2026 covers current benchmarks across finance, legal and executive support functions. And for a broader view of how the sector is evolving, see our Family Office Hiring Trends 2026.
Achieve Professionals is a specialist recruitment agency for legal, finance, HR and family office professionals. We deliver bespoke executive search across the UK, US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Frequently Asked Questions
It matters because the best family office talent is rarely concentrated in one city. Many roles now require experience across jurisdictions, cultures and regulatory regimes, so limiting a search locally often means settling for less relevant capability or weaker long-term fit.
Senior finance, legal, treasury, chief of staff and executive support roles are often the most difficult. These hires need technical depth, discretion and adaptability, and the strongest candidates usually come from a small, globally dispersed pool rather than a single local market.
Family office recruitment is more confidential, more personal and more nuanced. Cultural fit, trust and discretion matter as much as credentials, and the role often sits much closer to the principal than it would in a corporate environment.
The process has to treat relocation as a life decision, not just a logistics exercise. The best searches include clear guidance on location, family considerations, tax, visas and long-term career fit so candidates can make informed decisions.
It can move quickly when the brief is clear and the network is strong. Depending on the role, well-run searches can be completed in days or weeks, but the right pace depends on complexity, geography and how many stakeholders are involved.
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