When you see that billionaire Ray Dalio has announced to open a family office in Singapore, you know the opportunities and growth in this space will be massive.
No doubt, the Singapore government has been very supportive, they have been making an effort to lure family offices and hedge funds into the city state. In January, Singapore introduced a legal structure named Variable Capital Company (VCC), designed to attract the assets of fund managers and family offices. Furthermore, Singapore’s Global Investor Programme gave the uber-wealthy a pathway to permanent residence. As a result of the governmental push, senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced in October that there there is an estimate of 200 single-family offices in Singapore managing assets of about US$20bn.
Family Offices are hiring
Throughout this year, family offices in Singapore have been doing comparatively well.
Initially, it was billionaire tech tycoon James Dyson’s family office that was hiring, having recruited IT professionals and front-office staff. Subsequently, in March, billionaire Shu Ping – one of the founders of the world’s biggest chain of hotpot restaurant Haidilao International Holding, opened a family office in Singapore.
Furthermore, multi-family offices have also been hiring. Kamet Capital Partners took on nine people during the midst of this year and the Hong Kong-based Raffles Family Office expanded their Singapore team in 2021 with multiple senior hires.
2021 is expected to even grow stronger as more firms prep and plan their launches – potentially including billionaire Ray Dalio’s family office.
Finding the right opportunities
Andrew Zee, SVP of private banking & wealth management at Selby Jennings recently shared his views with eFinancial Careers:
“The industry remains a fairly secretive sub-sector of financial services. Employees of family offices tend not to even list their company’s names on LinkedIn.”
Currently, it appears as if its difficult for both hiring managers and candidates to identify one another in the market.
“Not all hiring managers have the time or the know-how to find the best talent to join the teams. Some may not even enjoy the hiring process, as this process can be an extra step on top of their daily tasks. This is why we have our job.” said Zee.
Understand the benefits of using a specialist recruiter to find talent or to secure your dream job
“If you want to join the Dalio Family Office or other expanding firms within Singapore, there will be emerging opportunities next year across various functions. Specifically in the front office, demand will focus on relationship managers, discretionary portfolio managers, investment advisors, execution traders, private/public equity investment professionals, and ESG analysts,” - Andrew Zee.
Working in Family Offices
A number of financial services professionals in Singapore claim to prefer working in family offices. These opportunities offer them more autonomy while also allowing them to work directly with and in tandem with major asset owners. However, the flip side is that the beneficial owners can be quick in changing investment strategies, investment philosophies or locations. As a result, there is potentially a higher chance where one's role can become redundant.
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