Family office compensation in 2026: what the benchmarks say

Family office compensation in 2026 is best read from three benchmark series: the Morgan Stanley and Botoff Consulting single family office report, the KPMG and Agreus global benchmark, and the Heidrick & Struggles survey of investment leaders. Taken together they show a US median of roughly $500,000 base salary for a CEO or CIO, total cash between $700,000 and $900,000 for those roles, a sharp step up above $1bn of assets, and long-term incentive plans at just over half of offices. Pay outside the US is lower in headline terms and sits in wider bands.

The US benchmark by role

Morgan Stanley's 2025 Single Family Office Compensation Report, produced with Botoff Consulting from a survey of 433 firms and 2,208 incumbents conducted between June and August 2024, remains the most detailed public source. Its medians for all single family offices are set out below.

Source: Morgan Stanley / Botoff Consulting, 2025. Total direct compensation includes the annualised value of long-term incentives.

The investment team sits below the executive tier. Morgan Stanley's 2025 data gives a senior portfolio manager a median base of $375,000 and total cash of $584,500, a portfolio manager $225,750 and $388,500, and an analyst $100,000 and $125,000.

Size is the main driver

Asset size moves pay more than any other variable. In the same 2025 Morgan Stanley data, a CEO at an office with $1bn or more of assets had a median base of $602,500 and total cash of $1,000,000, against $412,000 and $633,450 below $1bn. The CIO gap is wider: $655,200 base and $1,000,000 total cash above $1bn, against $310,661 and $400,000 below it. CFOs earned $463,500 base above $1bn and $342,375 below.

The AlTi Tiedemann Global and Campden Wealth 2025 Family Office Operational Excellence Report, covering 146 single family offices, found average total CIO compensation of $457,000 at small offices (under $250m) and $1.114m at large ones (over $1bn). The report also noted that C-suite pay accounts for 72% of total costs at small offices and 39% at large ones, which is why smaller offices often run the CEO and CIO as a single role. Morgan Stanley's 2025 report found 36% of CEOs across all single family offices also serve as CIO.

Outside the United States

The KPMG and Agreus 2025 Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report, based on 585 survey responses and 20 interviews, reports pay in bands rather than medians. The most common CEO band was £198,001 to £264,000 in the UK, €198,001 to €264,000 in continental Europe, $396,001 to $500,000 in the United States, and $500,001 to $625,000 in Australia. In Asia the most common bands were S$198,001 to S$264,000 and S$396,001 to S$500,000, depending on the market.

Campden Wealth and HSBC's European Family Office Report 2024, as reported by Fortune, found an average European CEO salary of $288,000, a top end around $500,000 and a bottom end near $120,000. Families with more than $1bn paid base salaries averaging $370,000 with an 88% bonus.

Bonuses, rises and long-term incentives

Bonuses are near universal. Morgan Stanley's 2025 report found 90% of firms make employees eligible for an annual incentive, and 81% of executives at investment-focused offices received one for 2023 performance. The KPMG and Agreus 2025 report found 85% of UK and European respondents and 89% of US respondents receive a performance bonus, mostly discretionary.

Heidrick & Struggles' 2025 Family Offices Compensation Survey, covering 106 investment professionals in the US and Europe and published in January 2026, shows the direction of travel. As reported by finews.ch, average US base salaries rose from $471,000 in 2023 to $515,000 in 2024 and $541,000 in 2025, with bonuses of $448,000, $471,000 and an estimated $563,000. European total compensation was flat, at €765,000 in 2023 and €759,000 in 2024. The KPMG and Agreus 2025 report found 62% of respondents globally received a salary uplift in 2024/25, most commonly under 5%.

Long-term incentive plans are used by 54% of all single family offices and 62% of investment-focused ones in Morgan Stanley's 2025 data, rising to 71% of investment-focused offices above $1bn. The KPMG and Agreus 2025 report found 28% of individual respondents receive an LTIP. The structures are covered in long-term incentives and carry in family offices.

Using the numbers

Morgan Stanley's 2025 report treats pay within 20% of the market median as competitive, and notes location premiums of 15% to 25% in New York and San Francisco over a national baseline. Benchmarks describe the market; the scope of the role, the complexity of the balance sheet and whether the office runs direct investments decide where in the range an individual office should sit. Headcount context is in family office staffing by size.