Hiring Is Only Half the Talent Battle
For family office builders, bringing in the right talent is not easy. Neither is keeping that talent. The Campden Wealth/AlTi Tiedemann Global Family Office Operational Excellence Report 2025 found that 70% of family offices struggle to hire staff. Meanwhile, 65% worry about keeping their best people.
The problem is worse for larger offices. According to the research, 92% of large family offices report difficulty recruiting talent. At the same time, 54% struggle with retention. Staff turnover has become one of the top three operational risks facing family offices today.
Why Paying More Won't Work
01 Compensation is already the largest cost
Family offices are service businesses where people costs dominate expenditures. The Campden Wealth report shows that C-level compensation makes up 72% of smaller family offices’ total costs. For midsize offices, it’s 54%. Operating costs for North American family offices rose by nearly 5% in 2024, outpacing inflation. Clearly, higher pay did not solve talent challenges.
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02 Money isn’t the primary driver
Only 26% of family offices told Campden Wealth that inability to offer competitive pay contributes to recruitment challenges. Instead, they identified different reasons for staffing difficulties:
- Unclear career opportunities (55%)
- Limited pool of talent with appropriate skills (51%)
- Challenges establishing the right cultural fit (40%)
These findings suggest that the family office talent crisis is more about alignment, opportunity, and values than pay alone.
Consider what family office professionals hope to achieve in their careers: having a meaningful impact on the financial lives of the wealth owners they serve. Doing so is about much more than just numbers. According to J.P. Morgan’s 2024 Global Family Office Report, nearly 70% of family offices cite succession planning and preparing the rising generation as primary objectives. 80% offer family governance services.
Yet many family office team members spend their time on manual data work instead of these meaningful activities. About one-third of family offices perform more than 50% of their reporting manually with fragmented systems, according to the Campden Wealth research. If professionals aren’t involved in strategic family advisory work — instead doing tedious manual tasks — it’s not hard to see why they might seek better opportunities elsewhere.
Technology Investment: The Dual Solution
By investing in the right digital tools, family offices can drive:
01 Cultural transformation through technology
Family offices with leading-edge technology report 100% satisfaction with information quality for decision-making, according to Campden Wealth. Those with older systems show just 67-71% satisfaction. Better technology brings both efficiency and professional fulfilment.
Modern technology in a family office signals:
- Professional growth opportunities: Staff work with advanced tools rather than outdated systems
- Strategic focus: Time spent on high-value advisory work rather than manual tasks
- Future-readiness: The office is preparing for evolution, not just maintenance
02 Cost efficiency that compounds
Technology may seem like an additional expense, but it’s actually a long-term investment with compound returns. Technology spending represents only 8-15% of total family office costs according to Campden Wealth. Yet technology is an asset that doesn’t demand raises, take holidays, or leave for competitors. There’s significant room to increase this investment whilst maintaining cost discipline.
The case is compelling. A strategic technology investment can:
- Streamline tedious workflows
- Increase staff satisfaction and retention
- Enable focus on high-value family services
For family offices, technology investment can deliver far better ROI than simply increasing compensation to retain frustrated staff doing manual work.
The Partnership Advantage: Building Technology Culture Without Building Technology
The Campden Wealth research reveals that outsourcing is critical across all family office sizes. 94% of family offices outsource IT services to some degree. This widespread adoption suggests that accessing specialised technology expertise through partnerships is often more practical than gaining these capabilities entirely in-house, particularly for smaller and mid-sized offices.
For family office builders, partnering with specialised technology providers offers the best of both worlds. They gain immediate access to cutting-edge capabilities that help create the culture of innovation that attracts and retains top talent. At the same time, they maintain cost discipline by avoiding spending on in-house infrastructure and expertise.
Altoo, a Swiss-based fintech, exemplifies this approach as a technology partner focused on meeting the digital needs of modern family offices. The company’s flagship product, the Altoo Wealth Platform, automatically aggregates data across all asset types typically found in wealthy families’ portfolios: traditional investments, alternatives, real estate, collectibles, and more. The system then analyses this data and visualises it through intuitive dashboards that all stakeholders can easily understand — all without requiring tedious manual workflows from family office team members.
Success Stories: What Family Office Builders Can Learn
01 Technology can solve existing pain points
Swiss family office consultancy ONELIFE was facing the challenge of managing complex multi-jurisdictional portfolios efficiently. They adopted the Altoo Wealth Platform to streamline manual processes and improve data accuracy.
The result was significant. As the organisation’s chairman noted, “Things like calculating withholding taxes and comparing bank costs used to take days. Now we do it all with a few clicks.” Less time spent reconciling data from different systems means more time for strategic advice, higher team satisfaction, and better outcomes for wealth owners.
02 Investing in technology early can help avoid predictable pain points
Multi-family office ALBAPAZ took a different but equally instructive approach. They partnered with Altoo early, implementing the leading-edge technology from the outset of their operations. This created a foundation for scalable growth.
The impact extended beyond efficiency. When wealth owners see their family office operating with sophisticated, reliable systems, it builds confidence in the overall service. This satisfaction cascades to the team, who feel they’re working in a professional, forward-thinking environment — setting the stage for long-term success for both the family office and the families they serve.
Takeaway
In today’s competitive family office talent market, family offices that invest in technology don’t just reduce costs. They create the kind of strategic, forward-thinking culture that top professionals seek. The question isn’t whether family offices can afford to invest in technology, but whether they can afford not to.
Whether you’re looking to create this competitive advantage from day one or solve operational pain points that have accumulated over years, the Altoo Wealth Platform can help. Contact us for a demo today.
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