Linda Mack of Mack International served as a panelist on a webcast sponsored by Morgan Stanley on Family Office Talent & Compensation, November 28,2023

Linda Mack of Mack International served as a panelist on a webcast sponsored by Morgan Stanley’s Single Family Office Advisory on Family Office Talent & Compensation, November 28, 2023, sharing best practices in attracting and retaining top talent.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec 14, 2023 —

On November 28, Linda Mack served as a panelist on a webcast hosted by Morgan Stanley’s Single Family Office Advisory entitled ‘Family Office Talent & Compensation’. Participants included Valerie Wong Fountain, Head of Family Office Resources Platform & Partner Management at Morgan Stanley and Trish Botoff, Principal and Founder of Botoff Consulting. Valerie acted as moderator and shared best practices for engaging Morgan Stanley’s capabilities to support family offices; Trish shared insights on compensation strategies touching on her discoveries from the 2023 Single Family Office Compensation Report; Linda highlighted the important attributes to consider when identifying C-suite executive leadership for Family Offices.

“There are no short cuts, and it can be challenging, but the rewards are great for those who are committed and consistent…” –Linda C. Mack

Talent

Linda was asked to comment on the state of the overall market for talent. She shared that Mack International has observed a continuing influx of talent from the corporate and institutional markets into the private family markets due to the perception they are more stable and have become much more sophisticated. However not all candidates are a good fit to transition to these more entrepreneurial platforms with less infrastructure.

According to Linda the majority of family offices are looking for executives in a more deliberate way than in the past. “Families are putting more emphasis on individuals who are strategic and proactive. Someone who can lead a professional services platform that offers a compelling value proposition. Also someone who understands how to leverage technology to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.”

Linda commented on next generation family members. “In order to preserve their legacy, next generation family members have become more involved from a governance perspective. How are they being asked to engage? Some are participating in searches where they can learn how to evaluate leadership roles and responsibilities. Involving them at an early age with professionals on the investment committee can also educate them and accelerate their learning curve on the various strategies that support the family’s philosophy and enable them to build wealth.”

Compensation

The 2023 SFO Compensation Report was a centerpiece of the webcast discussion. This report was conducted by Trish Botoff of Botoff Consulting and sponsored by Morgan Stanley. Some of the biggest trends in compensation in recent years have been the surge of more performance driven compensation plans. Most investment teams’ compensation has been tied to investment performance overall. The report showed continued growth of LTI plans and the panelists discussed the most prevalent plans in the market – deferred compensation, co-invest and carried interest. Linda shared several examples of how families are addressing LTIs and stressed the importance of ensuring that plans are aligned with family objectives. Incentives drive behavior and families need to be sure the plans they design will drive the behavior that will enable them to achieve their objectives.

Going Forward

There are some new opportunities and challenges family offices are experiencing in attracting and retaining top talent. Linda cited culture fit as a consistent and continuing challenge for families.. Higher interest rates have also resulted in relocation challenges. “With the current interest rates, candidates are less willing to move without a strong relocation package.” In addition, Linda mentioned, the post pandemic expectation of remote work arrangements has pressured some family offices to be more flexible in adopting a hybrid approach.

Overall, Linda believes best practices in compensation and talent strategy have not fundamentally changed. “We still emphasize the importance of having a clear business mandate, providing resources to accomplish objectives, authority commensurate with accountability, competitive compensation aligned with family values and sound governance and succession planning. There are no short cuts, and it can be challenging, but the rewards are great for those who are committed and consistent in pursuing these at the highest level.”

The 2023 Compensation report along with the full webcast can be found here: https://morganstanley.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1644306&tp_key=582e243efa