Talent Hunt Intensifies As Singapore Family Offices Top 1,100 | With Commentary From Acre’s Paddy Balfour

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 8, 2023 / Acre

Foto: Accesswire

Commentary from Paddy Balfour for Asian Investor, published on 23.07.23, original source: Talent hunt intensifies as Singapore family offices top 1,100, Author: Indira Vergis

As the number of single family offices in Singapore soars, demand for professionals across sustainability, client relationships and investment advisory is set to climb further.

Singapore's family office boom is fueling demand for all sorts of skilled professionals -- a trend that is set to continue in the medium term.

Single family offices in the city-state jumped to 1,100 at the end of 2022, according to the government, up from 700 at the end of 2021.

A government minister noted that at mid-March this year, there were at least 200 single family-office applicants waiting for approval to set up in Singapore.

"There is likely to be a whole wave of demand [for talent] with the growth in family offices," said Stanley Teo, managing director for asset and wealth management and corporate and investment banking practices in Singapore at Profile Asia, an executive search consultancy.

These families come not just from Asia, but also Europe and the US. In turn, this has led to growing demand for professionals with related expertise.

BATTLE FOR TALENT

Currently, areas such as client relationship management, compliance, and investment advisory are experiencing a dearth of skilled professionals, according to Prashant Tandon, managing director and CEO for Dubai at wealth management firm Lighthouse Canton told AsianInvestor.

Tandon is among the entity's leadership team that caters to non-resident Indians in different jurisdictions, including Singapore.

Another category that industry professionals have singled out as climbing in importance is sustainability-related roles.

"Family offices are seeing an increasing demand, given their ingrained culture around philanthropy combined with generational change and a more sophisticated approach to impact investing," said Paddy Balfour, executive director at Acre, a specialised recruitment firm for sustainability-related roles.

Sustainability has gained considerable traction over the last few years.

"The industry is being nudged in that direction, even from a regulatory perspective. For instance, regulators worldwide, including those in Singapore, are increasingly recommending the incorporation of an ESG score in the strategy and decision-making processes" said Lighthouse Canton's Tandon.