Long-Term Incentive Plans on the Rise: Morgan Stanley 2025 Single Family Office Compensation Report

Morgan Stanley's Single Family Office Advisory today released its biennial compensation report. The 2025 report, created in collaboration with Botoff Consulting, offers critical benchmarks and trend analysis to empower family office leaders to make informed staffing and compensation decisions.

Findings spotlight how investment-focused single family offices diverge from broader single family office trends, particularly in terms of compensation. Investment-focused single family offices are prioritizing the alignment of compensation practices with organizational strategy and AUM, especially through executive compensation and structured long-term incentive (LTI) plans. LTIs are increasingly being used to help drive performance and safeguard family objectives—all as family members become more involved.

"Investment-focused single family offices are particularly complex, and their compensation structures are no less so. With candidates more sophisticated and selective than ever before, understanding the nuances of incentive structures is crucial to attract and retain top talent," said Valerie Wong Fountain, Managing Director, Head of Family Office Resources Platform and Partner Management at Morgan Stanley. "LTIs and structured compensation offer a clear pathway for family offices to directly tie their key values, goals, and best practices with leadership and the needs for their professionals, ultimately driving performance and enhancing their competitive edge."

Key findings from the report show that:

• LTIs are becoming table stakes: Investment-focused single family offices are more reliant on LTI plans (62% vs. 54% of all single family offices), and 76% of firms with LTI plans provide some type of bonus or reward to encourage participation.
• Families are taking the reins in leadership: Family members are roughly twice as likely to hold CEO and CIO positions in investment-focused single family offices (53% of CEOs and 13% of CIOs, vs. 27% and 6% in all single family offices, respectively).
• Direct investment management is on the rise: As families become more hands-on, a larger share of investment-focused single family offices (56%) manage their investments directly within the company rather than outsourcing their portfolio management to larger investment houses, compared to 44% of all single family offices that do the same.
• Gender representation still has a way to go: Women hold 24% of top positions in investment-focused single family offices, below the 29% in leadership roles across all single family offices surveyed.

The complete study, which is based on insights from over 100 investment-focused single family offices, can be found here: Single Family Office Compensation: A Guide | Morgan Stanley.

Investment-focused single family offices are private wealth management structures that manage the financial affairs of a single, wealthy family, with a primary emphasis on investment management. These offices handle everything from investment strategy and manager selection to asset allocation and portfolio construction. They act as a central hub for all investment-related activities, offering a customized approach tailored to the family's specific needs and long-term goals.

Morgan Stanley's Family Office Resources is committed to providing valuable resources and insights to the family office community, supporting their continued growth and success in managing complex financial ecosystems.

About Morgan Stanley's Single Family Office Advisory

Morgan Stanley's Single Family Office Advisory, part of the Family Office Resources Platform and Partner Management, provides content and a niche referral network to single family offices, as well as families that are considering establishing one. Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management is the division within Morgan Stanley Wealth Management that is exclusively focused on the ultra-high net worth client segment. By providing advice founded on a culture of excellence and driven by global insight, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management is devoted to helping clients preserve and grow their financial, family and social capital.

About Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a global leader, provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, cash management and lending products and services, annuities and insurance, retirement and trust services.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.

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