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Hi, Can someone give me some idea of working in a family office? What are the Pros and Cons of it compared to working in a bank. ThanksHamb

Forgetting comparisons to a bank for the moment, there are two considerations going to work for a small family business,1) It has to be a good fit, decided on a case-by-case basis, and2) If this is a new thing - if you are their first employee - you have to be prepared to stand up for your principles, and take a role in developing the standard for how they should treat you and relate to you.To be frank, I doubt any young college graduate is qualified to teach people how to handle this new experience. They will screw up every different way, and be terrible employers. By their fourth or fifth employee, they might get it right.The worst part is, they may see you as a saboteur or slave with no commitment to or stake in the business, and they may be right. Or, if you are given a stake and an incentive and autonomy, you may be seen as an interloper. People in big offices learn, and are selected for, their ability to live among an extended group of acquaintances.

If by "family office" you mean the traditional desk of a few professionals serving a single family that typically has at least ~$50 million in assets,Some pros:1.) You will handle a very wide variety of problems for that family that you might not otherwise see if you are not that wealthy: including how to hedge and monetize large single-stock positions they can't sell; preservation of wealth for the head of the family as he/she ages; matching investments to the needs of children, charities, and other heirs; set-ups of trusts and other tax-advantaged, offshore, or charitable vehicles; evaluation on whether to buy, decline, or even write certain types of insurance; selecting "alternative" investments like hedge funds or art; and sometimes even personal tasks like helping one family member buy a rare bottle of some 1927 vintage for EUR2,000, but that you may only be able to get by going to an auction in Monaco or from some vinyard you need to travel to.2.) The environment can be very close-knit and personal, based more on relationship than almost anything else. There are "incentive" conferences in nice places and plenty of golf.Some cons:1.) At many i-bank roles you are serving not just one family, but dozens of family offices, some managed funds, private banks, retail banks, the financial advisors of high-net-worth individuals who can't afford a family office, all with different problems, needs, and tax/regulatory constraints.2.) A top-tier bank will have you working with dozens of people and at least hundreds of clients, will provide you far more advanced resources as fare as market data/quant models, and reward you more on merit/accomplishment than relationships alone.There are also some outfits that call themselves "family offices" that have started catering to several families with only $5-10 million in assets, and I put them closer to financial advisors/private bankers/brokers than to traditional family offices.

Thanks, farmer and exotiq. Yeah, I meant the traditional type of "family office" and it actually scout about for the best fund managers to help them. The exciting part of working there is that the employee can be exposed to most asset classes (equity, fixed incom, alternative...), but it is not that kind of getting your hand deep into the investment strategies. So do you think it is a good start for a graduate in this industry?

My mistake, I thought you were talking about going to work for Dunn Capital.QuoteOriginally posted by: hambscout about for the best fund managers to help themAre you qualified to do that? Or at least to sound like you are? Or is it mostly a support role?QuoteOriginally posted by: hambSo do you think it is a good start for a graduate in this industry?I have no exposure to it, but I suspect it is a whole different game. Perhaps investment peformance won't really have any benchmarks to be compared to, so the whole thing will float or sink on relationship management. That means your spreadsheets have to look pretty. Or maybe it is more like investment banking that trading.You are not "a graduate," you are an individual. Is the role matched to your unique mix of talents and ambitions?

QuoteOriginally posted by: farmerAre you qualified to do that? Or at least to sound like you are? Or is it mostly a support role?They have analyst positions to support those directors. QuoteOriginally posted by: farmerYou are not "a graduate," you are an individual. Is the role matched to your unique mix of talents and ambitions?You are right. Thanks, farmer.