Family Offices – One Partner for Global Employment – From Investment Professionals to Household Staff

Family offices rarely fit neatly into one category. They may be managing investments, property and corporate interests across several countries while also looking after the practical affairs of an individual or family.

That can mean recruiting a CFO or investment professional in London one month, employing a personal assistant in Dubai the next, and finding a nanny, housekeeper or estate manager somewhere else entirely.

The challenge is often not finding the right person. It is working out how to employ them properly once you have.

At Hanover, we can help with both.

Employing people wherever they are needed

Hanover Global Services (HGS) provides Employer of Record (EOR) services in more than 100 countries, allowing family offices and their advisers to employ people without having to establish a local company.

We become the legal employer in the relevant country while the individual continues to work exclusively for the family, family office or associated business.

This can work for a surprisingly broad range of roles, including CFOs and finance professionals, investment and operational staff, personal and executive assistants, estate and property managers, chauffeurs, chefs, housekeepers and nannies.

We take care of the local employment contract, payroll, statutory deductions and contributions, benefits and ongoing employment compliance. Just as importantly, there is a named person to speak to when something needs sorting out rather than everything disappearing into a global platform.

For family offices with people and interests spread across different jurisdictions, this can make life considerably simpler.

Recruitment as well as employment

We can also help when the person has not yet been found.

For professional appointments within Wealth & Investment Management, our parent company Hanover Search has specialist recruitment expertise and an established international network. This can include senior investment, finance, operations, risk and leadership appointments within family offices and the wider wealth management sector.

Domestic and private household recruitment is different. Finding a good nanny, chef, housekeeper, chauffeur or other member of household staff requires a very different network and approach.

Rather than pretending these are the same market, HGS works with specialist domestic staffing partners who understand private households and the particular requirements of UHNW families. We can therefore help source suitable staff and then provide the employment infrastructure once the right person has been identified.

It gives clients access to the right recruitment expertise for the role, rather than trying to force everything through a single recruitment model.

Particularly useful when life crosses borders

The value of EOR becomes particularly clear when a family or family office operates internationally.

A family may be based in Switzerland, have an office in London, properties in France and the Middle East, and staff of several different nationalities working across those locations. Employment obligations can quickly become complicated.

Questions arise around local contracts, payroll, social security, benefits, immigration, termination rights and whether an overseas entity needs to be established simply to employ one or two people.

EOR provides a practical alternative. Instead of creating and maintaining a company in every country where someone needs to be employed, HGS can put the appropriate local employment arrangement in place and manage it on an ongoing basis.

It can also be useful for temporary situations – perhaps a family is spending a year in another country, opening a new family office, acquiring a property overseas or simply wants to employ somebody before deciding whether a permanent local presence is necessary.

One conversation rather than several

Family offices tend to value discretion, flexibility and people who can simply get things done.

That is the approach we take.

Whether the requirement is a senior investment professional, a CFO, an executive assistant or somebody looking after the family home, we can help identify the right recruitment route and then work out the most appropriate way to employ them.

For professional Wealth & Investment Management recruitment, that expertise sits within Hanover Search. For domestic and private household staff, Hanover Global Services works with a specialist recruitment partner. And where an individual needs to be employed in another country, Hanover Global Services can provide the EOR solution to bring everything together.

Different roles require different expertise. The advantage is that you don’t need to find a different solution every time.

If you are managing people across different countries – or have a new hire in a location where you don’t have an employing entity – speak to Hanover Global Services. There is a good chance we can make it considerably simpler. Reach out to me today.