When we founded the Somers Partnership twenty years ago, we had a simple but powerful ambition, to help family offices find and keep exceptional leaders who not only excel professionally but also share their values and long-term vision.
Over the years, we’ve learned that recruiting for a family office is unlike hiring for any other organisation. These are environments defined by privacy, trust and the stewardship of legacy. The most successful placements happen when technical expertise and personal alignment come together, when a candidate truly fits the family as well as the role.
That philosophy became the foundation for our proprietary V4PⓇ Model; a strategic framework designed to align recruitment with Values, Purpose, Proposition, People, and Pay. Together with our AIR Framework; Attract, Incentivise and Retain, it shapes everything we do to ensure family offices build leadership teams that thrive for generations.
A Family Business That Understands Family Businesses
As a family business ourselves, we know what it means to build something together. We also know the sense of duty, responsibility, and long-term vision that drives family enterprises, because it drives us too.
Both of us come from families that have owned and run businesses, so the principles that guide family offices are in our DNA: discretion, stewardship and the determination to preserve a legacy while embracing change.
Over the past two decades, this shared perspective has helped us work with some of the most distinguished and complex family offices in the world. We’ve also written two books on human capital in the family office sector and were honoured to be voted top family office consultants globally by the readers of Family Capital three years running.
Our V4PⓇ and AIR frameworks are the culmination of that experience. They have been refined, tested and proven through our work with families who want not just a team, but a legacy.
The V4PⓇ Model: Recruiting for Values Alignment and Legacy
Values
Every family office has a unique set of values, they’re the invisible architecture that shapes decisions and defines identity. Whether a family’s focus is philanthropy, innovation or sustainability, these values guide behaviour and inform culture.
When we begin a search, we start by uncovering how those values live and breathe within the office. This allows us to identify candidates who don’t just share the same principles, but naturally embody them.
Purpose
Purpose answers the deeper question of why the family office exists. It’s rarely just about managing wealth, more often it’s about preserving unity, creating impact or stewarding a legacy.
Our role is to help families articulate that purpose clearly so we can attract leaders who see their work as part of something bigger than themselves. Purpose driven people stay longer and contribute more meaningfully.
Proposition
Your proposition is what your family office offers to the family, its stakeholders and sometimes to society. When we define and communicate this clearly, it becomes a magnet for the right candidates.
We help clients present their proposition in a way that speaks to both heart and ambition, so potential leaders see a future, not just a function in their role.
People
At the core of every great family office is great human capital. Beyond experience and credentials, we look for emotional intelligence, adaptability and the ability to navigate complex family dynamics.
We also assess the broader ecosystem including family members, advisers and household staff, ensuring the new appointment strengthens relationships across generations.
Pay
We always discuss pay last deliberately. For us, it’s a hygiene factor, it’s essential, but never the primary driver. The right person joins because they care about the purpose, not just the package.
That said, we help families design compensation structures that reward loyalty, promote alignment and support long-term retention, because in a family office, stability is everything.
The AIR Framework: The Oxygen That Keeps Talent Thriving
If the V4PⓇ Model defines the strategy, the AIR Framework sustains it. It’s how we ensure the exceptional people we place continue to grow, contribute and stay.
Attract
Attraction begins long before a role is advertised. We work with clients to define their story, articulate their culture and position the family office as an inspiring place to work. A strong Employer Value Proposition (EVP) helps the right candidates find you, not just the other way around.
Incentivise
Incentives are about more than money. They’re about creating meaning, opportunity, and belonging. We help families design environments where leaders are motivated by impact, through professional development, empowerment and alignment with the family’s broader mission.
Retain
Retention is not a passive outcome, it’s an active relationship. As one of our clients once said, “There’s no commercial advantage in underpaying your team.” We believe retention is built on respect, transparency and mutual growth. Our role is to help ensure the right fit from the start and to advise on structures that keep that relationship thriving over time.
Built for Families, by a Family
As we celebrate our 20th year, we feel an enormous sense of pride, not only in what we’ve achieved, but in the families and leaders we’ve helped bring together.
Our mission remains the same as the day we started: to help family offices build enduring teams that protect, grow and enhance their legacy.
Being a family business serving family offices isn’t a marketing line, it’s our lived reality and we believe it’s the reason we’re trusted by so many to recruit for purpose, values, and legacy. If you’d like to explore how our V4PⓇ and AIR frameworks could support your family office, get in touch.
