1. The Economics Finally Make Sense

❌ Old Model (Outsourced)

  • $500M AUM family office
  • Hire placement agent at 2-3%
  • Raise $100M → pay $2-3M fees

✅ New Model (In-House)

  • Hire 2-3 professionals at $200-300K
  • Annual cost: $600-900K
  • Raise $100M → $0 external fees

ROI breakeven: after the first $30-40M raised. Family offices hitting $500M+ AUM are crossing this threshold. The math flipped somewhere between 2023-2024.

Sirius Private Office (Dubai) is hiring for "Director, Capital Formation." That's not a fund admin position. That's building internal capability to raise capital without external agents.

2. Family Offices Are Going Direct

The shift: from passive LP allocations to direct investments, co-investments alongside PE/VC funds, and secondaries. CFA Institute (Mar 2025): "More family offices are allocating capital to private equity funds, direct investments, and venture capital opportunities."

When you're doing directs at scale, you need investor relations, deal flow sourcing, and capital raising for SPVs. That's not something you outsource. That's an in-house function.

3. The Institutionalization Wave

Middle East family offices maturing from "family manages everything" to professional management teams. From "single LP in funds" to multi-family office structures. From "invest in friends' deals" to institutional due diligence.

CFA Institute: "Adopting more institutionalized governance." In practice: compliance teams, investment committees, IR reporting, and capital formation done properly.

4. The Consultant-to-FO Pipeline

The National (Sept 2025): "People in strategy consulting are being hired by family offices from firms like Bain, McKinsey, and BCG." Why? They speak institutional investor language, build the decks LPs expect, understand governance, and can set up processes from zero.

If you're doing IR in NY/London and open to Dubai, family offices want you. The supply/demand imbalance is real.

5. The "Raise External Capital" Mandate

Family offices realizing they can raise from other HNWIs, structure as multi-family offices, charge 1-1.5% management fees, and build recurring revenue. The shift: from "we manage our family's money" to "we manage multiple families' money."

The National: "Those dealing with raising external capital are also sought after." That's a capital formation professional — not an analyst, not an advisor — someone who's DONE fundraising at institutional scale.

6. Why Dubai Specifically

Dubai Family Office Clustering
0%
Personal income tax
10yr
Golden visa
100+
FOs at ME Summit

Tax migration, golden visas, DIFC infrastructure, $500M+ families clustering in one city, and network effects compounding. When 100+ FOs are in one city and all hiring similar roles, talent competition intensifies.

7. What This Means for You

Roles emerging: Director of Capital Formation, Head of IR, VP External Capital Raising, MD Family Office Partnerships. Compensation: $200-400K base (Dubai, tax-free) plus carry/bonuses tied to capital raised. The trade-off: smaller teams, less structure — but you're building from scratch with direct ROI impact.