Lyneer Search Group's 2026 MFO & Family Office Salary Guide — built from primary data across hundreds of firms and thousands of incumbents — reveals a market in structural, not cyclical, expansion.

Here are three findings you need to know.

1. Executive Compensation Has Broken Away from the Broader Market

While the broader finance and accounting market averaged roughly 2% salary growth heading into 2026, family office investment executives are seeing increases of 5–13% depending on function — and at the top, far more.

Average investment executive base salary grew from $471,000 in 2023 to $541,000 in 2025. Bonuses grew even faster, from $448,000 to $563,000 over the same period. Average total cash for investment executives now stands at $1,104,000.

At the CIO level, the numbers are starker. Average CIO total cash compensation reached $1.82 million in 2025 ($864K base + $958K bonus), with carried interest and co-investment opportunities adding the equivalent of an additional full salary on top of that. The 2025 guide's CIO base figures were already aggressive — this year's data required a significant upward revision.

2. Long-Term Incentives Are No Longer Optional

62% of investment-focused single-family offices now have formal long-term incentive plans — and at offices managing more than $1 billion in AUM, that figure rises to approximately 70%.

For the first time since 2015, co-investment opportunity (offered at 57% of firms) has surpassed deferred incentive compensation as the most common LTI vehicle. At 85% of firms offering co-investment, it is self-funded — meaning it costs the office relatively little while carrying significant retention value for high-performing employees.

Signing bonuses of $100,000–$200,000 now occur in 70% of senior family office placements.

3. Three New Roles Emerged for 2026

The talent needs of family offices have expanded beyond traditional finance and investment functions. Three roles appear in this year's guide for the first time:

• AI Governance & Compliance Lead ($130,000–$210,000 base) — New regulatory obligations under Colorado SB 205 and Texas RAIGA create formal compliance requirements for offices using AI in investment screening, hiring, or reporting. Robert Half identifies AI governance as the highest-growth finance category for 2026, at +4.1%.
• Cybersecurity / Head of Digital Risk ($145,000–$240,000 base) — 60% of family offices experienced a cyberattack in 2025. 70% now rank cybersecurity as their top operational concern heading into 2026.
• Digital Assets & Alternative Data Analyst ($120,000–$200,000 base) — As offices diversify into direct investments, venture, and digital infrastructure, demand is growing for analysts who bridge traditional finance with emerging asset classes and data-driven research.

The Full Picture

These three data points are a starting place.

Lyneer's complete 2026 MFO & Family Office Salary Guide covers:

• 40+ roles across Finance & Accounting, Risk & Compliance, Investment, Client Services, and Operations & Technology
• Salary tables with 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile breakdowns
• AUM-tiered compensation benchmarks from under $500M to over $2.5B
• Regional salary data for New York, California, Chicago, Seattle, Florida, and Texas
• Long-term incentive structures, bonus frameworks, and total compensation strategy
• Seven strategic insights on where the market is heading

Whether you're benchmarking a current team, planning your next hire, or advising a principal on compensation structure — this is the data you need.

Download the 2026 MFO & Family Office Salary Guide