6 WEEKS
Brief to accepted offer
4 YEARS
Still in post
3
Candidates shortlisted
1
Offer made
THE SITUATION
A private individual managing a significant family office and personal investment portfolio had been operating without dedicated EA support for eighteen months. The previous EA had left to relocate. The search had been informal, relying on word of mouth and a single agency introduction that had not produced a shortlist.
The principal was referred to TalentSmiths by a family office peer. The brief was complex: the role spanned personal and professional life, required absolute discretion, and demanded someone who could operate independently across multiple time zones without supervision.
Critically, the principal had a specific working style that had made previous placements difficult. Not impossible. Specific. TalentSmiths spent the first briefing understanding that style rather than the role.
WHAT WE DID
The search was run exclusively through The Circle. UHNW placements require a different profile than corporate EA roles. The candidate needs to be comfortable with ambiguity, with proximity to significant wealth, and with the particular demands of a principal whose life does not follow a corporate calendar.
Three candidates were presented at week four. All three had prior UHNW or family office experience. The principal met all three in a single week. One candidate was immediately right. The offer was made at week five. Accepted the same day.
The EA has been in post for four years. She manages the principal's full personal and professional schedule, oversees a small household team, and has become an integral part of how the principal operates.
“The quality of candidates was unlike anything I had seen from a search firm. These were not people who had applied to a job board. They were introduced.”
UHNW PRINCIPAL, LONDON