Family Offices & Private Banking
Family Offices & Private Banking Recruitment & Executive Search
Specialist retained search across family investment offices, boutique private banks and privately backed commodity ventures.
Family offices, privately owned investment companies and boutique private banks can have recruitment requirements that look quite different from those of larger financial institutions.
Some require investment professionals who understand energy, metals, mining, agriculture or other real assets. Others are looking to establish trading businesses, deploy capital through proprietary strategies or build specialist investment teams around the interests and experience of a family or principal.
For a family office considering a new commodity trading venture, the first appointments can be particularly important. An experienced Trading Director or Managing Director may need to help establish the business itself, develop commercial relationships, recruit a team and put appropriate risk and operational controls in place.
Smaller private banks and independent wealth managers have another set of requirements. Institutions serving entrepreneurs, commodity trading families and internationally active business owners may need relationship managers, investment specialists or senior executives who genuinely understand the industries from which their clients have generated wealth.
Imperium’s retained search work across commodities, derivatives and financial markets gives us relevant coverage across these different environments. We map experienced professionals from established trading houses, investment firms, banks, proprietary trading businesses and specialist commodity markets according to the demands of each appointment.
The structure of the organisation is especially important in this market. Reporting directly to a family principal, managing privately committed trading capital or building a business without the established infrastructure of a major institution can require a particular kind of professional experience.
Our searches therefore consider the investment mandate, commercial objectives, ownership structure, risk responsibilities and working environment alongside the technical experience required for the role.
Understanding Family Offices & Private Banking
Private capital supports a wide range of investment structures, from established wealth management offices to independently backed trading businesses.
Single-Family Offices & Private Investment Companies
Single-family offices manage the financial interests of individual families, often combining investment portfolios with direct business interests and long-term wealth planning. Recruitment requirements can include investment leadership, portfolio management, direct investment specialists and executives capable of working closely with family principals.
Boutique Private Banks & Independent Wealth Managers
Smaller private banks and independent wealth businesses serve high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs and families with complex financial requirements. Specialist appointments may combine private banking experience with commodity-sector knowledge, investment advisory expertise, international relationships and an understanding of privately owned businesses.
Direct Commodity & Real-Asset Investment
Private capital can be invested directly into energy, mining, metals, agricultural businesses and related infrastructure. Professionals working in these areas may require a combination of investment analysis, commercial due diligence, sector knowledge and experience managing operating assets or privately held companies.
Physical Commodity Trading Ventures
Some privately backed investors establish or acquire commodity trading businesses, creating requirements for experienced trading and commercial leadership. Building these operations can involve physical traders, originators, risk managers, trade finance specialists and operational professionals capable of developing a functioning international trading business.
Proprietary Trading & Internal Investment Desks
Family offices and private investment companies may deploy their own capital through discretionary or systematic trading strategies. These activities can span commodity futures, options, spreads, macro markets and other financial instruments, with specialist requirements around trading performance, portfolio risk and investment infrastructure.
Risk, Governance & Business Leadership
Privately owned investment and trading businesses require suitable financial, operational and risk oversight. Depending on the structure, appointments may include Chief Investment Officers, Managing Directors, CFOs, Heads of Risk and senior operational executives, particularly where a new venture is being established or an existing business is expanding.
Private Capital Creates Some Distinctive Recruitment Requirements
A family office establishing a commodity trading business may initially need just a handful of senior professionals.
Those early appointments can determine the products traded, relationships developed, markets entered and operating structure of the business. The experience required can extend well beyond an individual’s personal trading performance.
An established private bank recruiting a senior relationship manager faces a different challenge, particularly where the client base includes commodity entrepreneurs or internationally active business-owning families.
Understanding the purpose of the organisation, the people making investment decisions and the responsibilities attached to each appointment helps us establish where the relevant talent is likely to be found.
How Family Offices Manage Investment & Commodity Exposure
Private capital takes many forms, and the decision to manage investments internally can shape the people a family office needs to employ.
Commodity exposure within a family office can mean several different things. It might involve investing through an external commodity fund, acquiring a stake in an energy or mining business, establishing an internal proprietary trading desk or providing capital to build a new physical trading company.
The operating requirements vary considerably. A family office managing a portfolio of external investments may need relatively few internal specialists, while a business trading physical energy, metals or agricultural commodities requires dedicated commercial, financial, risk and operational expertise.
Research into family office investment management offers some useful context. Campden Wealth’s 2025 study examined how participating offices manage different asset classes, including commodities, hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investments.
How Family Offices Manage Selected Investments
| Investment Type | In-House | Combined | Outsourced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commodities | 47% | 19% | 34% |
| Hedge Funds | 36% | 25% | 39% |
| Private Equity | 48% | 29% | 23% |
| Venture Capital | 46% | 30% | 24% |
| Private Credit | 37% | 22% | 40% |
The figures describe how participating family offices manage investments in these asset classes, rather than the proportion of all family offices investing in them.
Different Investment Structures Require Different People
The distinction between holding an investment and operating a business is particularly relevant in commodity markets.
A family office might gain exposure to metals or energy through external managers, with its own investment team responsible for allocation decisions and performance oversight. Another may acquire an operating company, requiring commercial due diligence, sector expertise and management of the underlying business.
Establishing a commodity trading house involves another level of responsibility. Trading limits, counterparty credit, financing arrangements, physical execution and operational controls all have to be considered, alongside the commercial strategy.
For smaller family offices, the choice of what to build internally is especially important. The senior professionals appointed may take responsibility for several functions that would be handled by separate departments in a larger investment institution.
80%
Recruitment Challenges in Smaller Family Offices
Family offices in Campden Wealth’s smaller-office category reporting difficulty recruiting staff in its 2025 research.
37%
Power & Resources Investment Theme
Family offices in UBS’s 2026 global survey reporting investment in power and resources as a thematic area.
60%
Investment Committee Structures
Family offices in UBS’s 2026 survey operating with formal investment committees.
Market context: Campden Wealth surveyed 146 family offices, with its smaller-office category covering US$150 million to US$249 million in assets under management. UBS surveyed 307 family offices with an average family net worth of US$2.7 billion. Findings describe the participating institutions and are not necessarily representative of smaller family offices, boutique private banks or privately backed commodity trading ventures. Investment management arrangements do not indicate the number of family offices operating proprietary trading desks or physical commodity businesses. Percentages may vary slightly due to rounding.
Where We Find Specialist Family Office & Commodity Talent
Relevant experience often develops outside the family office industry itself, particularly when private capital is being committed to a new trading business.
A family office establishing a commodity trading company may need people who have spent their careers inside physical trading houses, while a proprietary investment operation could require professionals from hedge funds or specialist trading firms.
For private banks and existing family offices, the relevant experience may come from investment management, private banking, commodity finance or businesses managing direct investments in the underlying industries.
The search therefore extends across several distinct professional markets. We consider both the experience developed within an organisation and how well that individual might operate within a smaller, privately controlled business.
Commodity Trading & Investment Talent
Global Commodity Trading Houses
Established commodity merchants develop professionals with experience in physical trading, origination, hedging, counterparty relationships and international trade finance. Senior traders and commercial leaders from these businesses can be relevant to family-backed ventures, particularly where they have managed their own books, built teams or carried substantial P&L responsibility.
Independent Commodity Merchants & Specialist Trading Firms
Smaller trading companies can be valuable sources of professionals accustomed to working without the extensive infrastructure of a multinational merchant. Experience may include developing new markets, managing commercial relationships, arranging financing and overseeing physical execution within relatively lean organisations.
Hedge Funds & Proprietary Trading Firms
Commodity portfolio managers, discretionary traders and systematic investment professionals may be relevant to family offices establishing internal trading desks. Their experience can span futures, options, commodity spreads, global macro and quantitative strategies, with particular attention paid to track record, risk management and the capital structures in which they have operated.
Energy, Metals & Agricultural Businesses
Commercial and investment professionals from energy companies, mining groups, metals businesses and agricultural merchants can bring valuable industry knowledge to direct investments and family-backed ventures. Their experience may cover asset acquisitions, operating businesses, commercial strategy, commodity exposure and relationships across physical supply chains.
Private Capital, Banking & Financial Expertise
Single-Family Offices & Private Investment Companies
Investment directors, CIOs and senior executives from existing family investment businesses understand the requirements of working closely with principals and managing privately controlled capital. Their experience may include portfolio oversight, direct investments, governance, confidential reporting and the balance between investment performance and longer-term family objectives.
Boutique Private Banks & Independent Wealth Managers
Private bankers and investment advisers serving entrepreneurs, business owners and international families can be particularly relevant where clients have backgrounds in commodity trading, energy, mining or other real assets. Established relationships, investment knowledge, regulatory experience and an understanding of complex international wealth structures can all be important.
Commodity Finance & Specialist Banking Teams
Professionals from commodity finance, structured trade finance and specialist banking businesses understand the financing arrangements supporting physical trading. Their experience can be relevant to family-backed ventures requiring working capital, counterparty credit assessment, bank relationships and financial oversight as a new trading operation develops.
Private Equity & Real-Asset Investment Firms
Investment professionals specialising in energy, natural resources, infrastructure and operating businesses may be suited to family offices seeking direct exposure to commodity industries. Relevant backgrounds can include transaction execution, commercial due diligence, portfolio company oversight, investment structuring and the management of privately held assets.
Building a Business Requires a Particular Kind of Experience
An established commodity trader may have an excellent commercial record but relatively little experience establishing a business from the ground up. Setting up a physical trading company can involve securing banking relationships, developing counterparty agreements, establishing risk limits, recruiting operational support and deciding where capital should be committed.
Some professionals have already been through that process, perhaps opening a new trading desk for an established merchant, expanding into a different commodity or building a regional business. That experience can be particularly relevant to private investors considering their own trading venture.
For boutique private banks and existing family offices, the requirements are often more closely tied to investment judgement, relationships and the ability to work with business-owning families. A private banker who understands the commercial realities of commodity trading may be well placed to serve entrepreneurs whose wealth remains connected to those markets.
Imperium’s coverage across physical commodities, derivatives, proprietary trading and investment markets allows us to approach these appointments from the industries in which the relevant experience has been developed.
A Trading House Begins Long Before Its First Trade.
Family Office & Private Banking Talent Across Global Markets
Private capital, specialist investment expertise and commodity trading experience are concentrated across different international financial centres.
Family offices and private banks operate internationally, although the professional markets surrounding them vary considerably between locations.
Some centres have longstanding concentrations of private banking, investment management and family wealth. Others bring together privately backed trading businesses, commodity merchants, proprietary traders and entrepreneurs establishing new investment ventures.
For Imperium, the geography of a search is shaped by the family office’s investment interests, the business it intends to operate and the experience required for the appointment.
European Family Offices & Private Banking
Geneva · Zurich · London · Monaco
Switzerland remains an important centre for family offices, independent wealth management and private banking. Geneva also offers substantial crossover with international commodity trading, particularly across energy, metals and agricultural markets.
Zurich provides deep investment management and private banking expertise, while London combines family investment offices with hedge funds, private equity, commodity trading and institutional financial markets. Monaco adds a concentrated private wealth and family office community.
These centres are particularly relevant for mandates involving Chief Investment Officers, private bankers, investment directors, commodity specialists, family office executives and senior commercial professionals overseeing privately held interests.
Middle Eastern & Asian Private Capital
Dubai · Abu Dhabi · Singapore · Hong Kong
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have developed significant private wealth and family investment communities, alongside growing international trading and investment activity. Both are relevant to privately backed commodity ventures, particularly where family capital is being deployed into energy, metals or international trading businesses.
Singapore combines an established family office sector with major physical commodity trading, derivatives and investment management markets. Hong Kong offers substantial private banking, investment and family office expertise, with strong connections to Chinese and wider Asian capital.
Relevant searches can range from family investment leadership and private banking appointments to commodity trading directors, proprietary traders and executives responsible for establishing new commercial operations.
North American Private Investment & Trading
New York · Chicago · Houston · Miami
North America offers several distinct talent pools relevant to privately backed investment and trading businesses.
New York combines family offices, private investment firms, asset management and institutional financial markets. Chicago is particularly relevant for proprietary trading, futures, options and systematic strategies, while Houston provides deep physical energy trading and commodity commercial expertise.
Miami adds an established international private banking and family wealth market, with relationships extending across Latin America and other international investment centres.
These locations are particularly useful for searches involving commodity portfolio managers, proprietary traders, investment executives, trading business leadership and professionals with experience managing privately committed capital.
Matching the Investment Mandate to the Talent Market
A family office in Dubai establishing an energy trading business may find its most relevant commercial leadership in Geneva, Singapore or Houston. A private investment company developing an internal commodity derivatives desk could draw on trading professionals based in Chicago, London or New York.
For established family offices and boutique private banks, the requirements may be quite different, particularly where discretion, long-term relationships and experience working directly with wealthy principals are important.
Our searches follow the relevant professional markets internationally, taking account of the investment strategy, ownership structure, commercial responsibilities and operating environment behind each appointment.
Who We Search For Across Family Offices & Private Banking
Specialist investment, trading, commercial and leadership appointments for privately owned investment businesses.
Family offices and boutique private banks often recruit into highly specialised positions, sometimes building entire investment or trading functions around a small number of senior appointments.
Imperium works across the relevant commodity and financial markets, identifying professionals with the investment experience, commercial relationships and operational understanding required. For family-backed ventures, this can include individuals capable of establishing a new trading business or developing an investment strategy from its earliest stages.
Family Office Investment & Executive Leadership
Family offices require senior professionals who can manage capital, assess investment opportunities and work closely with principals on financial and commercial decisions.
Appointments may involve oversight of diversified portfolios, direct investments in operating businesses, commodity and real-asset exposure or the leadership of an established private investment office. Experience working within smaller, privately controlled organisations can be particularly valuable.
Searches include:
Chief Investment Officer · Family Office CEO · Investment Director · Head of Direct Investments · Portfolio Director · Real Assets Investment Director · Chief Operating Officer · Managing Director
Physical Commodity Trading & Venture Development
Establishing a privately backed commodity trading business requires experienced commercial leadership, particularly where the investment involves physical energy, metals, agricultural commodities or other internationally traded products.
We search for professionals who understand trading economics, counterparties, financing requirements and the operational demands of physical commodity markets. Senior appointments may involve building a desk, entering a new market or developing an independent trading company.
Typical searches include:
Commodity Trading CEO · Trading Director · Head of Energy Trading · Head of Metals Trading · Senior Commodity Trader · Head of Origination · Trade Finance Director · Head of Commodity Risk
Proprietary Trading & Portfolio Management
Family offices deploying capital through internal trading strategies may require experienced portfolio managers, discretionary traders or quantitative specialists with established expertise in financial and commodity markets.
Relevant backgrounds can include commodity futures and options, systematic trading, global macro, relative-value strategies and multi-asset proprietary trading. Track record, risk discipline, capital allocation experience and the ability to operate within a privately funded structure are important considerations.
Mandates include:
Proprietary Trader · Commodity Portfolio Manager · Global Macro Portfolio Manager · Head of Proprietary Trading · Quantitative Trader · Systematic Portfolio Manager · Derivatives Trader · Trading Risk Manager · Senior Quant Researcher
Private Banking & Specialist Wealth Management
Boutique private banks, independent wealth managers and multi-family offices require professionals with strong investment knowledge and established relationships with private clients.
For institutions serving commodity entrepreneurs, trading families and internationally active business owners, experience across energy, metals, agriculture or wider financial markets can provide useful additional depth. Searches may combine investment advisory capabilities with relationship development, commercial leadership and an understanding of complex international wealth structures.
Appointments include:
Senior Private Banker · UHNW Relationship Manager · Private Banking Director · Investment Adviser · Wealth Management Director · Head of Investment Advisory · Senior Investment Specialist · Head of Private Banking
Appointments Shaped by the Family, Capital & Commercial Strategy
The recruitment requirements of privately owned investment businesses can be unusually specific.
A family principal establishing a trading venture may need someone comfortable taking responsibility for commercial development, recruitment and the early operating structure of the business. An established family office appointing an Investment Director might place greater emphasis on investment judgement, discretion and experience overseeing external managers or direct holdings.
In smaller organisations, senior professionals are also likely to work closely with the people who own and control the capital. The scope of their responsibilities, decision-making authority and appetite for risk can differ considerably from equivalent positions within larger institutions.
Our retained search work takes these factors into account when identifying and approaching relevant professionals. We consider their technical and commercial experience alongside the environment in which they have operated and the responsibilities they would be expected to assume.
Specialist Search Across Family Offices & Private Banking
Retained search across private investment, boutique wealth management, commodity trading ventures and family-backed financial businesses.
Family offices and privately owned investment businesses can have very different priorities, depending on how their capital is managed and the commercial interests of the people behind it.
Some are looking for experienced investment professionals to manage portfolios or oversee direct investments. Others want to establish a commodity trading business, build a proprietary trading desk or appoint senior executives capable of turning an investment opportunity into an operating company.
The requirements can be particularly demanding when a family is committing capital to an unfamiliar market. An experienced commodity trader may bring the necessary commercial relationships, but establishing an independent business also requires judgement around financing, risk, operations and the people needed to support it. Smaller private banks face their own challenges when recruiting specialists who understand both sophisticated private clients and the industries in which their wealth was created.
Imperium works on a retained basis, undertaking selective searches across family investment offices, boutique private banks and privately backed trading businesses. Our coverage of physical commodities, derivatives and financial markets allows us to identify professionals with relevant experience, including those who have built successful careers in established institutions and may not otherwise be considering a move.
For Clients
Looking to appoint a Chief Investment Officer, hire an experienced commodity trader, establish a privately backed trading company or strengthen a specialist private banking team?
We build searches around investment strategy, commodity expertise, trading track record, commercial relationships, business development experience, risk responsibilities and the particular requirements of the family or principal.
For Professionals
We do not carry a high volume of vacancies within any one specialist market. But if your background is in family office investment, private banking, physical commodity trading, proprietary trading, portfolio management or investment leadership, we are happy to have a confidential conversation where your experience may be relevant to current or future retained work.
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