Singapore’s family office sector has grown rapidly since MAS introduced the Section 13O and Section 13U tax exemption schemes, with the number of family offices holding MAS approval exceeding 1,100 by late 2025. As family offices establish and scale their operations, hiring qualified investment professionals, advisors, and senior operational staff from overseas becomes a recurring challenge — and one that sits at the intersection of MOM work pass rules, MAS licensing requirements, and the relatively unusual corporate structures that family offices use.
This guide sets out the work pass options available to family offices hiring foreign staff in Singapore — Employment Pass, Personalised Employment Pass, and ONE Pass — and explains where each one gets complicated.
Why Family Office Hiring Is Different
Most employer guides to Singapore work passes assume a standard corporate employer: a Pte Ltd with a headcount, a COMPASS ratio to manage, and a Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) advertising obligation to satisfy. Family offices frequently operate outside this template in ways that create friction with standard MOM processes:
- Single-family offices (SFOs) often have very small headcounts. A family office employing two investment professionals and one compliance officer has a local-to-foreign workforce ratio that almost automatically looks unfavourable under COMPASS’s workforce diversity criterion — not because the employer is acting in bad faith, but because the business model involves a small, highly specialised team.
- Compensation structures are complex. Carried interest, profit participation, and other performance-linked components are common in investment management roles. COMPASS’s salary criterion uses fixed monthly salary — not total compensation — which can disadvantage candidates whose market-rate package is partly variable.
- The employing entity may not be the regulated entity. In many SFO structures, the investment manager (the licensed entity) and the employing entity (which may be a holding company or nominee employer) are different legal persons. MOM will assess the work pass application against the employing entity — which may have no track record, minimal operating history, and no local employees other than those being applied for.
- Roles may straddle regulated and non-regulated activity. A Chief Investment Officer at a family office may perform functions that require MAS licensing (fund management) alongside functions that do not (family governance, estate planning). This blending of regulated and unregulated activities can create uncertainty about whether the MOM and MAS requirements interact.
Employment Pass for Family Office Hires
The Employment Pass (EP) is the default work pass for mid-to-senior professional hires paying a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 5,600 (or SGD 6,200 for financial services roles, which most family office positions will be classified as). EP applications for family office staff are assessed under the COMPASS framework — the points-based system introduced in September 2023 that replaced the previous criteria-based assessment.
COMPASS Scoring Challenges for Family Offices
Family offices face structural disadvantages on two of COMPASS’s four criteria:
C1 — Salary criterion: COMPASS compares the applicant’s fixed monthly salary against MOM’s published salary benchmarks for the occupation. Investment management roles — portfolio managers, analysts, chief investment officers — typically have strong market salaries, so candidates meeting or exceeding the 50th percentile benchmark should not find this a barrier. However, candidates whose compensation is substantially performance-linked may have fixed salaries that fall short of benchmarks even when their total remuneration is well above market.
C3 — Local workforce ratio: COMPASS awards points when a higher proportion of an employer’s PMET workforce is Singaporean or PR. For a small family office with a genuinely specialist team, the ratio of local to foreign PMETs may be low not because of discriminatory hiring but because the pool of locally qualified investment professionals in certain niche strategies is limited. This criterion can produce poor COMPASS scores for structurally legitimate reasons.
Where COMPASS scoring is marginal, family offices have a few structural options: hiring a local as a senior advisor or board member to improve the ratio, paying salary that scores well on the benchmark criterion, or applying for a Shortage Occupation List (SOL) bonus where the role qualifies. Alternatively, the EP applicant may better fit the PEP or ONE Pass — which bypass COMPASS entirely.
For a full breakdown of current EP thresholds and COMPASS scoring mechanics, see our Singapore Employment Pass Guide 2026.
Personalised Employment Pass for Family Office Principals and Advisors
The Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) is issued to the individual rather than to an employer, meaning the holder can change employers or spend time without an employer for up to six months without losing their pass. For family office principals — family members themselves who wish to live and work in Singapore while managing the family’s investments — or for senior advisors who may have portfolio roles across multiple structures, the PEP has significant attractions.
PEP Eligibility
To qualify for a PEP, an applicant must meet one of the following:
- Currently hold an Employment Pass and earn a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 12,000; or
- Be an overseas foreign professional earning the equivalent of at least SGD 18,000 per month in their current overseas role.
For family office contexts, the overseas professional route is often relevant — a principal or senior adviser based overseas who is relocating to Singapore to manage or advise on family assets may well earn above SGD 18,000 per month in their current position. Evidence of overseas salary is required; MOM typically accepts employment contracts, payslips, and tax returns.
PEP Restrictions
PEP holders may not be self-employed, and may not run their own business in Singapore. This is a significant constraint for family office principals who are also the beneficial owners of the family assets: if the family office structure involves the principal being a director or employee of the holding entity that owns the family assets, MOM may take the view that the PEP holder is effectively self-employed or is managing their own enterprise, which falls outside the PEP’s permitted scope.
Whether a family principal’s role at the family office constitutes employment or self-employment for PEP purposes depends on the structure and the nature of the role. Legal advice on structuring is advisable before relying on the PEP for family principal hires. For questions about whether an EP holder at a family office can simultaneously hold a directorship at another entity, see our article on EP holders and company directorships in Singapore.
ONE Pass for Top-Tier Family Office Talent
The Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass was introduced in January 2023 for individuals who meet at least one of three criteria: earning SGD 30,000 per month or more, having outstanding achievements in their field, or working in strategic sectors designated by the Singapore government.
For family offices, the ONE Pass is most relevant for:
- Senior investment professionals earning at or above SGD 30,000 per month fixed salary — chief investment officers and senior portfolio managers at well-resourced single-family offices frequently meet this threshold.
- Individuals with established track records in investment management who may qualify on the outstanding achievements criterion — this is assessed holistically and is less formulaic than the salary threshold.
- Professionals working in financial services, which is a designated strategic sector for ONE Pass purposes.
ONE Pass Advantages for Family Offices
The ONE Pass bypasses COMPASS entirely. There is no local workforce ratio to maintain, no salary benchmark comparison, and no FCF advertising requirement. For a family office struggling with COMPASS scoring due to its small headcount and specialist team, the ONE Pass — where the candidate qualifies — eliminates the structural friction. The ONE Pass also permits concurrent employment, meaning a ONE Pass holder can hold roles at multiple entities simultaneously, which suits family offices where a senior advisor may serve both the investment management entity and the family holding company.
For the ONE Pass eligibility rules and application process, see our Singapore ONE Pass Guide.
MAS Licensing and MOM Passes: The Interaction
A complication specific to family offices is that performing regulated activities (fund management, financial advisory) in Singapore requires either an MAS licence or an exemption. MAS licensing requirements are separate from MOM work pass requirements, but they interact in two ways:
First, MAS’s fit and proper assessment for key appointment holders (the Responsible Person or Representative for fund management) requires the individual to be resident in Singapore — which means they need a valid work pass. The MOM and MAS processes are independent, but the practical sequence is that the work pass must be secured before the MAS notification or appointment can be completed.
Second, family offices operating under the Section 13O or 13U tax exemption schemes must satisfy MAS’s conditions on the number and qualifications of investment professionals employed. MAS requires at least one investment professional (for 13O) or at least three (for 13U) employed in Singapore. Where these investment professionals are foreign nationals, securing their work pass is a prerequisite for satisfying MAS’s staffing conditions — meaning that work pass delays directly delay or jeopardise MAS scheme compliance.
For employers navigating this process, working with both an MAS regulatory adviser and an experienced employment pass agency concurrently — rather than sequentially — significantly reduces the risk of compliance delays.
Practical Steps for Family Office Hiring in 2026
- Assess which pass category fits each hire before extending an offer. EP, PEP, and ONE Pass each have different eligibility criteria, timelines, and COMPASS implications. Structuring the offer before MOM assessment avoids post-offer renegotiation.
- Check COMPASS scores early for EP applications. MOM’s myMOM Portal includes a COMPASS self-assessment tool. For small family offices where the workforce ratio criterion may score poorly, identify whether the application will need to rely on bonus criteria or whether a different pass category is preferable.
- Document the employment relationship clearly. For family offices where the principal is both employee and ultimate beneficiary, ensure the employment contract and corporate structure clearly establish an arm’s-length employment relationship to avoid PEP self-employment concerns.
- Sequence MOM and MAS processes in parallel. Begin the work pass application as soon as the offer is accepted. Do not wait for MAS scheme approval before starting the MOM application — the two processes can and should proceed simultaneously.
- Plan for S Pass if mid-level operational staff are needed. Not all family office roles are at the EP or PEP level. Compliance analysts, operations managers, and fund accounting staff may qualify at S Pass level. Check the S Pass quota available to the employing entity before extending offers.
For a broader view of the Singapore employment market context that family offices are operating in, our analysis of the Singapore Labour Market Q1 2026 covers the tight conditions affecting professional hiring across all sectors.
Get Support with Family Office Work Passes
Singapore Employment Agency is the consumer brand of Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd (MOM Licence 19C9790). We assist family offices and financial services employers with Employment Pass, PEP, and ONE Pass applications, including COMPASS scoring optimisation and FCF compliance. For corporate structuring, MAS licensing advisory, and tax exemption scheme support, our sister brand Raffles Corporate Services provides integrated family office services.
— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency