Singapore’s single family office sector has grown dramatically over the past five years. As at end 2025, more than 2,000 single family offices (SFOs) were receiving tax incentives under MAS’s Section 13O and 13U schemes — managing the assets of families from across Asia, Europe and the Americas. The revised MAS framework that took effect on 15 June 2026 streamlined the SFO registration and monitoring process, making Singapore an even more operationally efficient base for private wealth structures. For the families and their advisers managing these structures, one of the most consequential operational decisions is which work pass is right for which person in the family office team.
This guide covers the pass strategy for family offices in Singapore: which pass applies to principals and family members, which pass is appropriate for investment professionals, how the MAS 13O and 13U investment professional requirements interact with hiring decisions, and what compliance obligations an SFO takes on as a Singapore employer. For the tax incentive structure itself, see our Singapore Family Office Tax Incentives 2026: Section 13O vs 13U Compared.
Family Office Hiring in Singapore: The Pass Landscape
A Singapore family office typically needs to fill four broad categories of role: the principal (the family member running the office or relocating to Singapore), investment professionals (CIO, portfolio manager, analyst), operations and compliance staff, and administrative support. Each category has a different optimal pass pathway, and the choices interact with the family’s MAS tax incentive obligations and the overall headcount structure MAS expects to see.
The ONE Pass for Principals and Senior Family Members
The ONE Pass — the Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass — is the most appropriate work pass for principals and senior family members who are relocating to Singapore to run the family office. The ONE Pass requires a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 30,000 per month (with at least SGD 22,500 in fixed salary; the balance can be variable or equity-linked). For family members whose compensation comes substantially from the family trust or investment returns rather than from a fixed salary, a careful structuring of the compensation arrangement is required to meet the fixed salary criterion.
The ONE Pass has a five-year validity and is employer-agnostic: the holder may work concurrently for multiple entities, start and operate companies, sit on boards, and change employers without reapplying. This is particularly valuable in the family office context, where the principal may simultaneously hold board roles in portfolio companies, investment advisory roles for the trust, and a management role in the SFO entity itself. For a full guide to the ONE Pass criteria, see ONE Pass Singapore: Who Actually Qualifies in 2026.
For principals who do not yet meet the SGD 30,000 salary criterion — perhaps because the family office is newly established and the compensation structure is still being formalised — the Employment Pass is the appropriate starting pass, with an upgrade to the ONE Pass once the salary and structure are in place.
Employment Pass for Investment Professionals
The financial services sector threshold
Investment professionals hired by a Singapore SFO — Chief Investment Officers, portfolio managers, research analysts, risk managers — will almost always be assessed against the financial services sector Employment Pass threshold. Per the Ministry of Manpower, the qualifying salary for the financial services sector is SGD 6,200 per month for new applications as at August 2026 (rising to SGD 6,600 from 1 January 2027). The age-progressive COMPASS C1 benchmark means that senior investment professionals in their 40s will need salaries meaningfully above the base floor to score well on the COMPASS salary criterion.
COMPASS and family office EP applications
The COMPASS framework applies to all new EP applications. Family offices face a structural challenge on the C3 (firm-level nationality diversity) and C4 (local PMET hiring) criteria. An SFO that hires predominantly foreign professionals of the same nationality as the principal will score poorly on C3. An SFO that has no Singapore-citizen or PR professional employees will score zero on C4 local PMET support. These scoring gaps can be offset by C1 salary (above the 65th-percentile benchmark scores 20 points) and C2 qualifications (top-tier institutions score 20 points), but family offices should audit their COMPASS position before filing any EP application to avoid rejections. Our COMPASS Framework Explained: Earning Your 40 Points guide covers the full scoring matrix.
Candidates exempt from COMPASS
Investment professionals earning SGD 22,500 or more per month are exempt from the full COMPASS assessment. For senior CIOs and portfolio managers at well-capitalised family offices, this effectively removes the COMPASS constraint — compensation at this level almost always reflects the seniority and institutional credibility that MOM is looking for. These candidates might also qualify for the Personalised Employment Pass or the ONE Pass, which have further advantages in terms of employer independence and validity.
Personalised Employment Pass for Mobile Senior Talent
Senior investment professionals who earn or have previously earned SGD 22,500 or more per month may consider the Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) — particularly those who value the ability to change roles within the family office structure, consult for multiple entities, or take sabbatical periods between mandates without losing Singapore residency.
The PEP is not tied to a sponsoring employer. It is valid for three years and non-renewable, and the holder cannot be continuously unemployed for more than six months. For investment professionals at the senior end of the SFO talent market, the PEP provides maximum professional flexibility. Its non-renewability means that candidates must either convert to an EP with a new employer, qualify for the ONE Pass, or apply for PR during the PEP period. See our Singapore Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) 2026: Complete Guide for eligibility criteria.
MAS 13O and 13U: Hiring Obligations
The MAS Section 13O and 13U tax incentive schemes require SFOs to employ a minimum number of investment professionals based in Singapore — defined as persons engaged in the management of, research on or trading of investment products. Under the revised framework effective 15 June 2026:
- Section 13O (AUM from SGD 20 million): requires at least one Singapore-based investment professional. That professional may be the principal or a hired CIO/portfolio manager — but they must be genuinely based and working in Singapore.
- Section 13U (AUM from SGD 50 million): requires at least two Singapore-based investment professionals. At least one must not be a beneficial owner of the family office fund, meaning the family cannot count two family members — at least one investment professional must be an independent hire.
This distinction matters for pass strategy. An SFO seeking 13U treatment needs to hire at least one independent investment professional on an EP (or PEP or ONE Pass), in addition to any family member who holds their own pass. The hiring timeline matters: MAS scrutinises whether the required investment professionals are genuinely in place and active, not just nominally employed. For the full MAS incentive framework and conditions, see the MAS Fund Tax Incentive Scheme for Family Offices page.
Operations, Compliance and Administrative Roles
Compliance officers and sensitive roles
Some SFOs hire dedicated compliance officers, legal counsels or risk managers who are not investment professionals under the MAS definition but whose work requires high professional standing. These roles are typically filled on Employment Passes, with candidates assessed under COMPASS in the financial services sector. The job description for compliance and legal roles requires care: the role must be described accurately as requiring expertise in financial regulation, legal compliance or risk management — not as a generalist administrative role. MOM caseworkers are experienced in identifying role-level mismatches in EP applications.
Administrative and support staff
Family office personal assistants, family administrators and household managers — if they are genuinely performing non-investment administrative roles — are assessed against the standard EP or S Pass thresholds. For S Pass, the minimum salary is SGD 3,300 per month (for candidates aged 23 and below; higher for older candidates) and the financial services sector S Pass floor of SGD 3,800 may apply depending on how the SFO entity is classified by SSIC code. Employers should verify their sector classification before filing. For a full S Pass framework guide, see our Singapore S Pass 2026: Salary, Quota, Levy and Employer Guide.
PR Strategy for Family Office Hires
Senior investment professionals hired at the SFO level — who earn above SGD 10,000 per month, are in the financial services sector and have two to three years of Singapore tenure — are among the strongest PR applicant profiles under the current 40,000 annual ICA intake target. PR for key investment professionals is strategically valuable to the SFO: it removes the periodic EP renewal dependency, qualifies the professional for CPF participation (which helps the SFO’s CPF levy obligations for local headcount), and strengthens the professional’s integration signals.
SFO principals who are also planning their own permanent residency should be aware that the holistic ICA assessment for PR weighs long-term commitment signals — children in Singapore schools, community involvement, consistent CPF and tax history — just as heavily as salary. See our Singapore PR Application Strategy: Making the Most of the 40,000 Annual Quota Window for the full strategic guide.
Get Expert Guidance on Family Office Hiring
Little Big Employment Agency (LBEA) is MOM-licensed (Licence 19C9790) and has experience working with single family offices on pass applications across all role types — from ONE Pass applications for principals, to EP applications for CIOs and portfolio managers, to Dependant’s Passes for family members. We can advise on COMPASS positioning, role-pass alignment, and the sequencing of applications across the full family office team. Contact Singapore Employment Agency to discuss your SFO hiring plan. For the corporate structure, MAS notifications, company incorporation and corporate secretarial support for your Singapore SFO, Raffles Corporate Services provides the full range of services under one roof.
— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency