About Altair Associates
Altair is one of the brightest stars visible from Earth, long used by sailors to fix a position when nothing else was certain. We chose the name in 2008 because it describes the job: give leadership teams a reliable point to steer decisions by, even in poor visibility.
The Origin
Altair Associates started as a two-person search practice in Singapore after our founders, both former in-house heads of talent, grew frustrated with a market that treated executive search, consulting and financial advisory as unrelated disciplines. A CEO search that ignored the operating model it was walking into rarely worked. Neither did a restructuring plan built without regard for who would have to execute it.
Eighteen years on, the firm still runs on that complaint: leadership, structure and capital are one decision, not three.
How We Work
Every engagement is led by a partner who stays on the account from first conversation to final handover — we do not transfer clients to junior teams once the contract is signed. Search assignments are capped so that consultants are never running more than a handful of live mandates at a time.
We are independent and privately held, with no obligations to a parent group, an index provider or an external investor that might shape whose interests come first.
Our Principles
We turn down mandates where we hold a conflicting relationship, even when the fee is attractive. Clients hear our honest read, not the version that keeps a second engagement alive.
We maintain strict off-limits agreements with client organisations and will decline searches that would require approaching their people.
Every shortlist and recommendation is backed by structured reference checks, psychometric data and documented reasoning the board can interrogate.
Offices
Meet the Firm
Every engagement is led by a named partner, not a rotating account team.
View leadership team