Club Deal

In a club deal, each participant invests directly into a single asset or company alongside a small, trusted group. Unlike a private equity fund, there is no pooled vehicle charging carried interest on a broad portfolio — each family simply co-owns a slice of the one deal. This structure appeals to families that want control, transparency, and lower fee drag on individual transactions. You can read more about how these fit into a broader investment program on the co-investments page.

A concrete example: a founder who sold her logistics company teams up with three other family offices she knows through a shared network. Together they acquire a regional warehousing business, each committing capital directly to the holding company. No fund manager takes a management fee; the families negotiate governance rights among themselves. Deal sourcing and monitoring therefore becomes a shared responsibility across the group.

A common confusion is conflating club deals with co-investments. Co-investments typically involve a lead fund manager who brings in select limited partners alongside an existing fund. Club deals usually have no such lead fund — the investors themselves organize the transaction collectively. Both require careful due diligence, but the governance dynamics differ meaningfully.