Investing
How family offices manage capital: allocation, asset classes, direct deals, policy statements, and due diligence.
Framework
How Family Offices Invest
Family offices invest differently from most institutions because they combine long time horizons, significant tax sensitivity, concentrated legacy positions… · 9 min read
Asset Allocation for Family Capital
Asset allocation is the process of deciding how to divide a family's capital across different categories of investments — such as stocks, bonds, real estate… · 7 min read
The Investment Policy Statement (IPS)
An Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is a written document that defines how a family office will invest — covering goals, risk tolerance, asset allocation… · 7 min read
Liquidity, Concentration, and Risk
Liquidity, concentration, and risk management are three foundational disciplines that family offices apply to protect and sustain wealth across generations.… · 8 min read
Asset Classes
Public Markets: Equities and Fixed Income
Public markets — stocks (equities) and bonds (fixed income) — form the liquid core of most family office portfolios, providing the ready cash that funds… · 6 min read
Real Estate in the Family Portfolio
Real estate commonly appears in family portfolios in three forms: direct ownership of physical property, funds that pool capital across many assets, and… · 7 min read
Private Equity and Venture Capital
Private equity and venture capital are pools of capital that invest in privately held companies — businesses whose shares are not traded on public stock… · 6 min read
Private Credit
Private credit is lending that happens outside the traditional banking system, where a family office or other investor lends money directly to businesses or… · 7 min read
Hedge Funds, Infrastructure, and Commodities
Hedge funds, infrastructure, and commodities are the "diversifier sleeve" that families often add to a portfolio alongside stocks, bonds, real estate, and… · 8 min read
Cash and Treasury for Families
Cash and treasury management is how family offices decide where family cash sits, how much to keep on hand, and how to squeeze reasonable yield out of money… · 7 min read
Direct Investing
Direct Investing
Direct investing means a family office writes a check directly into a company, property, or loan — bypassing a fund manager and owning the asset outright.… · 8 min read
Co-Investments and Club Deals
A co-investment is a direct stake in a single deal that a private equity or other fund sponsor offers to select limited partners alongside the main fund. Club… · 6 min read
Deal Sourcing, Monitoring, and Exits
Deal sourcing, monitoring, and exits describe the full lifecycle of a direct investment inside a family office — from discovering an opportunity to eventually… · 7 min read
Process
Due Diligence
Due diligence is the structured process a family office uses to investigate an investment — whether a fund commitment or a direct deal — before committing… · 7 min read
Manager Selection
Manager selection is the process a family office uses to identify, evaluate, and hire external investment managers — such as fund managers, separately managed… · 6 min read
Investment Committees That Work
An investment committee (IC) is the group of people a family office formally empowers to make or ratify investment decisions, set policy, and hold the… · 6 min read
Performance Measurement and Benchmarking
Performance measurement and benchmarking is how a family office evaluates whether its investments are actually earning what they appear to earn — and whether… · 7 min read