Building a successful business can create a family’s wealth. Deciding how to invest that wealth shapes what it can support for generations. A family office gives those decisions a dedicated home, balancing the needs of the family with opportunities to put its capital to work.
Family offices have also become substantial investors in private companies, through funds, direct ownership, and partnerships with sponsors. In this report, CapitalPad Research compares family office surveys, population estimates, and transaction records to examine how much capital these offices manage, where they invest, and their role in financing lower middle market acquisitions.
Estimated assets under management
Single family offices worldwide · Deloitte · 2024 estimate.1
Average private equity allocation
Global family office portfolios · UBS 2026 · 2025 actual allocations.2
Sponsors citing family office capital
Independent sponsor respondents · Citrin Cooperman · 2026 report.3
Number of single family offices and assets under management
Deloitte estimated 8,030 single family offices worldwide in 2024, up from 6,130 in 2019. Its forecast places the population at 10,720 by 2030, alongside an increase in managed assets from $3.1 trillion to $5.4 trillion between 2024 and 2030.1
A family office might commit to a private equity fund, invest alongside a sponsor, or buy a company directly. Its choice depends on the family’s liquidity needs and the investment team’s experience.
Estimated number of single family offices
Worldwide estimates; 2030 projected.
Source: Deloitte (2024).1
| Measure | 2024 estimate | 2030 projection |
|---|---|---|
| Single family offices worldwide | 8,030 | 10,720 |
| Single family offices in North America | 3,180 | 4,190 |
| Family office assets under management | $3.1 trillion | $5.4 trillion |
| Total wealth of the families served | $5.5 trillion | $9.5 trillion |
Source: Deloitte, 2024.1
An operating business can account for much of a family’s wealth without sitting inside the family office’s managed portfolio. Total family wealth and family office assets under management therefore measure different things; neither identifies the capital available for new investments.
Family office asset allocation by asset class
Private equity accounted for 17% of the average family office portfolio in UBS’s 2026 report, based on actual 2025 allocations. Public equities were the largest allocation at 32%, while fixed income represented 17%.2 The portfolio combines readily traded assets with investments intended to develop over a longer period.
| Asset class | Average allocation |
|---|---|
| Public equities | 32%27% developed markets; 5% emerging markets |
| Fixed income | 17%14% developed markets; 3% emerging markets |
| Private equity | 17%8% direct investments; 9% funds and funds of funds |
| Real estate | 11% |
| Cash and equivalents | 9% |
| Hedge funds | 6% |
| Private debt | 3% |
| Precious metals, including gold | 2% |
| Infrastructure | 1% |
| Commodities | 1% |
| Art and antiques | 1% |
Source: UBS 2026, page 18; 307 family offices across more than 30 markets.2 CapitalPad combined the reported public-equity, fixed-income, and private-equity subcategories. Precious metals are counted once, including gold. Figures are rounded portfolio weights, not shares of offices holding each asset.
Other surveys reinforce the importance of private assets while reporting different portfolio weights. Goldman Sachs’s 2025 survey of 245 family offices found a 21% average private equity allocation and 42% across its alternative asset categories.5 Its sample differs from UBS’s, so these figures are separate reference points rather than components of a combined industry average.
For a family office, the allocation decision is also a cash-flow decision. Public securities and cash can help meet spending needs and future commitments. Private investments can provide exposure to businesses and assets whose development takes years. The appropriate balance depends on when the family needs its capital, what it already owns, and the opportunities it can evaluate well.
Why private equity portfolio weights change
Goldman Sachs reported that private equity’s average portfolio weight fell from 26% in 2023 to 21% in 2025.5 Portfolio weights reflect changes in asset values and cash flows as well as new investment decisions. A lower percentage does not, by itself, establish that a family has sold holdings or stopped making commitments.
Family offices use funds, direct investments, and co-investments to access private equity
Direct investing is an established part of family office investing. Citi’s 2025 global survey found that 70% of respondents were engaged in direct investments. Among that group, four in ten said they had increased or significantly increased their activity over the previous year.6
In RBC and Campden Wealth’s 2025 North American sample, almost 90% of family offices held private equity investments.7 The investment routes include professionally managed funds, positions selected directly, and investments made alongside other managers.
How family offices allocate their private markets portfolios
North American family offices. Average allocations total 101% due to rounding.
Source: RBC/Campden Wealth (2025), Figure 2.20, p. 27.7
A fund commitment delegates company selection to a manager. A direct investment lets the family evaluate a particular asset and its proposed terms. A co-investment brings another party’s sourcing or investment capabilities into a specific opportunity. Families can use more than one route, combining a diversified fund program with selected positions in businesses they understand.
Family office direct investing also covers more than outright company acquisitions. It can involve minority positions, growth investments, venture rounds, or other assets, depending on the source’s definition. The family office may contribute capital and judgment while another investor or management team takes responsibility for execution.
Family office direct deal activity in 2025
S&P Global Market Intelligence recorded $12.9 billion of family office direct deal value across 158 transactions in 2025, a 123.3% increase in value from 2024. Its definition includes company, minority-stake, and asset acquisitions as well as funding rounds involving family offices or family trusts, and excludes investments through private equity and venture funds.8
One $4.5 billion acquisition accounted for more than a third of that value.8 A single large deal can move annual value sharply without a similar change in the number of investments, and the database covers more than company buyouts, so the total is best read alongside the transaction count.
Family offices are a leading capital source for independent sponsor deals
Family offices were the most frequently cited capital source among independent sponsor respondents in Citrin Cooperman’s 2026 report. They were named by 69%, ahead of SBIC funds at 61%, high-net-worth individuals at 44%, and mezzanine funds that co-invest at 35%.3
An independent sponsor identifies a company to acquire and raises equity for that transaction. A family office can evaluate the business, purchase price, financing, and value-creation plan before deciding whether to invest.
Family offices are the most cited capital source for independent sponsors
Sponsors citing each source (%); multiple selections allowed.
Source: Citrin Cooperman (2026), pp. 22–23.3
Family offices were the most widely used capital source, but SBICs ranked first as the most likely lead investor at 26%, followed by family offices at 21%.3 These are distinct questions: a source can participate in a transaction without serving as its lead capital partner.
Axial’s separate 2025 survey of 83 active sponsors found that 85% used family offices as equity partners.9 Both surveys place family offices among sponsors’ most important sources of equity, although their different questions and samples prevent a direct percentage comparison.
Repeat relationships between sponsors and capital partners
Citrin Cooperman reported that 53% of respondents often used repeat funding relationships.3 A successful partnership can give the next opportunity a starting point: the parties already know how each other evaluates businesses, negotiates terms, and responds when results diverge from the plan.
For sponsors, a capital partner brings the ability to finance an acquisition and potentially support later investment. For family offices, a capable sponsor contributes origination, transaction execution, and work with management after closing. The relationship is strongest when that division of responsibilities is clear before capital is committed.
The guide to how independent sponsors raise capital explains equity-partner selection, financing preparation, and the terms to resolve before committing.
Family offices in lower middle market acquisitions
Family offices participate in the lower middle market as both direct buyers and capital partners behind sponsor-led acquisitions. Axial reports that family offices represented an average of 15% of completed transactions on its platform during 2021–2025. Their average closed acquisition in 2025 had an enterprise value of approximately $12.4 million.10
Axial’s figures are useful evidence of participation at this scale, but they are not a census of the lower middle market. Enterprise value also differs from the family office’s equity commitment: debt, seller rollover, and other investors may finance part of the purchase. Axial notes that private equity funds’ use of its platform for add-on acquisitions can influence deal-size comparisons between buyer types.10
At that scale, an acquisition may create room to strengthen management, improve financial reporting, or fund expansion. Investors can judge a proposed ownership group by whether it can supply what the business lacks.
| Business opportunity | Role of the investment partnership |
|---|---|
| An owner’s succession | Finance a change of ownership and agree on a transition that preserves customer relationships and operating knowledge. |
| Stronger management and systems | Support hiring, financial reporting, sales processes, and technology that allow the business to operate at greater scale. |
| Expansion into new markets | Fund additional capacity, locations, or services where the business has a credible plan to reach more customers. |
| Complementary acquisitions | Provide acquisition and integration capital for businesses that fit the platform’s operating strategy. |
A family office with operating experience may recognize improvements a business needs or bring relationships that help it expand.
The lower middle market private equity guide explains the segment’s investment case and the operating and financing work involved.
Long-term family office investing combines wealth preservation with growth
J.P. Morgan’s discussion of its 2026 survey reports that approximately 55% of participating single family offices target returns of 7%–10%, while almost a third target more than 11%. The survey covered 333 offices in 30 countries.11 These are investment objectives, not realized returns or evidence that the targets will be met.
Family office investment objectives can include both preserving purchasing power and increasing wealth over time. A portfolio may need to support family spending, future generations, business commitments, and philanthropy. Protecting the capital therefore involves decisions about growth and liquidity as well as avoiding losses.
The ability to invest a family’s own capital can provide flexibility over timing. A family office may be able to wait for a suitable opportunity, support a business through an investment program, or continue holding when the expected benefits of ownership remain attractive. Goldman Sachs describes that long-term flexibility as an important characteristic of family office capital.5
How a long-term mandate affects business ownership
A company does not necessarily become more valuable on a predetermined date. Recruiting a leadership team, building a new sales channel, or integrating an acquisition takes time and may require additional spending before earnings improve. Owners who understand that sequence can align the financing plan with the work the business needs.
That capacity depends on the actual investment structure. A family office’s fund investments follow the fund’s terms. In a syndicated deal, exit and follow-on decisions depend on the agreed rights of the investors, the financing, and the business’s needs. A family’s multigenerational outlook does not automatically give every investment an indefinite holding period.
For an investor evaluating a partner, the useful questions are practical: what could cause the family to need liquidity, who makes the investment decisions, and how would additional capital or a sale be approved? Clear answers make the long-term commitment more credible than a general promise of patience.
Private equity holding periods also change with market conditions. CapitalPad’s holding period statistics report examines the broader exit and liquidity evidence.
Family office investment committees and decision processes
Many family offices use formal investment processes while drawing on outside specialists for particular opportunities. UBS’s 2026 survey found that 68% had financial performance measurement processes, 60% had investment committees, and 50% had a documented investment process that included an investment policy statement.2
Family office investment processes
Share of surveyed offices. Practices can overlap.
Source: UBS (2026), p. 39.2
The capabilities required to own one company differ from those required to manage a diversified family portfolio. An office can retain responsibility for allocating capital while working with people who know a sector, can execute an acquisition, or have experience helping management carry out a growth plan.
Family office direct investments and syndication
Wharton’s published summary of its 2024 family office survey reports that 70% of direct private investments were syndicated. It highlights trusted relationships, aligned values, and partners’ ability to add value as selection considerations.12 In that sample, most direct investing was done with partners rather than alone.
How accredited investors and family offices can invest in lower middle market private equity
Family offices can combine fund commitments with direct investments in selected companies. Accredited individuals can also invest deal by deal, reviewing the business, sponsor, purchase price, and terms before committing capital.
CapitalPad gives family offices and accredited investors access to lower middle market private equity through deal-by-deal co-investments. CapitalPad participates as a minority equity investor in transactions led by independent sponsors. Its investment committee evaluates the business, investment thesis, and transaction structure.4
Individual investments generally start at $25,000; direct institutional participation starts at $750,000 per deal, subject to eligibility and the offering’s terms. CapitalPad’s investor overview describes the available participation routes.4
Family office investing statistics: common questions
How many family offices are there?
Deloitte estimated 8,030 single family offices worldwide in 2024, including 3,180 in North America. Its forecast projects 10,720 globally by 2030. These are modeled population estimates; databases that include multi-family offices or other investment entities use different definitions.1
How much money do family offices manage?
Deloitte estimated family office assets under management at $3.1 trillion in 2024, projected to reach $5.4 trillion by 2030. Its larger figures for total family wealth include assets outside the managed portfolio and should not be described as family office AUM.1
What do family offices invest in?
Family offices invest across public equities, fixed income, cash, private equity, real estate, private debt, hedge funds, and other assets. UBS’s 2026 report shows 32% in public equities and 17% in private equity in the average global portfolio for 2025. Individual allocations differ with family needs and investment strategy.2
What percentage of family offices invest directly?
In Citi’s 2025 global survey, 70% of respondents reported engaging in direct investments. This is a participation rate, not the percentage of their portfolios invested directly. Direct investments can include several types of assets and ownership positions.6
Do family offices fund independent sponsors?
Yes. Family offices were the most frequently cited capital source among independent sponsor respondents in Citrin Cooperman’s 2026 report, at 69%. Axial’s separate sponsor survey reported 85% usage as equity partners. These are different survey results, and neither measures family offices’ share of total sponsor equity dollars.3, 9
Do family offices invest in lower middle market businesses?
Yes. Family offices invest as buyers and alongside independent sponsors. Axial reports that family offices averaged 15% of closed transactions on its platform during 2021–2025, with an average 2025 acquisition enterprise value of approximately $12.4 million. The figures describe Axial’s transactions rather than the entire market.10
What returns do family offices target?
J.P. Morgan’s 2026 survey discussion reports that approximately 55% of participating single family offices target 7%–10% returns and almost a third target more than 11%. These are stated objectives. They do not establish achieved returns, a typical investment outcome, or outperformance.11
How long do family offices hold private investments?
Holding periods vary by mandate, company, financing, and investor rights. Investing family capital can allow flexibility over exit timing, but a long-term family objective is not a fixed holding-period benchmark. Fund terms and co-investor agreements can constrain the timing of individual investments.
Can individual investors participate in independent sponsor deals?
Yes. CapitalPad gives accredited investors deal-by-deal access to independent sponsor investments in the lower middle market. Individual investments generally start at $25,000, subject to eligibility, availability, and the offering’s terms.4
Research scope and methodology
CapitalPad Research examines how family office capital reaches private markets and lower middle market businesses. This report brings together population estimates, portfolio surveys, transaction records, and independent sponsor research. CapitalPad produces the comparative analysis, explanatory framework, grouped allocation figures, reference tables, and charts; the cited providers produce the underlying survey and market observations.
| Publisher | CapitalPad Research. CapitalPad gives accredited investors and family offices access to lower middle market private equity through deal-by-deal co-investments.4 |
|---|---|
| Research type | Comparative analysis of published research, with explanatory frameworks and disclosed aggregation of asset-allocation categories. |
| Principal sources | Deloitte, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Citi Wealth, RBC and Campden Wealth, Citrin Cooperman, Axial, Wharton, J.P. Morgan, and S&P Global Market Intelligence. |
| Research periods | 2024 population and AUM estimates; principally 2025 portfolio and transaction observations; 2026 UBS and J.P. Morgan research; March 2026 independent sponsor survey responses from Citrin Cooperman. The Wharton survey summary covers 2024 research. Deloitte’s 2030 figures are forecasts. |
| Market coverage | Global family office investing, with identified North American and U.S. evidence for private equity and independent sponsor financing. Population estimates primarily concern single family offices; individual survey definitions are retained. |
| Core measures | Office counts, assets under management, family wealth, portfolio allocations, participation rates, sponsor capital sources, transaction values, return targets, and investment practices. |
| CapitalPad contribution | Connecting overall family office investment data with private-market access and business development; separating investment routes and measurement types; making the evidence accessible through tables, charts, and linked sections. |
| Principal limits | Voluntary survey samples, differing family office definitions, self-reported allocations, provider-specific deal coverage, and modeled forecasts. The report does not estimate total family office capital deployed into the lower middle market or a family office investment return. |
How the evidence is sourced
- Population and managed assets
- Deloitte’s 2024 research provides modeled single family office counts, family wealth, and AUM, drawing on Wealth-X and Altrata data. Estimates and forecasts retain their original dates. Family wealth is kept separate from the managed portfolio.1
- Portfolio allocation and investment practices
- UBS surveyed 307 family office clients across more than 30 markets between January 22 and March 30, 2026. Its 2025 actual-allocation column supplies this report’s portfolio table. Goldman Sachs’s 2025 survey covers 245 offices, while Citi’s covers 346 respondents across 45 countries. These samples are reported separately.2, 5, 6
- North American investment routes
- RBC and Campden Wealth surveyed 141 North American offices between April and August 2025 within a larger international study. Its population includes single family offices and private, non-commercial multi-family offices. Figure 2.20 describes the private markets portion of the portfolio.7
- Sponsor financing and smaller transactions
- Citrin Cooperman’s March 2026 online survey covered 187 professionals, including 158 self-identified independent sponsors, with follow-up interviews in April. Capital-source findings describe sponsor responses; question-level response counts are not supplied. Axial supplies a separate sponsor survey and platform transaction observations. A respondent’s use of family office capital does not quantify the dollars supplied. Platform results retain their dates and coverage.3, 9, 10
- Partnerships, objectives, and recent activity
- Wharton’s public summary supplies the syndication finding. J.P. Morgan’s published 2026 report discussion supplies the return targets. S&P Global’s April 2026 analysis provides recorded 2025 direct deal value and count. These measures are not combined into an investment performance series.8, 11, 12
- CapitalPad’s investment model
- CapitalPad’s public investor materials support descriptions of participation, SPVs, independent sponsor opportunities, and individual minimums. They do not supply the family office market statistics.4
How the figures are compared
Portfolio allocations, the share of offices participating, sponsor response rates, and recorded transactions have different denominators. This report labels each measure and does not average results from unrelated surveys. Global findings are not presented as U.S. or North American findings.
The allocation table combines UBS’s developed- and emerging-market equities (27% + 5%), developed- and emerging-market fixed income (14% + 3%), and direct and fund private equity (8% + 9%). Gold is included within the precious-metals allocation and is not added a second time. The RBC and Campden Wealth chart uses its published categories; the total of 101% reflects rounding.
Survey participation is voluntary and the major providers serve family offices commercially. Their respondents are not a census, and changing samples can affect comparisons across editions. Transaction databases also differ in which entities, assets, and deals they capture. Growth in modeled family office wealth is not treated as observed growth in lower middle market deal funding.
Descriptions of business development and investment flexibility are CapitalPad’s analysis. They explain potential uses of capital and the implications of ownership structures; they do not establish the cause of investment returns. Target returns, future allocations, and forecasts remain distinct from completed investments and realized results.
Cite this research
CapitalPad Research, “Family Office Investing Statistics: A Major Source of Private Capital.” Updated October 9, 2026.
Reference CapitalPad Research for the comparative analysis, investment framework, allocation table, and charts. Retain the original provider, period, and population when quoting an underlying statistic.
Sources & references
- Deloitte Private, “Defining the Family Office Landscape,” 2024. Population and AUM estimates for 2024; forecasts through 2030. Source
- UBS, “Global Family Office Report 2026.” Actual 2025 allocation table, page 18; investment practices, page 39. Survey of 307 family offices, January–March 2026. Source
- Citrin Cooperman, 2026 Independent Sponsor Report — The Next Chapter: Evolution of the Independent Sponsor Asset Class. Survey methodology (p. 4) and capital sources, lead investors, and repeat funding relationships (pp. 22–25). Online survey: March 2026; follow-up interviews: April 2026. Source
- CapitalPad, Investor Overview. Participation, independent sponsor opportunities, deal-specific SPVs, and individual investment minimums; accessed September 14, 2026. Source
- Goldman Sachs, “Goldman Sachs Releases 2025 Family Office Investment Insights Report,” September 10, 2025. Survey of 245 family office decision-makers. Source
- Citi Wealth, “Citi Wealth Releases 2025 Global Family Office Report,” September 16, 2025. Survey of 346 respondents across 45 countries, fielded June–July 2025. Source
- RBC and Campden Wealth, “The North America Family Office Report 2025.” Sample description, page 6; private-market participation and investment routes, page 27. Source
- S&P Global Market Intelligence, “Global family office direct investments more than double in 2025,” April 21, 2026. Recorded direct transaction values and counts for 2025. Source
- Axial, “Axial’s 2025 Independent Sponsor Report,” October 23, 2025. Survey of 83 active sponsors, with additional adviser and family office feedback. Source
- Axial, “Who’s Buying in the Lower Middle Market in 2026? Key Buyer Trends From Axial Data,” February 17, 2026. Closed platform transactions during 2021–2025. Source
- J.P. Morgan Private Bank, “2026 Global Family Office Report.” Public report overview and launch discussion; return-target discussion at approximately 3:52–5:24. Source
- Knowledge at Wharton, “What’s Behind the Secret Walls of Family Offices?”, March 3, 2025. Public summary of the Wharton Global Family Alliance’s 2024 survey. Source
