Family offices have been increasing their allocations to private credit

More than half of today's family offices—the private companies that help ultrawealthy individuals manage their fortunes—were incorporated after 2010.

Family offices are estimated to manage more assets globally than hedge funds

As baby boomers prepare to transfer more than $84T in assets to the next generation over the next 20 years, family offices’ impact is expanding.

It’s estimated there are 10,000 single-family and 5,000 multifamily offices globally

Family offices are expanding around the world at a rapid pace, impacting the wider financial landscape.

Family offices’ estimated wealth is expected to hit $9.5T by 2030

The number of family offices, and how much money under their management, is growing rapidly both in the US and around the world.

Family offices have a median of $476M in managed assets

There are several types of family offices that cater to ultra-high net worth individuals, starting with single-family offices that cost an average of $3.2M annually.

The average pay for family office executives has soared

As the number of family offices grows, they’re battling for top talent with traditional financial institutions by bulking up pay and incentive packages.

More than half of family offices have succession plans in place

The UBS annual report on family offices found that its clients are preparing for trade wars, generative AI, and generational wealth transfers.

The responsibilities of family offices range from managing assets to coordinating travel

Family offices provide a broad swath of services to ultra-high-net-worth individuals that help the family maintain their wealth for generations.

The origins of modern family offices date back to the 1500s

Wealth management for families with massive fortunes has evolved over the centuries, with the Rockefellers establishing the first single-family office in 1882.

Private credit and private equity are both alternative assets

Like private equity fund managers, private credit managers typically raise funds directly from investors, lending to corporations. The borrowers can benefit from the lack of middlemen and resulting efficiency, and the lenders often yield comparatively higher returns.

The collapse of Archegos Capital Management drew scrutiny to family offices

Archegos, which managed the assets of Bill Hwang, wasn’t subject to the same oversight as traditional investment firms when it collapsed.

The private credit industry offers nonbank loans directly to businesses, particularly privately held midmarket companies.

The private credit industry—which offers nonbank loans directly to businesses, particularly privately held midmarket companies—grew from a $250B asset class in 2010 to around $1.5T in early 2024.

Family CEOs tend to prioritize a non-economic goal: keeping the business in the family

Companies led by family CEOs tend to prioritize corporate social responsibility, but they also tend to invest less in innovation and international growth. They also have more debt on average.

Nearly half of billionaires planned to increase exposure to direct private equity investments in 2026.

Pension funds' allocations to risky, alternative investments increased by 25% between 2001 and 2021

The portion of pension funds' risky investments, including alternative investments such as private equity, increased from 14% in 2001 to 39% in 2021. Analysts say private equity investments have delivered higher returns than traditional assets like stocks and bonds. Increased investment in private equity has also given pensions a way to recover from the 2008 financial crisis without necessarily investing more money.

The Rockefellers' family office expanded to become a multifamily office

The Rockefellers created the first known single-family office in the late 1800s but the firm has evolved since to serve many wealthy American families.

Why private credit has faced challenges in recent years

The factors that some experts say are driving what could be private credit's most challenging era since the 2008 financial crisis include global economic uncertainty around trade and tariffs, investor fears about the amount of money being spent on artificial intelligence, and more.

More than 2,000 family offices operate in Singapore

The “Switzerland of Asia,” Singapore, is a haven for global wealth and has attracted a growing number of family offices to set up shop there.

Apollo Global Management and Blackstone are among the world's top 20 private credit fund managers

While Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager, Apollo Global Management is a large private equity firm. Apollo had $480B in private credit assets under management as of January 2025.

Cheap debt and relatively minimal regulation have fueled private equity's expansion in recent years.

History’s largest intergenerational wealth transfer is happening in the next few decades

The founder of a multifamily office firm offers lessons on how to preserve wealth for generations from a global perspective, like educating younger family members.

Less than a third of wealth transfers to the second generation

Just 12% of family wealth reaches the third generation, and 3% makes it to the fourth. Family offices work to prevent that kind of attrition and ensure family fortunes are passed to the next generation.

Private credit is a nonbank loan made directly to a business

Similar to private equity, private credit is part of the private markets world. Both strategies offer illiquid, privately negotiated investments for privately held companies. Unlike private equity investors, however, private credit investors typically do not take ownership stakes in the companies they invest in.

Roughly 90% of generational wealth dries up by the third generation, epitomized by the phrase 'shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.'

Why private credit is attractive to both businesses and investors

While investors are attracted to the high rates, private credit is particularly attractive to mid-sized businesses that are too small for bank syndication and want faster, more flexible financing options.

Retail investors cannot directly invest in private credit funds—but other financial vehicles can offer exposure to the industry

For example, as some US regulations have loosened in recent years, retail investors have begun to get exposure to the private credit market via ETFs that invest in publicly traded financial vehicles with private credit exposure, such as BDCs.

Private equity is viewed as an alternative investment

These different types of private equity include venture capital, growth equity, and buyouts.

Large family offices often employ 25 to 40 people

The structure of a family office varies depending on its size and its needs, and can employ a range of workers from top executives to assistants and tax professionals.

Direct lending is the most common form of private credit

Other types include opportunistic credit, special-situations credit, mezzanine finance, venture debt, infrastructure debt, real estate debt, and more. All of these sources of capital technically create private transactions, so they can all call themselves private credit.

Some institutional investors are growing wary of private equity, as certain investments underperform traditional market indices

Private equity often attracts investors who can afford to tie up capital for long periods of time in exchange for higher returns than traditional investments. For many years, private equity at least tracked with the S&P 500 in terms of returns to investors, but in 2024 and 2025, it underperformed and posted declining returns.

The majority of capital in private equity funds is provided by institutional investors

The individuals who invest this initial capital are called the firm's limited partners. Private equity firm LPs include sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, high-net-worth individuals, and more.

Borrowers were increasingly defaulting on private credit loans as of early 2026

Risks in private credit investing include the industry's lack of transparency and the ability of businesses to borrow more than a bank might allow against their debt. Some borrowers in early 2026, for instance, likely did not expect interest rates to be so high for so long, which could be contributing to an uptick in defaults.

The funeral home industry is increasingly consolidating via private equity firms

A growing share of the funeral home industry is being acquired by private equity-backed firms. A 2022 article states that about 20% of this $23B business is owned by funeral home chains, and private equity-backed firms own about a quarter of those.

Some Ivy Leagues are worth billions of dollars, managing massive endowments to support their operations and investing donations for long-term growth rather than spending them.

Some semi-liquid private credit funds saw a surge in investor redemptions in early 2026

This raised red flags about the state of the private credit market at large. However, experts have cautioned that the idea that private credit is on the verge of collapse is overstated.

Alternative investments can include everything from cryptocurrency to fine art

The financial assets typically fall outside the scope of traditional investments like stocks and bonds, and they’re often intended to diversify investor portfolios.

Alternative investments have become more popular since the 2008 financial crisis

When the traditional markets crashed during the 2008 financial crisis, many people saw the value of their traditional investments plummet and began to look into alternatives as a result.

The Yale model of investment allocation, explained

College endowment managers long held to the traditional allocation of 60% domestic stocks and 40% bonds. But Yale’s David Swensen developed a new approach: deprioritizing low-risk fixed income and liquid assets in favor of alternative investments to leverage endowments' long-term investment horizons and capture the “liquidity premium.”