Family office direct investing in 2026: what the data shows

Most family offices now make direct investments, but direct deals remain a minority of the portfolio and the volume of transactions has fallen a long way from its 2021 peak. Citi's 2025 Global Family Office Report found 70% of respondents engaged in direct investments. Campden Wealth's North America Family Office Report 2025 put the share at around 80%. In both surveys, direct private equity averaged about 9% of the total portfolio, slightly below the allocation to private equity funds. PwC's Global Family Office Deals Study 2025 counted fewer than 7,200 family office deals in the first half of 2025, against 17,460 in the second half of 2021.

How many family offices invest directly

The participation figures are consistent across surveys with different samples. Citi's 2025 survey of 346 family offices in 45 countries found 70% engaged in direct investments, rising to 74% among offices with more than $500m of assets and falling to 67% below that line. North America was the most active region at 77% and Latin America the least at 57%. Campden Wealth's 2025 North American sample of 141 offices found that "some 80 percent of family offices have direct investments as well as funds". FINTRX data reported by Chief Investment Officer in 2026 showed 80.7% of the 4,600 family offices in its database expressing interest in direct investments, and 92.7% of the offices added in the second quarter of 2026.

Polls taken at conferences give lower numbers. Institutional Investor reported in October 2025 that only 31% of attendees at its West Coast family office conference were currently investing in direct deals. The gap probably reflects the difference between having any direct holding and running an active programme.

How much of the portfolio is direct

Campden's 2025 report also broke down the private markets book itself: funds 48%, direct active 17%, direct passive 16%, co-investments 8%, funds of funds 6% and secondaries 6%. Direct holdings therefore account for roughly a third of private markets exposure for a typical North American office, with co-investment described as playing a "modest but increasing role".

Goldman Sachs' 2025 Family Office Investment Insights survey of 245 offices found that real estate is the asset class most often held directly. 44% of respondents invest primarily directly in private real estate, while they rely mainly on managers for other alternatives. UBS's 2026 report, summarised by Canadian Family Offices, put private equity at 17% of the average portfolio, real estate at 11% and private debt at 3%.

Deal counts have fallen

PwC's study, which draws on PitchBook, Family Capital and S&P data, is the closest thing to a census of family office transactions. Volume peaked at 17,460 deals and $1,054.5bn in the second half of 2021. By the first half of 2025, volume was below 7,200 deals and $439.6bn, with investments down 23.2% on the second half of 2024. Club deals, where several families invest together, accounted for 69% of transactions in the first half of 2025. Venture capital was 31% of deal activity and real estate 39%, the highest real estate share since 2019.

Survey intentions point the other way. BNY Wealth's 2025 survey of 282 single family offices found 64% expected to make six or more direct investments in the following year, with 46% planning six to 10 and 18% planning more than 11. Only 6% planned none.

Direction of travel

Allocation plans are mixed. UBS's 2025 report recorded a planned fall in private markets from 21% to 18% of the portfolio, "mainly from direct investments". Citi's 2025 net sentiment on direct private equity was +15%, down from +36% a year earlier. BlackRock's 2025 survey, summarised by Caproasia, found 19% of offices expected to increase direct private equity deals, against 26% for private equity funds. On the other side, 39% of Goldman's 2025 respondents planned to increase private equity overall, and FINTRX's 2026 data shows newer offices leaning harder towards direct and equity strategies than the established base.

The picture for 2026 is of a practice that is now standard and is being run more selectively. Participation is high while deal counts remain well below the 2021 peak. For how offices find transactions, see deal sourcing for family offices. The cost comparison with funds is set out in fund fees versus direct ownership, and the wider allocation context in private equity allocation trends.