AGM Alts Weekly | 1.4.26: Rich conversations - how the wealthiest invest
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The wealth channel is not monolithic, but perhaps a certain segment of the wealth channel can provide a window into how some within the wealth channel will play the game on the field in private markets and how asset managers and wealth managers may have to evolve yet again to continue to serve certain segments of the wealth channel.
Let’s go to the top and unpack the pinnacle of the ultra-high-net-worth segment (chart from a CFA Institute November 2025 blog post).
Family offices represent a fascinating segment of the wealth channel. They often have the size and scale to allocate to private markets in an institutional and direct manner.
Further, family offices can be seen as a leading indicator of investment trends given their size, scale, and independence as investment organizations. Some are fully institutionalized. Others have a small staff, or even just a single principal, managing billions of dollars across public and private markets. As the saying goes, “when you know one family office, you know one family office.”
What can conversations with some of the world’s wealthiest families tell asset managers and wealth managers about where private markets might be heading?
Rich conversations
J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank endeavored to unpack this question, amongst others, in its 2025 report “Principal Discussions: Conversations with the world’s wealthiest families,” by conducting candid, hour-long, one-on-one conversations with 111 billionaire principals of family offices and family businesses. Collectively, these principals represent over $500B in net worth.
J.P. Morgan highlighted five key trends that are shaping family offices’ structures and investment decisions as they become increasingly important players in the world of private markets.
Let’s dive into some of these trends and what they mean for asset managers and wealth managers.
Topic 1: “Doubling down, not dialing back” on private markets
Family offices have historically had meaningful exposure to private markets. That’s far from a new trend, given family offices’ sizable permanent capital bases and (generally) their ability to invest over long durations and stomach illiquidity with portions of their portfolio. Goldman’s 2025 Family Office Investment Insights report, which surveyed 245 family office decision-makers, found that those family offices had a 42% allocation to private markets (private equity, private real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds, private credit).
It appears that family offices, particularly the multi-billion dollar families, are not lightening up their exposure to private markets.
J.P. Morgan found that their clients’ allocations to private markets more than doubled year-over-year. Twice as many principals interviewed in their report said they increased exposure rather than reduced exposure in the past year.
Not only are they participating in private markets, but they are taking more active roles in their investments.
70% of principals said they prefer active roles in their direct investments through governance, operational oversight, or board seats, which is a marked increase from the 43% who stated this preference in 2022.
J.P. Morgan’s report also notes that these principals often invest in the same sector where their wealth was created. They view their understanding of the industry and network within the industry as a value-creation lever for their portfolio companies.
What does this mean for asset managers and wealth managers?
➡️ Build out dedicated family office coverage teams for billionaire and UHNW family offices: A number of asset managers have already built out dedicated family office coverage teams. Apollo’s buildout of its Family Office business meant hiring BlackRock veteran Brian Feurtado in 2023 to serve families that already have a CIO and investment staff.
In a 2023 Bloomberg article about the launch of their 10-person family office unit, Apollo’s Feurtado said that “the family office client base [had] grown to the point where [they] decided to have a dedicated team.” Part of the impetus for creating a dedicated business unit was that many family offices want direct access. Feurtado noted that “the most sophisticated family offices want direct access to co-investments and direct deals. This also goes both ways, as there are opportunities for Apollo to invest with our family office clients as a capital provider for them in either debt, equity, or hybrid capacity.”
A number of investment firms see the opportunity to serve families holistically as a major business initiative. Goldman’s focus on UHNW family offices has evolved into building out the Apex Family Office Coverage Group, led by Partner Sara Naison-Tarajano, which provides all of the firm’s resources, dedicated investment opportunities, and tailored solutions to large (generally multi-billion dollar) family offices.
➡️ Provide direct investments and co-invests to strategically valuable family offices: View these multi-billion dollar family offices as institutional partners (if firms don’t already see them that way). Yes, diligence processes can be more idiosyncratic than when dealing with traditional institutional allocators. Some family offices will operate like institutions, either because of their CIO and investment team’s processes or because they outsource private markets allocations to third-party diligence platforms and OCIOs; others will make quicker decisions because they are unconstrained by institutional processes.
The idiosyncratic nature and structure of family offices can make it a challenge to partner with them, particularly in a scalable way (I know this from experience, having built iCapital’s original family office network), but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be thought of as viable co-investment partners and LPs.
In fact, a family’s expertise in a particular sector or industry can make them quite a valuable co-investor.
Many family office principals noted in the J.P. Morgan report that they often like to make direct investments in the industry in which they built their wealth. This point is notable when taken in tandem with another insight from the report: a number of principals surfaced that a key challenge is finding the talent and scale for their family office to provide deep diligence when putting large portions of their assets to work in private markets. Therefore, J.P. Morgan said that the family office principals often see this function outsourced to third-parties for introductions, opportunities, and diligence.
This feature of family offices’ diligence capabilities offers an opportunity for asset managers … if they can position themselves as a trusted thought partner and source of insight for the family offices that they endeavor to work with.
J.P. Morgan’s report provides some insight into areas where these principals are focused on investing in. Perhaps asset managers large and small can think about these family offices as co-investors in these categories.
It’s also worth noting that, as evergreen funds become an increasingly important initiative for many asset managers’ work in the wealth channel, free co-investments might be more difficult for GPs to offer to LPs. Family offices are often fee sensitive. Asset managers will have to figure out how to continue to grow their evergreen fund business while also retaining strong co-investment relationships with institutional allocators and large family offices.
Topic 2: “The rise of specialty assets: more than just a trophy”
The institutionalization of sports investing has alternative asset managers getting into the game. A number of the industry’s largest asset managers, including Ares, Apollo, Sixth Street, and Blue Owl, have dedicated sports investment strategies. The market has institutionalized to the point where there are dedicated sports investment firms that have amassed billions in AUM, including $14B AUM Arctos (which KKR was reportedly in talks to acquire a stake in last year and which EQT also reportedly explored partnering with) and RedBird Capital Partners.
Apollo’s December 2025 whitepaper pegs the sports ecosystem as a $2.5T global industry, with media contracts worth over $60B annually.
It’s not just institutional investors who are playing the sports investing game. It’s family offices, too. J.P. Morgan’s report found that 20% of the 111 principals interviewed now own controlling stakes in sports teams, up from 6% in 2022.
As one principal said, “sports have gone from being a wealthy individual’s hobby to a really serious business.” Another remarked that “we’re overallocated to sports, but it’s been phenomenal.”
This principal’s experience bears out in the numbers for many when it comes to returns from sports team ownership.
A chart from a Goldman Sachs report on sports investing illustrates the growth in valuations from 2001-2023.
Another female principal said that the emerging area of women’s sports represents a massive opportunity: one owner observed, “This is a business pleasure, and something we really want to do, a generational asset, where we will make a lot of money over time. Twenty years from now, people will not believe that you could acquire a women’s team for $100M.”
This comment echoes a perspective shared on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast by Co-Founder of $30B AUM credit firm Palmer Square Capital Management and Co-Founder of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current Chris Long, who said investing in women’s soccer is “like buying the Boston Celtics in the 1960s.”
The opportunity in sports, particularly women’s sports, goes beyond the four lines of the field itself. Many sports investment opportunities often include real estate investments, as the Long’s investment in the Kansas City Current did. They built a new $124M stadium that represented a new era for women’s soccer in the US: the first purpose-built women’s soccer stadium in the world.
This feature of sports investing brings rise to an interesting takeaway for asset managers: use sports as a relationship builder to work with some of the world’s largest family offices.
➡️ Use sports as a relationship builder with principals: Many of the private banks, including Goldman and J.P. Morgan, have built out dedicated sports investing and banking practices for their UHNW and family office clients.
As asset managers continue to expand their surface area of investing activities, investment strategies like private credit, real estate, and infrastructure all enter the crosshairs. These investment strategies can provide another way to partner with family offices that own sports assets, helping these teams and owners expand their footprint of asset ownership in adjacent areas to the sports team itself.
As alternative asset managers begin to ramp up their minority investing activity into sports teams, they can leverage their other investment strategies as strategic relationship builders to work with these families. Perhaps a new sports stadium should have mixed-use real estate built around the stadium. Certain sports investment funds have been constructed to be a hybrid capital provider. Ares’ fund is one such example. Apollo’s new sports fund, Apollo Sports Capital, is another example and it’s playing out in real-time as Apollo looks to help finance the ongoing redevelopment of Wrexham AFC’s stadium as part of their recent investment in the English soccer club.
The chart above, pulled from an Apollo Sports Capital whitepaper, highlights some of the adjacent opportunities in sports investing, including senior-secured credit facilities, sports portfolio NAV lending, stadium financing, and venue financing.
Sports investing can become a strategic relationship building endeavor for alternative asset managers looking to build out family office networks. Some of these areas of the sports financing space represent a chance to build relationships with family office principals, which can ultimately extend to other areas of the investment firm’s franchise.
Another avenue of relationship building? For family offices that do not yet own majority stakes in sports teams, these families might start with minority investments to learn the game of sports team ownership.
Asset managers and wealth managers can leverage their funds and connectivity in the sports space to offer up investment access to teams and leagues, giving families a way to gradually step into the arena as sports investing institutionalizes from its early innings.
➡️ Aligning investments with passion and using passion investing as a way to engage the next generation: J.P. Morgan’s report surfaces an important, yet often elusive, challenge for many family office principals: engaging the next generation.
The topic of building family legacy came up consistently in conversations with these principals.
One principal remarked, “everyone has their own talents.” One of the biggest challenges with building an enduring legacy within a family office is the ability to educate and engage the next generation about investing and the family’s wealth.
Whether it’s sports or another passion area, such as philanthropy or art, involving the next generation in a way that plays to their strengths and interests can be critical in helping the next generation understand the family values, history, and making the next generation feel a part of building and continuing the legacy.
For principals who own sports teams, involving the next generation in the family’s ownership of the sports team can be a way to do so. It also presents an opportunity for asset managers and wealth managers to help engage the next generation, whether it be through sharing sports investment opportunities (or other investment opportunities) with these families or engaging in community-building efforts so that next generation family principals can meet a set of like-minded peers.
Topic 3: Resilience in action: global families with global challenges
Geopolitics is top of mind for many of these family office principals, which should come as no surprise.
56% of the principals surveyed in the J.P. Morgan report cited geopolitical tensions as the top risk in today’s investing arena.
This sentiment was echoed in Goldman’s report, where 61% of the 245 respondents noted that geopolitical conflict is the greatest investment risk today.
The constantly shifting plates of geopolitics is a feature that is defining the investment landscape today. KKR’s aptly named “Regime Change” thesis and worldview in their 2026 Outlook: High Grading is shaping this new era of investing.
➡️ Provide insights and knowledge through “geopolitical alpha”: One way that asset managers and wealth managers can provide value to families is through knowledge transfer of “geopolitical alpha,” to borrow a term from global macro strategist Marko Papic.
Asset managers and wealth managers that are able to provide timely geopolitical insights and help family offices put together the increasingly complex pieces of the geopolitical puzzle will gain the trust and mindshare of family offices.
This feature is where scale and networks provide an advantage. Firms like KKR, which have former US Army General and Director of the CIA David Petraeus on staff as a Partner and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute and Chairman of KKR Middle East, have an advantage in today’s world. Investors must bring geopolitical risks and macro trends to the forefront of their investment research and underwriting processes. Firms that have the scale to tap into the knowledge and networks of those connected to governments and geopolitical trends stand to benefit from an information edge that could be a decisive edge in what appears to be a more challenging time to invest than in years past.
Topic 4: How to best serve family offices?
As the aforementioned saying goes, “when you know one family office, you know one family office.”
This feature of family offices can make it difficult to deliver a scalable service to family principals.
Data and anecdotes from J.P. Morgan’s report provides some clues as to how asset managers and wealth managers can best serve different family offices that have different needs.
43% of the 111 principals surveyed said that they make the investment decisions.
➡️ For large asset managers: Larger asset managers can think of families as helpful co-investors, particularly where the families have industry expertise.
➡️ For smaller asset managers or startup GPs: Smaller asset managers or investors who are thinking about starting a new fund can think of family office principals as strategic to the growth and development of their firm.
One quote in particular from a principal stood out in the J.P. Morgan report: “I own, as a general partner, a fund focused on early-stage tech investments, and we see a lot of deal flow coming from there.”
Family offices, particularly offices run by first generation principals who were the wealth creators, will often view themselves as operators more than investors.
I’ve talked with a number of family offices that have employed this strategy, either by building and running their own investment firm or by partnering with an investor and being a more passive GP (and anchor LP) in the fund alongside the investor. This concept is a trend that seems to be coming up in an increasing number of conversations.
In a more challenging fundraising environment, this strategy might be a good fit for younger, emerging investor talent at larger asset managers who have ambitions to build their own investment firm but may face headwinds in a fundraising landscape that is seeing the majority of the capital, particularly from the wealth channel, flow to larger, more established brands.
EQT is perhaps one of the best examples of this way of building an investment firm. EQT’s story starts with Conni Jonsson and the Wallenberg family, a prominent Swedish family of bankers, industrialists, politicians, and diplomats that have owned or been part of many companies that have shaped Sweden and beyond: EQT, Ericsson, Electrolux, ABB, SAS Group, Atlas Copco, Saab AB, Investor AB, and many more.
In 1993, Conni was an Executive Vice President at Investor AB, an investment firm owned by the Wallenberg family. According to the story on EQT’s website, the idea for building a private equity firm “rooted in the Wallenberg family’s traditions of responsible ownership” came to life during a dinner in Stockholm’s Old Town between Conni and Claes Dahlbäck, the CEO of Investor AB.
And so EQT was born. In 1994, Conni received backing from the board of Investor AB to establish EQT, with AEA Investors and SEB committing to EQT along with Investor AB.
In a recent Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, Conni discussed the origins of EQT and how the Wallenberg family has helped to shape the firm’s vision, heritage, evolution, values, and DNA.
Not every family office has built an industrial sphere with both the multi-generational staying power and global footprint of the Wallenberg family, but perhaps there will be a new generation of investment managers created in partnership with family offices that come to shape private markets in a manner similar to how EQT has done over the years.
Topic 5: Investment preferences
J.P. Morgan’s report found that “diversification remains central to many families’ investment portfolios.”
This goal makes sense, particularly given that the goal of many family offices shifts from wealth creation to wealth preservation over multiple generations.
One principal remarked, “we talk about how you acquire wealth by focusing on one asset and then maintain it by diversifying.”
Another noted, “there’s nothing wrong with boring, traditional investments.”
But that doesn’t mean many of these principals shy away from illiquid, private investments. The prevailing view amongst the principals interviewed tended to be: “if you don’t need liquidity, take the illiquidity premium and earn more.”
Two investment themes surface here that are relevant takeaways:
➡️ Make boring cool: There’s no one right way to invest. Different investors have different risk tolerance and different liquidity needs. But often boring investments tend to pay off, particularly in the long run when investors let compounding go to work. If the goal of investing is, as Oaktree’s Howard Marks says, to achieve “the best relationship between return and risk,” then making boring cool when it comes to investing can make sense, and, as Oaktree’s Armen Panossian said on a recent Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, “you don’t have to reach for risk to generate the right return.”
➡️ Long duration (if you can): Longer time horizons tend to offer advantages for investors. One principal remarked, “one of our biggest advantages is that we can own things for as long as we want.” Passport Capital Founder and Nimble Partners Founder John Burbank echoed a similar sentiment in his Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, noting that “duration is the most important thing an investor can have.”
Taking a long-term view on holding an investment — or the power of patience — contributes to the ability to compound capital over a period of time.
Asset managers and wealth managers that help family offices invest well will very likely see their capital compound over time — and see those relationships compound over time too.
AGM Index
AGM has created an Index to track the leading publicly traded alternative asset managers.
Some of the industry’s largest alternative asset managers are publicly traded — and their net inflows can serve as a window into how private markets are being perceived by investors and allocators who are allocating capital into alternative investments.
Note: AUM figures are based on fee-paying AUM where applicable.
Who is hiring?
In order for alts to continue to go mainstream, we need the best talent to go into the space. Here are some openings at private markets firms. If you’d like to connect with any of these teams, let me know, and I’m happy to facilitate an introduction if appropriate. If you’re a company or fund in private markets, feel free to reach out to share a job description you’d like to be listed here to highlight for the Alt Goes Mainstream community.
🔍 Blackstone (Alternative asset manager) - Blackstone Private Wealth - Product Specialist, Vice President (Real Assets). Click here to learn more.
🔍 KKR (Alternative asset manager) - Head of AI Product Management. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Apollo Global Management (Alternative asset manager) - Market Intelligence Director. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Ares (Alternative asset manager) - Vice President, Product Management & Client Services, Wealth Management Solutions, APAC. Click here to learn more.
🔍 EQT Group (Alternative asset manager) - Head of Social Media. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Blue Owl (Alternative asset manager) - Marketing Content Strategist, Principal. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Franklin Templeton (Asset manager) - Portfolio Manager, Private Markets. Click here to learn more.
🔍 iCapital (Private markets infrastructure investment platform) - Private Markets, Due Diligence Manager - Senior Vice President. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Goldman Sachs Alternatives (Alternative asset manager) - Asset & Wealth Management, Wealth Product Design, Designer, Vice President - New York. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Partners Group (Alternative asset manager) - Investment Leader, Private Equity, Services vertical. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Ultimus Fund Solutions (Fund administrator) - SVP, Business Development. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Krilogy (Wealth manager) - Senior Wealth Advisor. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Dynasty Financial Partners (Wealth management platform) - Senior Product Manager - Wealth Technology. Click here to learn more.
🔍 MSCI (Data services) - Product Marketing Specialist - Private Asset GPs. Click here to learn more.
🔍 Upper 90 (Alternative asset manager) - Investor Relations Analyst. Click here to learn more.
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🎥 Watch Mike Tiedemann, CEO of $72B AUM AlTi Global share why being a global wealth manager can be a differentiator. Watch here.
🎥 Watch Joan Solotar, Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions at Blackstone share why it’s not even early innings, but that it’s “spring training” for private markets adoption by the wealth channel. Watch here.
🎥 Watch Venkat Subramaniam, Co-Founder of DealsPlus on building a single source of truth for private markets. Watch here.
🎥 Watch Yann Magnan, Co-Founder & CEO of 73 Strings discuss the opportunity for AI to automate private markets. Watch here.
🎥 Watch Hamilton Lane Managing Director, Co-Head US Private Wealth Solutions Stephanie Davis and iCapital Co-Founder & Managing Partner Nick Veronis discuss the evolution of evergreen funds on the third episode of the Investing with an Evergreen Lens Series. Watch here.
🎥 Watch KKR Managing Director, Head of Americas, Global Wealth Solutions (GWS) Doug Krupa and iCapital Co-Founder & Managing Partner Nick Veronis discuss the evolution of evergreen funds on the second episode of the Investing with an Evergreen Lens Series. Watch here.
🎥 Watch Vista Equity Partners Managing Director, Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions Dan Parant and iCapital Co-Founder & Managing Partner Nick Veronis discuss the evolution of evergreen funds on the first episode of the Investing with an Evergreen Lens Series. Watch here.
📝 Read about a year in the book of alts — a compilation of the 1,000+ pages written in weekly newsletters on Alt Goes Mainstream in 2024. Read here.
📝 Read about the launch of the AGM Studio, a collaboration between Alt Goes Mainstream and Broadhaven Ventures to incubate, invest in, and help scale companies and funds in private markets. Read here.
🎙 Hear Balderton Capital General Partner and former Goldman Sachs Partner Rana Yared discuss why Europe can build global companies out of the region. Listen here.
🎥 Watch Stepstone Private Wealth CEO Bob Long discuss StepStone Private Wealth’s edge and nuances with their evergreen structures in the first episode of “What’s Your Edge.” Watch here.
🎥 Watch Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Cantilever Group and former Goldman Sachs and Broadhaven Capital Partners Partner Todd Owens discuss the middle market opportunity in GP stakes investing. Watch here.
🎙 Hear me discuss why and how alts are going mainstream on The Compound’s Animal Spirits podcast with Ritholtz Wealth’s Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson. Listen here.
🎙 Hear Manulife’s Global Head of Private Markets Anne Valentine Andrews share how to approach building a private markets investment platform at an industry behemoth and the merits of infrastructure investing. Listen here.
🎥 Watch Lawrence Calcano, Chairman & CEO at iCapital, on the AGM podcast discuss driving efficiency across the entire value chain to transform private markets. Watch here.
🎙 Hear VC legend New Enterprise Associates’ Chairman Emeritus and Former Managing General Partner Peter Barris discuss how he transitioned from operator to VC and transformed NEA into a venture juggernaut in the process. Listen here.
🎙 Hear Blue Owl’s Global Private Wealth President & CEO Sean Connor share insights and lessons learned from working with the wealth channel. Listen here.
📝 Read about the evolution of GP stakes, why alternative asset management business models are better than SaaS, and our partnership with Todd Owens and David Ballard at Cantilever, a mid-market GP stakes firm anchored by BTG Pactual. Read here.
🎙 Hear how Chris Long, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Palmer Square Capital Management has built a $29B credit investment firm and a winning NWSL soccer franchise, the KC Current. Listen here.
🎙 Hear stories from building market-defining companies Blackstone, Airbnb, and private markets from Laurence Tosi, former CFO of Blackstone and Airbnb and Managing Partner & Founder of $7.6B investment firm WestCap. Listen here.
🎙 Hear Chris Ailman, the CIO of $307B CalSTRS, discuss how he manages a portfolio with ~40% exposure to private markets. Listen here.
🎙 Hear Blackstone CTO John Stecher discuss how technology is transforming private markets. Listen here.
🎙 Hear investing legends John Burbank and Ken Wallace of Nimble Partners provide a masterclass on investing with both a macro and VC lens. Listen here.
🎙 Hear Robert Picard, Head of Alternatives at $117B AUM Hightower, discusses how they approach alternative investments. Listen here.
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Special thanks to Izzy Morin, Ryan McCormack, Nick Owens, Michael Rutter for their contributions to the AGM Index section of the newsletter.
Superb breakdown of the family office landscape. The shift to 70% of principals wanting active board/governance roles is probably the most underappreciated trend here. That operational overlay becomes an unfair edge when you're investing in sectors where you built wealth originaly. It also creates an interesting dynamic where GPs need to decide whether that value-add is worth potential friction versus just taking passive capital from instituional allocators with lighter governance expectations.