On a warm October day in 2014, envoys from 15 of America’s wealthiest families gathered at Circle T, Ross Perot Jr.’s 2,500-acre ranch outside Dallas. Skeet-shooting was on the agenda, but the real purpose of the two-day retreat was for the families to get acquainted and eventually team up to pursue investments. From that exclusive gathering, attended by people investing the fortunes of Michael Bloomberg and other billionaires, sprang a broader network of 150 families that have since participated in more than 10 deals together,...
Family offices, run by ultra-wealthy clans with at least with $250m to invest, are making traditional private equity firms on Wall Street sit up and take notice, as their numbers swell to 3,000 in the US, holding more than $1.2tn in assets. The family offices have been a boon for those who want to invest in real estate or other assets that can be sold off quickly – such as distressed properties – but also offer access to wealth management Allen Gibson, of John Arnold's family office, said the private world was the only place "we can capture outsize returns and protect our capital".