8 in 10 Family Offices Do Direct Investing. Most Aren’t Equipped.

In this short video, TFOA founder Marc Sharpe breaks down why eight in ten family offices do direct investing, yet most aren’t properly equipped for it.

It’s a companion to TFOA’s whitepaper on the family office direct investing survey.

Transcript

According to a recent TFOA survey of members, eight in ten family offices say they do direct investing. Many admit they are not really equipped to.

. The data is clear. Patient capital, off-market access, a few investment professionals. Families hope those ingredients are enough. They aren’t.

A real direct investing program needs three things. A pipeline that brings deals fitting your thesis, not whatever crosses your desk. A team large enough to do diligence without burning out. The discipline to say no nine times out of ten. Without those, what you have isn’t a program. It’s a few opportunistic deals plus a lot of analyst tuition. Some work. Most don’t.

The driver is FOMO. Every family office hears about another’s home run, feels behind, jumps in. The question to ask before your next direct deal isn’t “is this a good company?” It’s “are we built for this?”