European family offices are making their biggest portfolio shift in a decade. After years of piling into private equity, they're diversifying into private credit, infrastructure, and - perhaps surprisingly - back into public markets.
For fund managers raising capital in Europe, these shifts will shape which meetings you get and which checks you close over the next 12-18 months.
Here's what the data shows and what it means for your fundraising strategy.
The Big Picture: Where European Family Offices Are Allocating
According to Goldman Sachs' 2025 Family Office Investment Insights Report (245 family offices surveyed) and UBS's Global Family Office Report 2025 (317 family offices), European family offices currently allocate:
|
Asset Class
|
EMEA Allocation
|
Change since 2023
|
|
Public Equities
|
31%
|
+5pp
|
|
Private Equity
|
22%
|
-2pp
|
|
Cash
|
14%
|
+3pp
|
|
Real Estate/Infrastructure
|
11%
|
+1.5pp
|
|
Hedge Funds
|
10%
|
Flat
|
|
Fixed Income
|
9%
|
-2pp
|
|
Private Credit
|
4%
|
+1.5pp (doubled)
|
The headline: Private equity is down, but not out. Cash is up significantly - European families are sitting on dry powder. And private credit has doubled from 2% to 4%, with momentum to reach 5-6% by year-end.
How Europe Compares: EMEA vs. Americas vs. APAC
European family offices sit in the middle on risk appetite - more conservative than American families, more aggressive than Asian ones.
|
Asset Class
|
Americas
|
EMEA
|
APAC
|
|
Private Equity
|
25%
|
22%
|
15%
|
|
Private Credit
|
7%
|
4%
|
5%
|
|
Public Equities
|
30%
|
31%
|
32%
|
|
Cash
|
5%
|
14%
|
10%
|
|
Hedge Funds
|
10%
|
10%
|
7%
|
What this means for fund managers:
European families hold nearly 3x the cash of American families (14% vs 5%). That's not fear, it's dry powder. They're waiting for the right opportunities, particularly in private credit and infrastructure where they see better risk-adjusted returns than stretched PE valuations.
Their 22% PE allocation (between Americas' 25% and APAC's 15%) reflects a "wait and see" approach to the exit environment. But 39% plan to increase PE allocations over the next 12 months - the highest of any asset class. They're positioning for what they expect to be attractive 2025-2026 vintages.
What's Hot: The Four Strategies European FOs Are Chasing
1. Private Credit (26% planning to increase)
Private credit has gone from niche to core allocation. The percentage of European family offices with zero private credit exposure dropped from 36% in 2023 to 26% in 2025.
Why the surge:
- Yield: Direct lending delivers 11-13% (L+500-700bps) versus 8-9% for high yield bonds
- Downside protection: Senior secured structures with maintenance covenants
- European bank retreat: Basel III constraints have pushed banks out of mid-market lending, creating a €150B annual financing gap that private credit is filling
European families favor senior direct lending (55% of their private credit allocation) over riskier opportunistic strategies - consistent with their conservative approach.
2. Secondaries (72% now participating, up from 60%)
This is the stealth story. Nearly three-quarters of family offices now invest in secondaries, up from 60% in 2023.
Why it matters: European families are using secondaries offensively - buying LP stakes at 15-25% discounts from institutions forced to sell. They're also accessing GP-led continuation vehicles to get concentrated exposure to proven, late-stage assets without the J-curve of primary commitments.
For fund managers, this creates both opportunity and competition. Secondary buyers are sophisticated, and they're setting pricing expectations across the market.
3. Infrastructure (30% planning to increase per BlackRock)
The energy transition is driving infrastructure from 1% to a projected 3-5% allocation. European families are drawn to:
- Renewable energy projects with 25-year contracted cash flows (8-12% unlevered IRRs)
- Data center and AI infrastructure (power demand projected to grow 160% in five years)
- Inflation-linked revenue mechanisms providing natural hedging
They're moving away from defensive core infrastructure (5-7% returns) toward value-add and opportunistic strategies targeting 12-15%.
4. Public Equities - The Surprise Comeback (38% planning to increase)
After years of shifting toward private markets, European families are putting money back into public equities. Allocations jumped from 28% to 31%.
The driver: AI. European family offices typically overweight technology (58% expect to remain overweight), and they captured significant returns from the Magnificent Seven's 2024 run. They also value the liquidity given geopolitical uncertainty.
What European Family Offices Look For in Fund Managers
Data on allocations only gets you so far. What actually gets you a meeting - and a commitment?
Ticket sizes: $5.5 - 55 million is the typical range, though the largest families (Arnault's Financière Agache, the Wallenberg family's Nineteen Private Capital, the Quandt family's HQ Holding) can write significantly larger checks.
Decision timeline: 6-12 months from first meeting to commitment. Faster in the Nordics (3-6 months), slower in France and Southern Europe (12+ months). Relationship-driven families in Geneva can take 18+ months but tend to be stickier once committed.
Geographic concentration: Switzerland, UK, and Germany house the majority of European family office capital. Monaco punches above its weight for UHNW families seeking tax efficiency.
What makes them say yes:
- Track record with attribution: They want to understand why you generated returns, not just that you did
- Alignment: Meaningful GP commitment (3%+ of fund) signals conviction
- Co-investment access: Many European families now expect co-invest rights as table stakes
- ESG credentials: 67% of French institutional capital prioritizes Article 9 SFDR funds. Even families without formal mandates increasingly screen for ESG
- Operational sophistication: They've been burned by managers who couldn't scale. They're asking harder questions about ops, compliance, and key-person risk
What makes them say no:
- Fee insensitivity: Dutch families in particular have faced public scrutiny on PE fees and will push hard on economics
- Lack of European presence: Flying in from New York for a single meeting signals you don't prioritize the market
- Poor cultural fluency: Showing up late in Zurich, skipping fika in Stockholm, or rushing lunch in Geneva are relationship killers
How to Access European Family Office Capital
Dakota tracks 1,398 family offices across Europe with 2,576 verified contacts-from single-family offices like the Grosvenor Estate and Pontegadea to the multi-family platforms in Zurich and Geneva.
Our Marketplace lets you filter by:
- Geography (Switzerland, UK, Germany, Nordics, and 25+ other European markets)
- AUM and typical ticket size
- Asset class preferences and current allocations
- Investment team contacts with direct emails
The European families allocating to alternatives aren't hiding - but they're selective about who gets their time. The right data can cut months off your fundraising cycle.
Book a demo to see European family office coverage!
