N&Q: Impact investing and family offices – study; CIO leaves high profile family office

Family offices use private equity for impact investing

An annual study on impact investing has found that family offices prefer to use private equity to access impact investment opportunities. Private equity was used by family offices more than 40% of the time when accessing impact investment opportunities. This was followed by real assets, or direct private investments, which accounted for 38.7% of the total, and then public equity, which was 20%. However, the report made no distinction between multi- and single-family offices in its classification of family offices.

CIO leaves Oprah Winfrey’s family office

Peter Adamson has left OW Management, the family office of Oprah Winfrey, the famous chat show host, to join the family office of Eric Smidt, who owns US discount-tool retailer Harbor Freight Tools, according to a Wall Street Journal report.