The new multi-family office – the family-backed investment fund

The phenomenal growth of the private markets in the last 10 years has given rise to a new type of investment group – the family-backed/entrepreneur-backed investment fund. Effectively, these groups are the multi-family offices of the 21st century, but operating pretty much exclusively in the private markets. 

These investment groups have a family or entrepreneur as the cornerstone investor – the general partner – and then they go out and raise funds from other investors who become the limited partners in the fund. Their mechanics aren’t any different from private equity or venture capital funds, but they are backed by a family or entrepreneur of considerable wealth, and not a group of financial executives starting a PE or VC fund. 

There are many of them in existence and likely to be more launched in the future, as the model has proven successful for many of the big players in the sector. Single-family offices might choose to follow the model as they attempt to commercialize their investment success to a broader investment base.  

One of those most successful family-backed investment funds is EQT – the private equity and venture capital group started by the Swedish-based Wallenberg family in 1994. Its biggest shareholder is Investor AB – the investment group owned by the Wallenberg family. EQT’s achievements in private market investing led the Stockholm-based group to publicly list in 2019. EQT is now one of the biggest private equity groups in Europe, raising many billions of dollars from outside investors. 

The Dutch-German Brenninkmeijer family dynasty has developed the model successfully as well through their various Bregal investment groups. So too has France’s wealthiest family – the Arnaults. They have done this with the L Catterton private equity business and the venture group Aglaé Ventures. 

In the US, venture groups Venrock, backed by the Rockefeller family, and Bessemer Venture Partners, backed by the Phipps family are among the leading groups among the family-backed investment fund. 

There are also many successful entrepreneurs and business executives that have launched similar groups. Investment businesses like WndrCo, backed by film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, and WestCap, backed by Laurence Tosi, the former CFO at Airbnb and Blackstone. 

Below is a list of some of the most prominent ones