The Journal
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Direct investing

When families invest directly in businesses rather than through funds: deal sourcing, due diligence and co-investment.

8 articles
Editor's pick

Michael Dell's family office backs a $7.7bn take-private of insurance broker Baldwin

DFO Management and Sequence Holdings have agreed to acquire The Baldwin Group in an all-cash deal valued at about $7.7bn, one of the largest public-to-private transactions led by a single family office.

Direct investing

Ortega's family office bought 86 London flats for £150m. Nobody noticed for six months.

Pontegadea's first UK rented residential purchase surfaced in Companies House filings in August, half a year after it completed. The disclosure lag matters as much as the deal.

30 August 2026
Investment

Family offices bought AI infrastructure and sold China last quarter, 13F filings show

Dakota's August monitor reads second-quarter filings from a small group of very large single family offices. The pattern is consistent. What a 13F covers is not.

24 August 2026
Investment

New family offices want direct deals, not hedge funds, Fintrx Q2 data shows

Fintrx added 96 family offices to its platform in the second quarter of 2026. Only 10.4 per cent listed an interest in hedge funds, against 38.2 per cent of the database as a whole.

17 August 2026
Investment

Family offices kept buying clean energy through a turbulent July

Family offices made 57 direct investments in July 2026, Fintrx data shows, with more than 15 per cent going to clean energy and sustainability firms.

7 August 2026
Investment

Family offices are buying robotics while the rest of the market argues about an AI bubble

Bloomberg reports that the investment vehicles of Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos and Azim Premji have all put money into robotics companies in recent weeks. The capital is going in direct, at early stage, and into a single theme.

4 August 2026
Investment

From allocation to direct deals: how family offices invest

From asset allocation to direct deals: how family offices invest, the pull towards co-investment, and the governance that keeps investment decisions disciplined.

13 January 2026
Investment

J. Safra Sarasin takes 70 per cent of Saxo Bank for €1.1 billion

Months after settling its inheritance dispute, the Safra banking dynasty made its biggest acquisition in years, buying a majority stake in Denmark's Saxo Bank.

11 March 2025
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