The world’s richest families aren’t just parking their money in blue-chip stocks anymore — they’re going big on private markets, and the numbers are staggering.
According to fresh data from Preqin, the number of family offices with exposure to private assets has exploded 524% since 2016, jumping from 651 to over 4,000. That’s a bigger leap than wealth management firms (up 410%) and way ahead of endowments and foundations (81%). And the pace isn’t slowing — allocations grew 21% in 2023, 26% in 2024, and another 8% in just the first half of this year.
What’s driving the surge? Two words: deep pockets. Deloitte estimates family offices were managing a combined $3.1 trillion in 2024 — 63% more than five years earlier. With that kind of cash, they can afford to lock up money for decades, betting on long-term plays in private credit, infrastructure, and even niche assets like data centers.
“They don’t need quick liquidity,” says PwC’s Jonathan Flack, who leads the firm’s US and global family office practice. “Private markets let them invest for stable growth over decades, versus riding the volatility of public markets.”
BlackRock’s Armando Senra says private credit and infrastructure are seeing especially strong demand. A recent BlackRock survey found nearly one-third of single-family offices plan to boost allocations in those areas through 2026.
Still, it’s not all-in on every private deal. A UBS survey in May showed family offices plan to trim private equity exposure in 2025, especially in the US, in favor of developed-market equities — though most say they’ll still increase private equity stakes over a five-year horizon.
Bottom line: the ultra-wealthy are leaning harder into the kinds of long-hold, illiquid investments most individual investors can’t touch. And with their war chests growing, the private markets boom may just be getting started.
The original story by Hayley Cuccinello for CNBC.
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