A Goldman Sachs survey of family offices shows nearly 40% intend to increase allocations to both public and private equity in the coming period, a reversal of the defensive posture that dominated 2023 and early 2024. The simultaneous lift in both asset classes signals portfolio construction changes that reach beyond simple risk-on positioning.
The survey, conducted across Goldman's family office client base, marks a departure from the bifurcated approach that characterized recent years. Previously, family offices rotated between public markets during liquidity needs and private markets during yield hunts. The dual commitment suggests conviction that both return streams will justify the reduced optionality that comes with locking capital into less-liquid structures while maintaining public market exposure.
This matters because family offices manage an estimated $6 trillion globally and typically lead rather than follow institutional allocators. When 40% of surveyed offices signal identical directional moves, it reflects shared intelligence about forward earnings visibility and private market repricing that has not yet fully surfaced in public discussions. The move also indicates family offices believe the liquidity premium in private markets has compressed enough to justify entry, while public equity multiples remain attractive relative to the risk-free rate trajectory they expect.
The timing coincides with private equity firms sitting on $2.8 trillion in dry powder and facing pressure to deploy. Family offices increasing private allocations will provide fuel for that deployment, but only if terms reflect the lower-return environment. Offices are not chasing 2021 vintage returns. They are underwriting mid-teens IRRs in a world where duration risk has repriced and the equity risk premium has widened. The public equity commitment running in parallel suggests they see sector-specific opportunities—likely technology and healthcare verticals where public and private exposure can be layered for different liquidity profiles within the same thesis.
Allocators should watch for follow-on fundraising velocity in late Q1 and Q2 2025, particularly in growth equity and buyout funds targeting $500 million to $2 billion fund sizes where family office capital moves most efficiently. Secondaries volume will also signal whether this is genuine net-new commitment or reallocation masked as expansion. Separately, track public equity inflows into concentrated positions rather than passive vehicles, which would confirm thesis-driven deployment rather than index hugging.
Goldman's family office clients manage median assets of $1.8 billion, a cohort large enough to move secondary pricing and small enough to access emerging managers before institutionals crowd terms.