Here’s Where Family Offices Are Investing

When imagining where the ultra-wealthy invest their capital, it’s easy to picture sprawling stock portfolios or rare luxury collectibles. But here’s the truth: while those assets play a role, the lion’s share of their wealth often gravitates elsewhere. Real estate consistently anchors the portfolios of family offices, providing stability, growth, and a hedge against market turbulence.
 
Why Real Estate Stands Out
 

Unlike stocks, which are subject to volatile swings, real estate offers a mix of stability and steady appreciation. It’s a tangible asset—one you can see, touch, and even use—which adds an extra layer of security for investors managing significant wealth.

Recent data from Knight Frank shows that the ultra-wealthy allocate a staggering 53% of their portfolios to real estate: 32% in residential properties and 21% in commercial real estate. This isn’t just about returns, it’s about versatility. A beachfront estate can serve as both a vacation retreat and a long-term investment, appreciating in value while offering lifestyle perks.

Luxury Playbook: Aspect, Residential Real Estate, CRE
 
 
Shifting Focus: Less on Stocks, More on Stability
 

While stocks often remain a component of ultra-wealthy portfolios, they play a smaller role than you might expect. Family offices prioritize quality, investing in top-tier companies or private equity ventures rather than broad, risky stock holdings. Bonds, traditionally seen as a safe haven, have fallen out of favor in recent years due to low yields and fluctuating interest rates.

Instead, many are doubling down on real estate, drawn by its ability to shield wealth from inflation and provide reliable returns. Even amidst economic uncertainty, the long-term growth potential of well-chosen properties is hard to match.

Real Estate’s Unique Appeal
 

For Family Offices, real estate is more than just an asset, it’s an anchor. Here’s why it continues to outshine other investments:

  1. Inflation Protection: As prices rise, so do rents and property values, making real estate a natural hedge against inflation.

  2. Consistent Appreciation: High-demand properties, particularly in prime locations, deliver steady value growth over time.

  3. Psychological Security: The tangible nature of real estate offers a sense of stability and control, unmatched by equities or digital assets.

  4. Dual Purpose: Many properties, such as vacation homes or mixed-use developments, offer both lifestyle benefits and income potential.

How Everyday Investors Can Learn From Family Offices
 

You don’t need to own a skyscraper or a luxury villa to enjoy the benefits of real estate. Multifamily investments through a trusted sponsor are one of the most effective ways to access the wealth-building strategies used by family offices and institutional investors. Here’s how you can apply these principles to your own portfolio:

  • Partner with an Experienced Sponsor: Multifamily investing with a sponsor provides access to larger, institutional-grade assets that would otherwise be out of reach for individual investors. Sponsors handle the heavy lifting, like acquisitions, operations, and management, so you can focus on enjoying passive income and long-term appreciation.

  • Leverage Scale from Day One: Unlike starting with a single rental property, multifamily investing through a sponsor allows you to tap into the benefits of scale immediately. Larger properties with multiple tenants create more consistent cash flow and reduce risk by diversifying income streams.

  • Unlock High-Quality Opportunities: Private real estate funds and syndications managed by experienced sponsors offer access to opportunities often reserved for family offices. These deals are carefully vetted, diversified across markets, and designed to generate returns that align with family office strategies.
 

By investing with a multifamily sponsor, you’re not just buying into a property, you’re partnering with a team of experts who know how to navigate market cycles, maximize returns, and create value. Whether you’re looking to generate passive income, build long-term wealth, or diversify your portfolio, multifamily real estate provides a proven path to financial growth.

Start where you are, and let a trusted sponsor guide you toward the opportunities that match your goals. With the right partnership, you can achieve the same advantages family offices rely on to preserve and grow wealth for generations.

What This Means for You
 

The ultra-wealthy favor real estate because it does what no other asset can. It preserves and grows wealth with a blend of reliability, flexibility, and inflation resilience.

The key to building wealth like Family Offices isn’t simply mimicking their choices, it’s understanding the rationale behind them. Real estate most often delivers on the priorities that matter most: stability, resilience, and the potential for steady returns. Take a page from their playbook, and you might just find yourself building the kind of portfolio that stands the test of time.

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About Ellie Perlman
 
Ellie Perlman is the founder and CEO of Blue Lake Capital, a woman owned multifamily real estate investment firm focused on partnering with family offices and accredited investors to build and preserve generational wealth. Since its founding in 2017, Blue Lake has successfully acquired and operated multifamily assets across high-growth U.S. markets, completing $1B+ in transactions.

At Blue Lake Capital, Ellie and her team work exclusively with family offices and accredited investors, offering carefully curated investment opportunities that emphasize long-term wealth creation, stability, and risk-adjusted returns. A defining aspect of Blue Lake’s investment strategy is its integration of advanced AI-driven analytics and data science into the entire lifecycle of acquisitions and asset management. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, the firm executes data-driven forecasting on market trends, asset performance, and tenant behavior, ensuring strategic decision-making and optimized returns.

In addition to leading Blue Lake Capital, Ellie is the original founder and host of "REady2Scale - Real Estate Investing" podcast, which provides insights into multifamily real estate, alternative investments, and finance.

Ellie began her career as a commercial real estate attorney, structuring and negotiating complex transactions for one of Israel’s leading development firms. She later transitioned into property management, overseeing over $100M in assets for Israel’s largest energy company.

Ellie holds a Master’s in Law from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

You can learn more about Blue Lake Capital and Ellie Perlman at www.bluelake-capital.com
 
*The content provided on this website, including all downloadable resources, is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial advice. Furthermore, this material does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
 
 
 
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