Family office investors have slowed their dealmaking due to economic uncertainty and trade concerns but are exploring alternative investments like private credit funds, according to a new deal tracker report from CNBC. Haynes Boone Investment Management Partner Vicki Odette spoke with CNBC about the future of family office investments in an article excerpted below:
Many families have paused to evaluate how their portfolio companies may be impacted by tariffs, according to Vicki Odette, partner at Haynes Boone. Odette, who works with family offices and investment funds, said her clients are considering whether their investments will be able to make distributions or successfully exit.
Family offices can also move at a slower pace as they face fewer counter-bidders during this lull, she added.
At the same time, many families are reluctant to deploy as much capital, concerned that the trade war will impact the operating businesses responsible for their wealth, Odette said.
“There’s stress on both sides,” she told CNBC.
This uncertainty is also felt overseas, according to Odette, who also works with Middle Eastern families who frequently make investments in the U.S. and Europe.
“They’re looking at America and saying, ‘OK, how is this going to impact everything that’s going on in the world?’” she said.
Family offices aren’t sitting on their hands, however. She has noticed an uptick in interest in private credit funds of short-term loans.
“All these families are very opportunistic,” Odette said.
Read the full article from CNBC here.
