Top 10 Largest Family Offices in the DACH Region (2025)

Top 10 Largest Family Offices in the DACH Region (2025)

If you’re raising in Europe, DACH is the capital stack where industrial dynasties, quiet holding groups, and professionalized SFO/MFO platforms meet. A 2024 study put Swiss single-family office wealth at roughly CHF 600bn (≈$670bn), with a slight tilt to alternatives (PE/PD) and allocations concentrated in North America (33%) and Switzerland (32%).

1) Bertarelli family — B-FLEXION (Switzerland)

What it is. The Bertarelli family’s private investment firm (formerly Waypoint Capital), with strategies spanning life sciences, real estate, and specialist PE managers. Recent headlines include portfolio M&A in healthcare and a steady drumbeat of GP/asset-manager news across 2025.
Why it matters. Deep sector competence (biopharma/health) and genuine patient capital make B-FLEXION a credible co-underwriter for complex, regulated, or multi-jurisdictional builds—exactly where mid-market managers need a strong anchor.
Signals to cite. 2025 board/leadership updates and manager-level acquisitions show active stewardship rather than passive allocation.

2) Brenninkmeijer family — COFRA (Switzerland; incl. Bregal, Redevco, Anthos)

What it is. A six-generation family enterprise: private equity (Bregal), real estate (Redevco), and wealth (Anthos). The public footprint is unusually transparent for a family group (RI reports, governance).
Why it matters. Institutional cadence, multi-platform origination, and a conservative balance-of-risk approach. For GPs, that means process-heavy diligence but real follow-through once fit is proven.
Signals to cite. 2025 leadership moves at Bregal; new real-estate debt platform activity; sustained publication of responsible-investment and due-diligence reports.

3) Jacobs family — Jacobs Holding / Jacobs Capital (Switzerland)

What it is. A family holding company compounding through consumer, healthcare, and education platforms; Telemos (the family’s PE arm) merged into Jacobs Capital in mid-2025.
Why it matters. The house bias is toward durable, regulated cash flows—vocational education, dental/health services, fund-services infrastructure—often via platforming and bolt-ons.
Signals to cite. 2024–2025 deals such as Spain’s ILERNA (vocational education) and Permian (Nordic AIFM services) show exactly the “defensible recurring revenue + regional champion” pattern this family favors.

4) Klaus-Michael Kühne — Kühne Holding (Switzerland/Germany)

What it is. The logistics dividend machine behind Kuehne+Nagel and major stakes in Hapag-Lloyd and Lufthansa. In 2025, the cash engine is running: coverage in March projected multi-billion dividends to Kühne.
Why it matters. When freight cycles tighten, this balance sheet throws off liquidity—perfect for infra, ports, terminals, and logistics tech with operating leverage.
Signals to cite. H1-2025: Hapag-Lloyd revenue up ~10–11% with 6.7m TEU moved (+~11% YoY), even as outlook trimmed on Red Sea and cost pressures. Solid growth; disciplined guidance.

5) LGT Group — Princely House of Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein)

What it is. A family-controlled private bank/asset manager that functions—practically—as one of Europe’s most influential family-capital platforms.
Why it matters. LGT is both capital source and distribution channel for HNW/FO networks across Europe and APAC.
Signals to cite. 2024–2025: agreement to absorb Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Commonwealth Private Advice into LGT Crestone, with the transition unfolding through 2025 and a rebrand milestone in September.

6) Mayfair Vermögensverwaltung — Herz family (ex-Tchibo) (Germany)

What it is. A Hamburg-based family office with capacity for €100m to multi-billion blocks, historically skewed toward consumer, retail, services, and selective industrials.
Why it matters. Long-term ownership mindset, governance pedigree, and comfort with sizable control positions. In practice: fewer, larger, and longer bets.
Signals to cite. Public profiles and German-language reporting continue to characterize Mayfair as a quiet, high-capacity holder with operational instincts—use that to pitch “moat + stewardship” rather than momentum.

7) Porsche-Piëch family — Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche SE) (Germany/Austria)

What it is. The anchor holder of Volkswagen (31.9% equity; 53.3% voting) and a core investor in Porsche AG—with growing interest in defense/dual-use technology. In March 2025, the group explicitly denied plans to sell down VW voting shares; in August it publicly flagged defense/security as an area for new core exposure, while strengthening liquidity via an oversubscribed Schuldschein.
Why it matters. This is patient industrial capital in transition: think autonomy, sensors, satellite ISR, and secure comms that fit Europe’s rearmament and supply-chain resilience agenda.
Signals to cite. August guidance and the defense comment give managers concrete hooks for dual-use theses and co-GP structures.

8) Quandt family — HQ Trust / HQIB + SKion / AQTON (Germany)

What it is. A cluster worth understanding:

• HQ Trust (MFO for the Harald Quandt family; among Germany’s largest, with institutional advisory chops),
• HQIB (direct investments in safety/security, digitalization, healthcare),
• SKion (Susanne Klatten’s vehicle; industrials, renewables, water tech; 2024 transfer of >99% SKion shares to her three adult children underscores long-term succession planning),
• AQTON (Stefan Quandt’s holding across auto, digital security, PV/smart grid).
  Why it matters. This is textbook professionalization: real ICs, sector-specific theses, appetite for co-control and long holding periods.
  Signals to cite. Public materials confirm HQIB’s focus areas; multiple third-party profiles peg AQTON/SKion as among Germany’s largest family investment platforms.

9) Wirtgen family — Wirtgen Invest (Germany)

What it is. A post-liquidity SFO scaling with institutional cadence across real estate, energy, venture, and finance since the Deere sale of Wirtgen Group.
Why it matters. Energetic buyer-developer with a sustainability and operations slant—fast decisioning compared with peer offices.
Signals to cite. Motel One – Schillerstraße (Munich) opened June 6, 2025 (LEED Gold; brand’s 100th hotel), a visible proof-point of the family’s real-asset program.

10) Reimann family — JAB Holding / JAB Insurance (German family; Luxembourg platform)

What it is. A global operator that has evolved from consumer roll-ups to a two-leg strategy: consumer + insurance as ballast. The pivot crystallized in 2024–2025.
Why it matters. Insurance gives JAB durable yield and liability-matching cash flows; expect steadier underwriting appetite and select pruning in consumer.
Signals to cite. September 5, 2025: JAB completed the acquisition of Prosperity Life Group (~$30bn assets; ~1m policyholders), formalizing insurance as a core operating pillar under new leadership.

Switzerland’s edge, Austria’s structure

Swiss SFOs tilt alternative. The 2024 SFOA study suggests Swiss SFOs lean slightly more into PE/private debt than into trads—one reason Swiss family capital often feels “sponsor-literate” on co-investments, and why reporting cadence and governance clarity matter more than glossy decks.

Austria’s Privatstiftung reality. Many Austrian fortunes are housed in Privatstiftungen—ownerless legal entities with perpetual purposes and board-driven governance. They’re succession tools and capital vehicles; for fundraisers, they’re also a gatekeeping layer. Know who actually holds decision rights (foundation board vs. family council vs. OpCo) and tailor your IC materials accordingly.

Post-Signa caution. The Signa collapse still shapes Austrian diligence. Prosecutors advanced multiple cases in 2025 (charges, asset-concealment allegations); administrators have mapped billions in claims. The practical takeaway: Austrian counterparties will be extra sensitive to leverage, disclosure, and recourse. Bring conservative structures and creditor-friendly covenants.

2025 themes you can use in the room

Defense & dual-use goes mainstream. Porsche SE put it in writing: defense/security is investable, and European primes need the ecosystem. If you play autonomy, ISR, resilient comms, or secure software, pair your pitch with exportability and NATO demand signals.

Logistics cash is backstopping deals. With H1-2025 transport volumes up and Red Sea volatility digestible (if costly), logistics-anchored families can co-underwrite infra and industrial tech—just respect cycle risk and show unit-cost control.

Consumer dynasties want ballast. JAB’s insurance push is the template: regulated cash yield to smooth consumer cyclicality. If you’re pitching specialty finance, insurance adjacencies, or asset-light admin platforms with steady cash, the door is open.

Professionalization keeps rising. DACH SFOs/MFOs are publishing RI policies, hiring CIOs, and codifying ICs. Expect deeper attribution asks and structured co-invest rights; the trade-off is higher certainty of follow-on once fit is proven.

How to pitch (and win) in DACH

Lead with fit, not FOMO. Map your thesis to the family’s operating DNA (auto, logistics, consumer, healthcare, real assets). “Right to win” > “big TAM.”

Offer alignment mechanics. Co-invest rights, board-level visibility, structured downside (e.g., pref equity with protective covenants). DACH families respect governance.

Report like an institution. Quarterly letters with dated KPIs, audit-ready metrics, and risk dashboards. It’s an edge with Swiss SFOs in particular.

Mind the gatekeepers. In Austria, learn the Privatstiftung board’s process; in Germany, know when you’re dealing with an MFO (HQ Trust, Spudy) vs. a principal vehicle (HQIB, SKion, AQTON). Your narrative, ask, and timing differ.

Bottom line

DACH family offices aren’t one thing. Some behave like conservative holding companies, others like fully-fledged institutional allocators. The common thread at the top end: discipline—mandate clarity, tight governance, preference for compounding assets, and a higher bar for manager reporting. If you bring dated signals, map your story to industrial DNA, and offer alignment mechanics, DACH is one of the most durable sources of flexible private capital in 2025.