Family Office AUM
Family office AUM is an estimate of assets overseen or influenced by the office, used to approximate scale and allocation capacity.
Definition
Definition Family office AUM refers to the amount of capital the office manages, advises on, or influences. Unlike institutional AUM, family office AUM can be hard to define because assets may sit across trusts, holding companies, custodians, and operating businesses. Some offices report “investable assets,” while others include operating assets or legacy holdings. Allocator Context AUM is useful as a sizing proxy, but it’s not a guarantee of investability. A family may have high wealth but low investable liquidity due to concentrated holdings, spending needs, or philanthropic commitments. For underwriting, AUM is one input—best paired with asset allocation, liquidity reserve behavior, and typical ticket sizes. Decision Authority Teams use AUM to prioritize targets, but sophisticated targeting treats AUM as a starting signal, not a sizing conclusion. The real test is portfolio role + constraints. Why It Matters for Fundraising AUM-driven outreach without qualification produces mis-targeting. The best use of AUM is to filter for feasibility and then confirm actual deployable capacity through mandate fit and liquidity reality. Key Takeaways AUM is often estimated and definition-dependent Scale ≠ investable capacity Best paired with liquidity and allocation preferences Useful for prioritization, not as a sizing guarantee