🚀 Family Offices dumping money into private markets

Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shocked Wall Street with a new $1.6 billion stake in embattled health insurer UnitedHealth, snapping up more than 5 million shares despite the company’s battered reputation, federal investigation, and nearly 50% year-to-date stock drop. The purchase—likely driven by Buffett’s deputies Todd Combs or Ted Weschler—sparked a 6% after-hours surge in UnitedHealth shares, even as the firm reels from a DOJ Medicare billing probe, the resignation of its CEO, and a gloomy 2025 outlook. Alongside the bet on health care, Berkshire added stakes in steelmaker Nucor, homebuilders Lennar and D.R. Horton, and others, while trimming positions in Apple and Bank of America. The moves come as Buffett, turning 95, prepares to step down as Berkshire’s CEO at year-end, handing day-to-day capital allocation to Greg Abel—though the “Oracle of Omaha” will remain chairman and, clearly, a market mover to the last.

2. American shoppers are keeping the jewelry market glittering, with Pandora and Cartier-owner Richemont reporting robust U.S. sales despite global softness and looming tariff pressures. Pandora’s U.S. revenue, now a third of its total, rose 8% in Q2 even as sales in China plunged 15% and Europe saw high single-digit declines; Richemont’s America sales jumped 17% in the same period. Analysts point to a resilient American consumer and strong brand positioning as key drivers. However, Pandora’s heavy reliance on Thai manufacturing leaves it exposed to rising tariffs, forecast to cost the company roughly $31 million in 2025 and $67 million in 2026, alongside surging silver and gold prices. The company is absorbing most of the extra costs through efficiencies and price tweaks. Still, CEO Alexander Lacik warns that these headwinds, coupled with a weakening dollar, could eventually dull America’s sparkle for luxury jewelry.

3. Family offices are rapidly expanding their presence in private markets, with the number investing in areas like private credit and infrastructure jumping 524% since 2016, from 651 to over 4,000, according to Preqin. Fueled by rising wealth, Deloitte estimates they managed $3.1 trillion in 2024, up 63% from 2019. These investment vehicles can afford to lock up capital for decades, aligning with the illiquid nature of private assets. BlackRock and PwC note that the trend reflects both a search for stable, long-term growth and a shift away from volatile public markets. While UBS found family offices are trimming private equity allocations in favor of developed market equities in 2025, the longer-term outlook still skews toward increasing exposure to private markets, underscoring their growing role in global capital flows.

   Headlines

   1. Airlines are struggling to turn the same profit on summer travel as they have historically due to changing consumer preferences including more travel in Spring and Fall and less travel in Summer due to rising temperatures.

   2. Washington, D.C., is suing President Trump over his takeover of the city’s police force.

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