Family Office Investment Strategy
for Entrepreneurs
Investing Beyond Main Street—How Entrepreneurs Can Invest Like Billionaires
Tony Robbins
What Is a Family Office Investment Strategy?
A family office investment strategy is the disciplined approach wealthy families use to manage their capital: broad diversification across public and private markets, rigorous due diligence, tax-aware structuring, and advice free of product commissions. Family offices allocate roughly 42% of their portfolios to alternative investments, according to the UBS Global Family Office Report 2026. Through a Fractional Family Office®, entrepreneurs can apply the same strategy—without a billion-dollar net worth.
Most entrepreneurs are still handicapped by a traditional investment system that was not designed for them. Tony Robbins and co-author Christopher Zook interviewed more than a dozen of the world’s leading private-market investors for The Holy Grail of Investing and reached a similar conclusion: the ultra-wealthy build their portfolios around alternative investments, while most investors never gain access to them because of structural limits in the financial advisory industry.
This guide explains how accomplished entrepreneurs can implement these same billionaire investment strategies without needing a billion-dollar net worth. Through our Fractional Family Office® approach, we help 7-9 figure entrepreneurs move beyond conventional investment limitations, providing access to the diverse asset classes and sophisticated strategies previously available only to the ultra-wealthy—a portfolio designed to help preserve and grow wealth across changing economic environments, the way family offices have invested for generations.
See If You Qualify with Our Wealth Waste Calculator
Alex Hormozi
Why Do Successful Entrepreneurs Struggle With Investing?
The Entrepreneur’s Investment Paradox: your business strengths can become portfolio liabilities
The very traits that fueled your entrepreneurial success could be undermining your investment returns. Think about what made you successful in business:
- Trusting your instincts
- Moving quickly and staying agile
- Maintaining direct control
- Taking calculated risks in your area of expertise
- Being decisive and action-oriented
Yet in the investment world, these same traits often lead to poor decisions and missed opportunities. In 2024 alone, DALBAR’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB) measured an 8.48-percentage-point gap between the average equity fund investor and the S&P 500—behavior-driven underperformance DALBAR has tracked since 1985. Compounded across an investing lifetime, that behavior gap can cost millions.
As executive coach Marshall Goldsmith titled his bestselling book—and as Alex Hormozi often reminds entrepreneurs—“What got you here won’t get you there.” The mindset that built your business requires a reset when it comes to building a portfolio designed to preserve and grow your wealth. The discipline you use to increase your profit margin inside the business needs a different playbook outside it.
"You guys have really changed my personal finances, the management of so many different elements of my business, and my personal life on the back end. That quite frankly, I was really struggling with doing personally and also doing a very poor job at it. I didn’t understand the magnitude of some of the stuff you guys have implemented. The tax saving strategies, the investment strategies that you guys have helped implement. For me, it’s just been a complete game changer."
Steve Harward, Founder & CEO of Prime Corporate Services
Unpaid client testimonial
The Risk Paradox
Are You Taking the Wrong Risks?
While entrepreneurs are natural risk-takers in business, they face a peculiar contradiction in their investment approach. Studies of investor behavior show they often become overly conservative with their investment portfolios while maintaining enormous concentration risk in their businesses. This creates a dangerous disconnect:
Taking excessive risk through concentrated business positions
Being too conservative with investment capital outside the business
Missing opportunities for true diversification across asset classes
Failing to optimize risk-adjusted returns through proper allocation
Experienced investors have long observed the pattern: founders keep all their eggs in one basket—their company—then keep their investment capital in cash because they’re afraid of losing it.
This approach ultimately leads to suboptimal diversification and increased overall risk.
Discover How Much You’re Leaving on the Table with Our Wealth Waste Calculator
What Do Behavioral Biases Cost Investors?
The same psychological traits that drive business success can lead to costly investment mistakes:
Control Bias
Entrepreneurs’ need for control often leads to overtrading and market-timing attempts. In their landmark Journal of Finance study “Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth,” Brad Barber and Terrance Odean found the most active individual traders earned 11.4% annually while the market returned 17.9%—a 6.5-percentage-point shortfall driven by excessive trading.
Overconfidence
Business success creates false confidence in investment abilities. This manifests in concentrated positions and insufficient diversification.
Familiarity Bias
The tendency to invest only in known industries or businesses. As Sam Parr of My First Million podcast has discussed in multiple episodes, entrepreneurs tend to invest in what they know— tech founders invest in tech startups, real estate developers in more properties, and so on.
Recency Bias
Giving too much weight to recent market events, leading to buying high and selling low—the opposite of successful investing.
Morningstar’s “Mind the Gap 2025” study found investors earned 1.2 percentage points less per year than the very funds they held over the decade ended December 2024—roughly 15% of those funds’ total returns—with wider gaps in more volatile fund categories. For entrepreneurs who have worked tirelessly to build successful businesses, behavioral biases are an enormous, and largely avoidable, opportunity cost.
Why Traditional Investment Models Fail Entrepreneurs
The Broken 401(k) Model
The conventional wisdom of "save in your 401(k) for 40 years" wasn't designed for entrepreneurs. Your wealth-building journey looks fundamentally different. You need investment strategies that:
- Account for irregular cash flows from business operations
- Complement your existing business risk profile
- Provide strategic liquidity for opportunities and obligations
- Offer tax efficiency aligned with your complex situation
- Scale alongside your growing wealth
On investment podcasts and shows like All-In, investors have often discussed how the traditional financial system was built primarily for W-2 employees with predictable incomes and simpler financial lives—not for entrepreneurs with complex situations.
The Traditional Access Problem
Even when entrepreneurs seek investments beyond stocks and bonds, they face significant hurdles:
- Placement fees and sales loads—often 3-5%—that immediately reduce invested capital
- Brokers held to Regulation Best Interest—a standard that, even after its 2020 upgrade, is not the fiduciary duty an SEC-registered investment adviser owes you
- Limited due diligence support with potential conflicts of interest
- No coordination between different investments or overall strategy
- Lack of ongoing monitoring and risk management
Access to quality alternative investments isn't just about having capital to invest—it's about having the network, knowledge, and team to properly evaluate these opportunities. Most traditional financial advisors simply can't provide that level of access or analysis.
"Before working with them, I had a lot of headaches. I had my hands in a lot of different businesses and real estate investments. They helped me see a number of blind spots I had and weaknesses in my overall financial plan."
Chris Jones, Vice President of Speedrack West
Unpaid client testimonial
Why Most Financial Advisors Only Offer "Main Street" Investments
Traditional financial advisors typically limit you to publicly traded stocks and bonds—what we call "Main Street" investments. But why? The answer reveals fundamental conflicts in the traditional advisory model:
Limited Access to Alternative Investments
Most traditional advisors have restricted access to the alternatives that billionaires use to build wealth. They operate within frameworks limited to publicly traded assets, missing the private markets where significant wealth creation occurs.
Limited Knowledge About Alternative Investments
Many advisors simply lack expertise beyond traditional asset classes. Their training focuses on stocks and bonds, leaving them uncomfortable recommending investments they don't fully understand.
Misaligned Incentives Due to Fee Structures
The standard 1% assets under management (AUM) fee creates inherent conflicts. Advisors are incentivized to:
- Keep your money in assets they can manage and charge fees on
- Discourage investments in real estate, private businesses, or other alternatives
- Maximize assets under management rather than optimizing your wealth strategy
- Focus on gathering assets rather than generating superior returns
After interviewing more than a dozen of the world’s leading private-market investors for The Holy Grail of Investing, Tony Robbins and Christopher Zook reached the conclusion Ray Dalio describes as the “holy grail” of investing: true diversification comes from combining multiple less-correlated return streams—not from holding many highly correlated stocks and bonds.
As an entrepreneur, you need more than this limited approach. You need the comprehensive, coordinated strategy that family offices have used for generations. Here is how the two models compare:
| Dimension | Typical “Main Street” Portfolio | Family-Office Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Asset mix | Public stocks and bonds | Public markets plus private equity, real estate, private credit, and other alternatives |
| Advice standard | Suitability / Regulation Best Interest (brokers) | Fiduciary duty at all times |
| Compensation | Commissions, product fees, or a percentage of assets | Transparent flat fee as the core model; no commissions or referral fees |
| Due diligence | Limited to platform offerings | Independent, systematic vetting of each opportunity |
| Coordination | Investments managed in isolation | Investments integrated with tax, insurance, legal, and estate strategy |
General characteristics shown for illustration; individual advisors and firms vary.
How Do Billionaires Invest?
The Family Office Solution
The Billionaire Blueprint
Billionaires faced these same investment challenges and solved them by creating family offices—dedicated teams of professionals focused solely on managing and growing their wealth. This structure:
Disciplined Execution
Removes emotional decision-making through systematic processes.
Rigorous Evaluation
Provides sophisticated due diligence on all investment opportunities
Exclusive Access
Enables access to exclusive private market investments
Intentional Diversification
Ensures proper diversification across multiple asset classes
Tax Optimization
Maintains tax efficiency throughout the investment process
Integrated Coordination
Coordinates complex wealth strategies across all holdings
The best-documented example is Yale’s endowment: under David Swensen, Yale earned 13.7% annually over his 36-year tenure (1985–2021), outperforming the average endowment by 3.4 percentage points per year, according to Yale University—a record built on broad diversification with significant allocations to alternatives. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
"I’ve counted on Dew Wealth for quite a while to help me watch the back doors to make sure I’m just not doing things that I wouldn’t even see, so I trust them implicitly."
Dave Asprey, Founder of Bulletproof
Unpaid client testimonial
The Billionaire Asset Allocation
What Does It Actually Look Like?
By implementing this systematic approach, billionaires invest dramatically differently than the average investor. According to the UBS Global Family Office Report 2026, a survey of 307 family offices with an average net worth of $2.7 billion:
Roughly 42% in Alternative Investments (44% in the 2025 edition)
- Private equity and venture capital—about 21%, the largest alternative allocation
- Real estate—about 11%, direct and funds
- Hedge funds, private debt, and other alternatives—the remainder
Roughly 58% in Traditional Investments
- Public equities—about 30%, the largest single allocation
- Fixed income
- Cash and equivalents—about 9%
This diversified approach is designed to provide:
- The potential for improved risk-adjusted returns through less-correlated assets
- Lower overall portfolio volatility
- Tax efficiency via strategic holding structures
- A focus on wealth preservation through economic cycles—paired with asset protection planning to shield what the portfolio builds
- Access to opportunities in less-efficient private markets
It’s the same principle Ray Dalio calls the “holy grail” of investing, which Tony Robbins and Christopher Zook explore in The Holy Grail of Investing: combine enough less-correlated return streams and you can meaningfully reduce risk without giving up return potential. The right allocation for any individual depends on liquidity needs, time horizon, and risk tolerance.
For most entrepreneurs, the single largest liquidity event a portfolio ever receives is the sale of the business—business exit planning determines how much of that value arrives intact.
Allocation decides what a portfolio holds; income decides what it pays you while you hold it. Our deep dive on passive income strategies covers which income-producing assets pay what, with sources and dates, and how much capital each level of income actually requires.
The Fractional Family Office® Solution
How Can Entrepreneurs Invest Like a Billionaire?
Most entrepreneurs assume they need a billion-dollar net worth to access these sophisticated strategies. That’s no longer true. Our Fractional Family Office® brings these same investment approaches to successful entrepreneurs—coordinated by your Linchpin Partner®, a personal CFO for your entire financial life—through a systematic process:
Step 1: Benchmark & Review Your Current Investments
Before making any changes, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of your existing portfolio:
- Inventory every holding, account, and entity across your personal and business balance sheets
- Tally the all-in fees you are actually paying—advisory, fund, and transaction costs
- Measure concentration, liquidity, and risk relative to your goals
- Benchmark your current allocation and after-tax results
This assessment often reveals surprising insights. Many entrepreneurs discover they’re paying far more in fees than they realized—sometimes 2-3% annually when all costs are tallied—while taking either too much or too little risk relative to their goals. Across our 2024 Wealth Waste Calculator analyses, the investments category alone averaged $18,750 in projected annual savings; individual results vary and savings are not guaranteed.
Step 2: Map Your Current Allocation Against the Billionaire Model
Once we understand your current investments, we map them against typical billionaire allocations to identify gaps and imbalances:
- Create detailed asset allocation map across all investment categories
- Identify concentration risks and diversification opportunities
- Compare your current allocation to billionaire models
- Determine whether any imbalances are strategic or accidental
- Develop clear targets for optimal allocation based on your specific situation
This mapping process typically reveals significant deviations from optimal allocations. We commonly find entrepreneurs with the large majority of their investable assets concentrated in a single asset class, often one adjacent to their business experience.
Step 3: Design Your Custom Billionaire’s Allocation™ & Implementation Plan
With a clear understanding of your current position and the gaps that exist, we create a multi-year investment plan with targeted allocations:
-
Develop a custom allocation strategy based on your specific situation
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Create a systematic implementation timeline to minimize taxes and costs
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Establish proper investment vehicles and structures
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Determine appropriate liquidity provisions
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Integrate tax planning with investment strategy
This isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Your ideal allocation depends on your time horizon, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, tax situation, and goals.
Step 4: Methodical Implementation & Rigorous Vetting
The final step is executing your plan with discipline and rigor:
- Implement changes on a phased timeline that manages taxes and transaction costs
- Vet each opportunity with our systematic due-diligence checklist before any capital moves
- Size positions and liquidity tiers to match your plan
- Monitor, rebalance, and report on an ongoing basis
Our investment team applies a systematic due-diligence checklist to every potential investment, analyzing everything from team experience and track record to fee structures and exit strategies. This process has helped our clients identify—and avoid—investments that looked attractive on the surface but carried hidden risks.
See What You’re Missing with Our Wealth Waste Calculator
"I had never seen a model for advisory in the way that they ran it. I have a peace of mind around my finances, my insurance, my assets protection, my taxes and all of that stuff because they're constantly working on my behalf."
Pete Vargas, Entrepreneur
Unpaid client testimonial
Beyond the Basics
What Advanced Strategies Do Family Offices Use?
After establishing a strong foundation through proper asset allocation and investment access, successful entrepreneurs can layer in sophisticated strategies long used by billionaire family offices.
Private Equity & Venture Capital: The Billionaire’s Edge
Private market investments represent one of the most significant differences between billionaire portfolios and traditional ones. According to Cambridge Associates’ US Private Equity Index benchmark commentary, private equity index returns exceeded those of the S&P 500 for all periods longer than three years as of December 31, 2024. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and private investments carry additional risks, including illiquidity and the potential loss of principal.
Our approach provides entrepreneurs with:
- Access to vetted private equity and venture opportunities
- Proper position sizing and diversification
- Comprehensive due diligence and ongoing monitoring
- Integration with overall portfolio strategy
As discussed frequently on shows like My First Million, significant wealth creation often happens in private markets before companies go public. By the time most retail investors can access these companies, the strongest early returns may already have been captured by private investors.
Layering advanced strategies onto a portfolio only helps if the foundation underneath is genuinely diversified away from the operating business itself. Our deep dive on portfolio diversification strategies covers how to measure business concentration, what makes an asset genuinely uncorrelated with a company you own, and how much liquidity to hold before adding anything illiquid.
Strategic Real Estate: Beyond Single-Family Rentals
While many entrepreneurs invest in real estate, billionaires take a more sophisticated approach:
- Commercial real estate in multiple sectors
- Real estate syndications and funds
- Real estate debt and preferred equity
- International real estate for diversification
- Tax-advantaged real estate strategies
Through our Fractional Family Office®, entrepreneurs gain access to institutional-quality real estate opportunities previously available only to the ultra-wealthy, at minimums well below what direct institutional access typically requires.
What those structures actually look like, what the published indices show private property has returned, and the diligence that separates a sound deal from a well marketed one are covered in our deep dive on private equity real estate.
Tax-Efficient Investment Structures
As an entrepreneur, taxes are likely your largest expense. Strategic tax planning for business owners, applied through proper investment structuring, can save millions over time:
- Self-directed IRAs for alternative investments
- Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI)
- Strategic asset location across accounts
- Tax-loss harvesting protocols
- Opportunity zone investments
Risk-Adjusted Return Focus
Rather than chasing the highest projected returns, we help entrepreneurs optimize their risk-adjusted returns through:
- Modern Portfolio Theory application
- Correlation analysis across all holdings
- Risk factor decomposition
- After-tax return optimization
- Regular portfolio rebalancing
By focusing on risk-adjusted returns rather than absolute returns, billionaires build portfolios designed to hold up through varying market conditions. That focus is particularly valuable for entrepreneurs who need to preserve the wealth they’ve worked so hard to build—and eventually pass it on through deliberate wealth transfer planning.
"They were able to put in tax strategies to save me hundreds of thousands of dollars. I highly recommend Jim Dew and Dew Wealth and the virtual family office. Take it from a high-net-worth individual who’s gotten massive value."
Joel Marion, Co-Founder of BioTrust Nutrition
Unpaid client testimonial · Individual results vary and may not be representative
The Fiduciary Difference
What Does Conflict-Free Investment Advice Look Like?
One crucial aspect that sets billionaire family offices apart is their complete alignment with the family's interests. Unlike traditional advisors who earn commissions or kickbacks for recommending specific investments, family offices operate as True Fiduciaries—legally obligated to act solely in their clients' best interests.
Our Fractional Family Office® brings this same fiduciary approach to entrepreneurs:
- No commissions or kickbacks from investment recommendations
- No hidden fees or revenue sharing arrangements
- No proprietary products with embedded profits
- Complete transparency in all compensation
- Legal fiduciary obligation to put your interests first
This alignment of interests is fundamental to building and preserving wealth. As Charlie Munger famously said, "Show me the incentives, and I'll show you the outcome." When your advisors’ incentives are aligned with yours, the advice you receive is far more likely to serve your goals alone.
"I’ve just never found somebody who, I, to be completely candid, was so honest and just has provided such a great service. And if you guys know Jim’s service, he doesn’t do referral fees. I’ve sent a ton of high seven-figure, eight-figure folks to him who have very complex problems financially and have a lot of needs…everybody has said amazing things about their service."
Cole Gordon, CEO of Closers.IO
Unpaid client testimonial
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to liquidate my current investments to implement these strategies?
No. We take a methodical approach to transitioning your portfolio, carefully considering tax implications, exit fees, and market timing. Our implementation plans typically span 12-36 months to minimize disruption and optimize tax efficiency.
What types of alternative investments do you provide access to?
Our investment platform provides access to private equity, venture capital, real estate, private credit, hedge funds, managed futures, and other alternative investments—all with institutional-quality due diligence and ongoing monitoring.
How liquid are these alternative investments?
Liquidity varies by investment type. We help structure your portfolio with appropriate liquidity tiers based on your specific needs. Some alternatives have quarterly liquidity, while others might have 5-10-year lock-up periods. We ensure you maintain proper liquidity for opportunities and obligations.
What's the minimum investment required to implement these strategies?
Traditional family offices typically serve families with $100 million to $250 million or more in assets, according to J.P. Morgan and Campden Research. Our Fractional Family Office® approach brings many of the same strategies and opportunities to entrepreneurs running businesses with seven to nine figures of annual revenue.
How do you make money if you don't charge commissions on investments?
Our core model is a transparent fixed fee based on the complexity of your situation—not commissions or product sales. This aligns our interests with yours: we succeed when we provide value, not when we sell products.
How does this approach differ from what my current financial advisor offers?
Traditional advisors typically focus on allocating assets within public markets (stocks and bonds). Our approach provides access to the full spectrum of investments billionaires use, including private markets, alternative investments, and sophisticated tax strategies—all coordinated by a team that serves as your personal investment office.
What percentage of a portfolio do family offices put in alternative investments?
The UBS Global Family Office Report 2026 puts the average family office allocation to alternative investments at roughly 42%—led by private equity at about 21% and real estate at about 11%—with the balance in public equities, fixed income, and cash. The right mix for any individual investor depends on liquidity needs, time horizon, and risk tolerance.
Do I need to be an accredited investor to access alternative investments?
Generally, yes. Most private-market investments—private equity, venture capital, private credit, and many real estate funds—require accredited-investor or qualified-purchaser status under SEC rules. Many successful business owners qualify, and we help clients confirm eligibility and understand each investment’s requirements, risks, and lock-up terms before committing capital.
Taking the Next Step
Your Path to a Family Office Investment Strategy
You’ve built impressive business success. Now it’s time to apply that same strategic thinking to your investments. The family office approach to wealth management isn’t just for those with billions—it’s for entrepreneurs who want to protect and grow what they’ve worked so hard to build.
Our Fractional Family Office® provides the sophisticated investment strategies previously available only to the ultra-wealthy, delivered with complete transparency and fiduciary alignment, as part of comprehensive wealth management for business owners.
If you’re ready to explore how these strategies might apply to your specific situation, the next step is simple: schedule a Wealth Strategy Session. You can also hear directly from our clients. During this consultation, we’ll:
Review Your
Current Investment Approach
Identify Potential Opportunities & Inefficiencies
Explain Our Systematic Investment Process
Determine if We're the Right Fit for Your Needs
There’s no obligation, and you’ll gain valuable insights regardless of whether we work together.
Schedule Your Wealth Strategy Session
Page last updated: July 31, 2026
Disclosure
Dew Wealth Management, LLC ("Dew Wealth") is an SEC-registered investment adviser located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information provided in this material is for general informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. The client testimonials featured in this material represent the views and experiences of specific clients and may not be representative of the experiences of all clients. All featured testimonials are unpaid and voluntary. Results will vary, and there is no guarantee that any client will achieve similar results. The individuals featured may have material business or other relationships with Dew Wealth.
This material contains references to third-party figures, books, research, and media, which are provided for informational purposes only. Mentions of third parties do not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by these individuals or organizations. References to specific individuals such as Tony Robbins, Alex Hormozi, and others are for illustrative purposes only and do not imply endorsement of Dew Wealth or its services. Performance figures cited, including references to Yale’s endowment returns, DALBAR and Morningstar studies, UBS Global Family Office Report allocation data, and Cambridge Associates index data, are based on historical data and are not indicative of future results. The comparison of "billionaire" investment strategies to traditional investment approaches is for illustrative purposes only and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that implementing such strategies will produce similar results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and the future performance of any specific investment strategy cannot be guaranteed. References to alternative investments including private equity, venture capital, real estate, and other private market investments involve additional risks including limited liquidity, lack of transparency, and potential for complete loss of principal. Such investments are generally only available to qualified investors who meet specific suitability requirements.
References to projected savings, including the average investments-category figure from our 2024 Wealth Waste Calculator analyses ($18,750), are estimates based on information provided by users and various assumptions; they are illustrative only, individual results vary, and savings are not guaranteed. Certain representatives of Dew Wealth maintain insurance licenses to allow for consultation on insurance needs; they do not solicit clients for commission-based insurance sales, and such licenses are maintained for the purpose of receiving trail commissions on previously implemented policies, as described in our Form ADV Part 2A.
The "Fractional Family Office®" approach described is Dew Wealth’s proprietary service model and should not be understood as providing the same comprehensive services as a dedicated single-family office. The service offering, scope, and resources will differ from traditional family offices serving ultra-high-net-worth families. Tax strategies and related information are general in nature and should not be considered tax advice. Consult with a qualified tax professional regarding your specific circumstances before implementing any tax strategy. No part of this content should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or as an offer of investment advisory services. Dew Wealth may only transact business in those states where it is registered, notice filed, or exempt from registration requirements.
For additional information about Dew Wealth, including fees and services, please request our Form ADV Part 2A disclosure brochure and Form CRS. If you have any questions regarding this content, please contact us at the phone number or address listed on our website. By accessing, using, or receiving this Document, the Recipient acknowledges and agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions outlined at DewWealth.com/IP.