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“Accelerating” AI, Private Credit, Secondaries And Direct Investments – FWR Forum

Charles Paikert

10 April 2026

The ongoing “acceleration phase” of artificial intelligence, and the rapid growth and popularity of private credit, secondaries and direct investing highlighted this year’s Family Office Investment Forum in New York.

Dubbed the “standout theme” for family offices, AI is “still in its acceleration phase” three years since the introduction of ChatGPT, said Kevin Shea, senior investment analyst for BNY Wealth as he opened the Family Wealth Report-sponsored conference. Investors should expect “so much value creation going forward,” Shea said.

To date, AI is outpacing the growth of the internet at a similar stage of development and OpenAI “is the fastest growing company the world has ever seen,” Shea said. He also noted the extraordinary capital expenditure spending on AI by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Google and disruption being caused by Anthropic’s Claude Cowork in the software business. Software was a value add, Shea said, but Cowork has made it a data depository.

To reach its potential, AI needs to expand geographically and embed in “all employee layers” of companies, according to Shea. AI investors should look for “where the bottlenecks are,” such as data centers, and make sure they have private exposure to AI-related companies.

When asked about the negative impact AI may have on employment and the labor market, Shea said that while he was more sympathetic to a “doom and gloom” scenario last year, he now believes businesses will “shift” job roles, mitigating cumulative job losses.



Private credit doubling
Private credit was identified as another fast-growing area at the conference, as industry executives cited estimates that the market was projected to nearly double to around $4 trillion by 2030. Private credit investors need “clear disclosure on asset quality,” said Mike Szymanski, managing director of Aquiline Credit.

Spreads are likely to go higher, said Michael Perez, managing director of Stone Point Capital, who advised investors to “stay in dry powder.” Stone Point was avoiding “big directional bets” in favor of smaller incremental investments, Perez added. Due diligence is critical to align assets and liabilities, said panelist Jenny Lee, co-head of private credit at Brigade Capital Management. Research is especially important in the asset class because “there’s no upside in private credit,” said Stuart Katz chief investment officer for Robertson Stephens. “You win by losing less.”

Secondaries "staggering" pace
The secondaries market is growing at a “staggering pace that you don’t see in the public markets,” said Maxime Seguineau, managing partner at Raido Ventures. And the longer private companies stay private, the more robust the secondaries market is, added Will Snape, head of capital formation at Open VC, and Kelly Han, investor at The Gate Technologies Capital. 

Open VC’s secondaries market index fund tries to “capture alpha without being an early stage investor” at the tail end of a company remaining private said Snape while Han’s firm focuses more on individual companies and targets 40 per cent growth with a three to five-year exit horizon.

Both executives said access to a private company’s financials was key in this opaque marketplace. Unlike public markets, investments can’t be made with one click of a button, said  Seguineau. “You need full traceability of shares,” said Snape.

Appeal of direct
Direct investments, already a popular investment for family offices, have become even more so because of the lack of liquidity of so many private equity funds. An estimated 70 per cent of US single and multi-family offices make direct investments, said Lindsey Sichel, principal of Legacy Wealth.

The ability to retain control over a direct investment also appeals to families, as is the opportunity to invest directly in an area that may align with the family’s values. Sourcing, networking and trust are important as well. Legacy considers people, pricing, performance and philanthropy; asks why this investment and why now, and tries to determine whether the direct investment has a differentiated value proposition, Sichel said.

Wide range
The investment forum also covered collectibles, wealth migration, a critique of the Sharpe ratio, rare disease drugs, the REG A+ “mini-IPO,” NextGen issues and coastal infrastructure.

Discussing legacy portfolio construction, Thomas Ruggie, CEO of Destiny Family Office, argued against age-based allocations and championed structured notes, options funds and collectibles, which he said have moved from a passion to an investment class by itself.

Elena Scemama, private client advisor at Henley & Partners, discussed wealth migration as a strategic asset class, noting the advantages of global mobility, investment diversification and advantageous tax systems. 

The famous Sharpe Ratio is flawed, according to Neal Nisker, co-CIO and executive chairman of Our Family Office, because it only looks backwards; the risk-free rate of return number could be one of many different assumptions and it doesn’t take into account Black Swan events. Nisker advocates a ratio of  return divided by risk, or standard deviation, and said investors should demand that they get a unit of return for every unit of risk they take.

Despite the rarity of orphan diseases, entrepreneur Bibhash Mukhopadhyay argued that investing in rare disease drugs is financially viable and also allows family offices to make a “meaningful difference” in people’s lives.

Regulation A+, known as REG A+, part of the 2012 Jobs Act, is part of the “democratization of private markets,” according to Mike Raso, managing partner of Conduit Private Partners and Roger Braunfeld, founding partner of Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld. 

They urged family office investors to take advantage of a real estate oriented “mini-IPO” that is a SEC-regulated exemption from traditional registration that allows private companies to raise up to $75 million annually from both accredited and non-accredited investors. The vehicle is considered cost-effective, can be marketed to the general public and can provides immediate liquidity to investors.

Arinder Mahal, partner of Capri Harbor Marina Group, discussed how investors can unlock value in marinas along America’s coastal infrastructure.

NextGen family office investors are looking for investments where they can be educated, gain expertise and expand their network, said Sydney Landau, partner at Shakti VC and investor Brian Delamarter.

Chip Fisher, principal at Ursus Advisory, closed the conference  by talking about how money affects people in different ways. It’s not how much money someone has, Fisher said, but their perspective on handling it. For inheritors, the best way to appreciate money is to “go out and try to make it yourself,” Fisher said.