Club Deal

In a club deal, each participant invests directly into a single asset or company alongside a small, trusted group. Unlike a private equity fund, there is no pooled vehicle charging carried interest on a broad portfolio. Each family simply co-owns a slice of the one deal. This structure appeals to families that want control, transparency, and lower fee drag on individual transactions. You can read more about how these fit into a broader investment program on the co-investments page.

A concrete example: a founder who sold her veterinary group teams up with three other family offices she knows through a shared network. Together they acquire a regional warehousing business, each committing capital directly to the holding company. No fund manager takes a management fee; the families negotiate governance rights among themselves. Deal sourcing and monitoring therefore becomes a shared responsibility across the group.

A common confusion is conflating club deals with co-investments. Co-investments typically involve a lead fund manager who brings in select limited partners alongside an existing fund. Club deals usually have no such lead fund, the investors themselves organize the transaction collectively. Both require careful due diligence, but the governance dynamics differ meaningfully.