After years of working with family offices and asset managers, one pattern holds regardless of market conditions: the investors who perform well over time are rarely the ones with the most capital to deploy. They are the ones who know where to look and who already have a seat at the table when it matters.

That dynamic has never been more relevant than it is right now.

Deal volumes are down. Exits are taking longer than anyone projected, and in many cases, the outcomes remain deeply uneven. Fundraising is competitive across the board. Capital is still being deployed, but the tolerance for getting it wrong has shrunk considerably. In this environment, how you enter a deal, on what terms and with how much real information, often determines the outcome long before any formal diligence process begins.

This is what we mean when we say access has become a form of risk management.

It is not about deal flow volume.

It is about being in the room early, with context that most investors simply do not have.

Founders who are building well have options. They are choosing their investors carefully, prioritising those who understand long timelines, who stay constructive when things get difficult, and who are aligned on governance and follow-on from the start.

When a family office comes in through a trusted relationship, it typically arrives before the round is competitive. It understands not just the business, but the cap table dynamics, what the founder actually needs, and the assumptions behind the numbers that never make it into a deck. That kind of context does not just help with conviction. It materially reduces the information gap that quietly drives so much of the risk in venture investing.

Pricing reflects this, too.

Introductions built on relationships tend to produce more honest valuation conversations. There is less noise, fewer parties optimising for leverage, and more room to agree on terms that hold up over the long run. Compare that to opportunities surfacing through broad distribution, arriving with limited background, compressed timelines, and pricing that often reflects a market from six months ago. In those situations, you are not just underwriting a company. You are underwriting a process, and that process itself carries risk.

What we see across the family offices we work with is a gradual but clear shift in how they are thinking about this. The question is no longer simply how much to allocate to venture.

It is where they can access quality consistently and on reasonable terms. Some are deepening a small number of manager relationships in sectors where they have genuine knowledge. Others are doing fewer direct deals but engaging more seriously with each one. The common thread is a move away from broad exposure toward deliberate positioning.

The families that tend to attract the best opportunities share certain qualities.

They are clear and consistent in how they make decisions.

They are realistic about timelines. They remain steady across cycles rather than pulling back when conditions get uncomfortable.

Over time, that behaviour builds a reputation, and that reputation opens doors that capital alone does not.

Venture investing, viewed through this lens, is ultimately about position. Position within networks that surface opportunities before they are widely visible. Position within the cap tables that founders have carefully assembled. Position within long-term relationships where trust has been built over years, not weeks.

These are among the themes being explored at the World Family Office Forum Europe 2026, taking place on 8 and 9 June at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Montreux, Switzerland. The forum brings together leading business families, single family offices, and their most trusted advisors for two days of focused discussion, knowledge exchange, and meaningful connection.

Attendance is capped and by invitation, which keeps the conversations grounded in what participants are actually experiencing rather than what the market narrative suggests they should be.

If how access, strategy, and risk intersect in today's venture market is relevant to how your portfolio is positioned, this is a conversation worth being part of.

For more information, visit https://europe.worldfamilyofficeforum.com/

For invitations or sponsorship enquiries, contact info@connectgroup.global