Data from a members’ club for family offices, shows a sharp rise in appetite for distressed and special situations and the UK, while support for first-time funds and emerging managers has fallen.

The share of family offices planning to invest in distressed and special situations rose from 10.0 per cent to 18.2 per cent in the year to September 2026, according to data from AYU, a private members’ club for family offices and alternative investment professionals.

The same data shows appetite for the UK rising from 23.4 per cent to 30.8 per cent. The shift was sharpest among UK-based investors, where interest rose from 25.0 per cent to 35.1 per cent. US-based and other international investors recorded smaller increases.

AYU’s membership includes more than 500 family offices, alongside funds and service providers, within a wider network of over 10,000 investment professionals. The analysis, released ahead of its annual family office summit in London, draws on appetite records collected through AYU’s investment matchmaking service.

The organisation formally launched that service, AYU Capital, in February this year after a year-long trial

The study compares the records on 21 September 2025 and 21 September 2026. The number of family offices and private investors covered grew from 209 to 318 between the two dates.

Emerging managers face a tougher market. The share of investors willing to back a manager with a track record of under two years fell from 34.0 per cent to 28.3 per cent. Willingness to consider a first-time fund fell from 23.9 per cent to 19.2 per cent, and appetite for seeding managers dropped from 36.4 per cent to 33.0 per cent.

Private credit was the one asset class to gain ground. The share of family offices targeting it rose from 19.1 per cent to 22.0 per cent, with Europe accounting for most of the increase. Some 14.2 per cent of investors now target European private credit, compared with 9.1 per cent a year earlier. Asset-based lending was the most sought-after strategy, followed by direct lending.

“Anecdotally, we’re hearing that families see dislocation as both a defensive and opportunistic play. The data shows a clear pivot toward strategies that can capture value in stressed markets, and toward managers who have already proved themselves,” Toby Abel, chief technology officer at AYU, who compiled the research, said.

AYU, founded in 2017 by chief executive Gus Morison, vets the family offices in its network. In late 2024, it launched the AYU Approved Family Office Programme to exclude “fake” family offices 

Approved members must manage wealth for one or more ultra-high net worth individuals or families, with assets under management above $50 million.