E351: Why Most Family Offices Fail (And How a16z Fixed It)

About this episode

David Weisburd interviews Michel about the failures of family offices and how a16z addresses these issues through better structuring of investments.

What if the biggest edge in investing isn’t picking better assets—but structuring them better for taxes, incentives, and control? In this episode, I sit down with Michel, Founding CIO of a16z Perennial, to discuss how institutional investing frameworks translate to individual portfolios. Michel breaks down why most wealth management fails at true investment management, how misaligned incentives shape outcomes, and why scale, access, and structure matter more than traditional asset allocation. We also explore concentrated portfolios, tax alpha, and how psychology ultimately determines whether a strategy succeeds or fails.

People in this episode

Host: David Weisburd

Guest: Michel

Topics covered

• family offices
• investment management
• wealth management
• incentives
• tax structure
• psychology in investing

Keywords

• family offices
• investment management
• tax alpha
• incentives
• concentrated portfolios
• psychology
• wealth management

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: a16z, a16z Perennial

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