By Mindaugas Suklevicius – Founder and Fund Manager at HF Quarters
Family offices increasingly manage multiple pools of capital simultaneously. Operating companies, a core portfolio, a philanthropic arm, and a catalytic sleeve that can lean in early on new ideas. The shift is toward a total-portfolio view, where these pools work in concert rather than in silos. Catalytic capital also sits on a continuum and can show up in several forms. That approach aligns with what many families are prioritising: maintaining meaningful private-market exposure while integrating values and sustainability.
Philanthropic and catalytic capital often pilot a theme by taking earlier risks or accepting moderated returns, such as backing an emerging impact manager, seeding inclusive-finance vehicles, or testing climate-adaptation solutions.
Rigorous frameworks matter. The most effective family offices spell out the outcomes they want from each pool and over what time horizon, and are explicit about where they are willing to accept concessions. Every sleeve has a clear job and a way to measure progress. This presents an opportunity for advisors to build bridges between those sleeves and keep the discussions grounded in how capital actually moves between pools.
When philanthropic, catalytic, and commercial sleeves interact with each other, family offices shift from passive allocators to active builders. The philanthropic arm can pressure-test ideas in a safe-to-fail environment. Catalytic capital can underwrite early risks to prove new models, and the core book can then scale what worked, all within clear guardrails.