There’s a strong correlation between family offices’ investment performance and reliance on a CIO and investment committee.

In analyzing the results of the 2015 FOX Global Investment Survey, our annual survey of investor attitudes and behaviors, we found that one group had significantly outperformed the rest. We looked into what accounted for the difference, and found that they had an internal CIO and/or investment committee directing the investment strategy and often had a committee structure for setting policy. Among these top performers, 93% said they have an investment committee and 87% reported having a CIO. The decisions these CIOs and investment committees were making led to excellent performance in 2014.

This high performing group—those with 2014 investment performance ranking above the 75th percentile in the study—saw an average pre-tax investment return of 15% in 2014, while the average return for all survey participants was just 7%.

Compared to the universe of survey participants, the top performers allocated a higher percentage of their assets to Private Equity Direct (11% vs. 6%) and Real Estate (16% vs. 11%), while holding a smaller stake in International Equities (7% vs. 11%). They were also more likely than the overall sample to have first- or second-generation family leadership (73% vs. 67%). The offices had an average staff size of 10 full-time employees, and average investable assets of $344 million.

It’s these sorts of insights into how and where family offices are investing, and what patterns surface in top performing offices, that make the FOX Global Investment Survey such a valuable peer benchmark.

FOX members can see more highlights from the 2015 FOX Global Investment Survey by clicking here.