Family offices are test match players, not T20 players, we will wait out the market volatility: Panellists at Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit

Family offices on wealth creation

• Family offices prioritize long-term investments during market volatility
• Large stakes allow family offices to influence company direction
• Family offices focus on diversification and sector expertise

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Family Offices, the organisations that manage wealth for the richest, are not chasing quick returns and usually wait out the market volatility, said panellists at the Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit 2026 in Mumbai on March 14.

The Israel-US alliance war with Iran has spooked the global markets over the past fortnight, and the spike in oil and natural gas prices after the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz has soured the investor sentiment globally.

However, with a much longer horizon, family offices are much better placed to weather the volatility, the panellists said.

“The idea is really long-term, and these volatilities will come up and down. If you have conviction in what you bought, whether in public markets or private markets, then just wait it out,” said Deepak Padaki, president of Catamaran Ventures, the family office of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy.

He pointed out that if the family offices have enough liquidity, when the market drops, they can use it as an opportunity to enter because they’re pitching long-term. He added that Catamaran has had two Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the last two to three months, which demonstrates the quality of the founders it supports.

Betting on expertise

Rishabh Mariwala, founder and Managing Partner, Sharrp Ventures, which manages the Mariwala Family Office, said that the firm focuses on consumer brands, based on its own expertise in the sector.

“That's all we understand. We don't understand anything else,” Mariwala said, adding that it does a lot of engagement with founders to drive value and give perspective.

“We had an entire master class on content as a new distribution and how content is changing the way in which the distribution is done,” Mariwala said.

He said that the family office takes a large stake so that it can influence the founders better.

“The amount of capital that you have on the cap table is proportional to the influence that you have with the founders is our belief. And having a seat at the table in terms of just influencing really impacts the potential overall direction of the business. And if we believe that we have the experience, then we can actually add that value to the founders,” Mariwala added.

Diversification

Venkat Subramanian R, CIO of USK Capital, which manages Uday Kotak’s wealth, said that the firm is looking to diversify beyond financial services.

“Our founder, our principal, had zero capital outside India. So we are entirely INR, entirely financial services. So from there, how do we move out?,” he explained the group’s primary thinking.

“We didn't want to be in multiple small investments, which we have to manage. The approach is that we want to be business owners. Like we have an investment in the bank. We want to make a handful of investments that we can practically own forever. So that is, you know, a business owner's mindset rather than an investor's mindset,” Subramanian said.

Growth stage investment

Meanwhile, Ranjan Pai’s family office, Claypond, operates more like a late-stage venture capital or private equity firm, taking large stakes in companies across sectors such as health, sports, and education, among others.

“It is around Rs 300 crore in cheque size. And they were fairly open, and we operate like any other private equity fund. We are long-term oriented, and the recent volatility doesn't impact us, though it might impact our portfolio companies,” said Chandra Sekhar Garisa Reddy, MD and CEO of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL). He is also the managing director of Claypond Capital.