Multi-Family Office seeking defensive investments

The client was a regulated multi-family office with a capital-preservation mandate, focused on investment-grade credit and liquid USD/EUR instruments. Their objective was to strengthen their income allocation with predictable cash flows and low volatility, while ensuring that every investment decision could be presented to their Investment Committee with transparent justification. Their internal policy demanded investment-grade ratings, limited concentration, and strict oversight of maturity and duration risk.

We began with a scoping session to align on risk tolerance, liquidity requirements, and sector preferences. This process defined the framework for the research: a combination of income stability, liquidity assurance, and sector diversification. Based on this, our team carried out a structured due diligence exercise, screening the global bond universe for securities that fit the client’s parameters. Each shortlisted issuer was then evaluated for balance sheet strength, refinancing profile, and governance quality. We also tested each bond’s structure to assess maturity risk, call features, and liquidity in the secondary market.

Three bonds emerged as clear candidates: a European utility issue providing a stable “income anchor,” a supranational USD-denominated note offering high liquidity, and a covered bond designed to diversify exposure while adding structural protection. For each option we produced an investment memorandum that included the rationale, the risk factors, and its fit within the overall portfolio.

To reinforce the governance process, we carried out stress tests simulating interest rate shocks and credit spread widening, offering the client clear downside scenarios and mitigation strategies. This analysis, together with the memos, equipped the Investment Committee with all the information needed to approve the transactions swiftly.

Within ten days, the family office implemented two of the three recommendations and reserved the third for a later cycle. Beyond the immediate allocation, the project improved the client’s decision-making process by providing documentation of institutional quality, a repeatable review framework, and a quarterly monitoring schedule. The family office strengthened its income strategy without increasing complexity, while retaining full control over custody and execution.