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Family offices

Investment committee

Assign documented authority for investment approval, portfolio oversight and exceptions within the family-office governance structure.

Quick answer

An investment committee is the body authorised to evaluate and approve investments and oversee adherence to the investment mandate. Its charter should define membership, competence, quorum, voting, conflicts, delegated limits, required evidence, minutes, monitoring and escalation.

Use the worked example

Meaning and transaction use

An SEC filing describes an investment committee that evaluates and approves investments, supports consistency with investment policies and requires unanimous approval with a quorum for commitments. [S1]

An SEC-filed committee charter requires review of financial history, expected return, management, business model, capital needs and portfolio risk. [S2]

Proposed control method: use a standard decision memorandum, conflict register and signed minutes for every approval, decline, exception and follow-on.

Worked example

Illustrative committee dashboard only. Assume 20 opportunities reviewed: six approved, three deferred for more evidence and eleven declined.

Scroll the table horizontally to view all columns.

MeasureCalculationResult
Approval rate6 / 2030.0%
Deferral rate3 / 2015.0%
Decline rate11 / 2055.0%
Decision reconciliation6 + 3 + 1120

The illustrative committee approved 30.0% of reviewed opportunities and deferred 15.0% for further evidence.

Proposed transaction review process

Set authority

Approve charter, mandate, limits, quorum and voting.

Prepare evidence

Use a standard memo with risks, valuation and conflicts.

Decide and record

Document questions, conditions, vote and dissent.

Monitor

Review performance, breaches, valuations and exit decisions.

Evidence checklist

Governance

Charter, appointments, delegation and conflict policy.

Underwriting

Commercial, financial, legal, tax and operational diligence.

Portfolio

Exposure, liquidity, risk budget and concentration.

Decision record

Agenda, materials, minutes, conditions and follow-up.

Decision framework

SituationProposed action
A member has a conflictApply recusal and quorum rules.
Evidence is incompleteDefer or condition the decision within delegated authority.
An exception is proposedDocument rationale, approval level and remediation.
Performance departs from thesisRe-underwrite hold, follow-on or exit options.

Common errors to check

  • Approving outside delegated authority.
  • Failing to record conflicts.
  • Using oral updates without a decision file.
  • Monitoring investments only at exit.

Set the investment decision controls

Bring the mandate, committee charter and decision process to a governance review. Reconcile authority, evidence and monitoring.

Discuss the transaction

Primary references and editorial scope

  1. SEC filing: Investment committee purpose and approval
    Example committee evaluation, approval, policy consistency, quorum and unanimous commitment requirement. Reference checked 17 September 2026.
  2. SEC filing: Investment committee charter
    Example committee responsibilities, underwriting factors and portfolio-risk review. Reference checked 17 September 2026.
Editorial qualification

General governance education using public United States filings. Figures are hypothetical. Governing documents, fiduciary duties, regulation and delegated authority determine actual committee powers.

General business information. Obtain advice appropriate to the legal, tax, accounting and financing facts. No offer, lender commitment or transaction outcome is represented. All worked examples use expressly assumed figures. Editorial draft date: 17 September 2026.

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