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As family offices deepen their exposure to private markets, many are discovering that access alone is no longer sufficient to drive outcomes. . . Karen Harding, partner and private wealth team leader at NEPC, works closely with family offices navigating these challenges and advises on building more resilient, institutional-quality private markets programs.

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CM: How has the current distribution slowdown disrupted traditional capital recycling assumptions for private equity and credit portfolios?

KH: Historically, many private markets programs relied on a relatively smooth cycle of distributions to fund new commitments, but that assumption has been disrupted as distributions have slowed.

The result is that capital recycling is no longer as dependable as it once was. Family offices are adapting by rethinking pacing or slowing commitments, or by looking to alternative funding sources, such as liquid assets or credit facilities, to ensure capital calls can still be made in the absence of distributions.

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CM: For families that historically relied on relationships or brand to choose managers, what first steps do you suggest to move toward a more disciplined, repeatable process?

KH: The transition is less about replacing relationships and more about formalizing decision-making around them.

The first step is to define clear evaluation criteria: what constitutes a strong manager, how strategies fit within the broader portfolio, and how success is measured across cycles. From there, the focus shifts to building a repeatable process that applies those standards consistently.

A thoughtful, consistent approach to manager selection is one of the most important drivers of long-term success in private markets.