This paper investigates the characteristics and performance of family investment holdings across the world. Their unique combination of family wealth and expertise and investments in stock markets make them a special asset class for retail investors. We find that families are strongly involved in terms of stake and management both in their holdings and the holding’s investments. We further document a significant outperformance of family investment holdings globally and in Europe and a more contained performance on Asian markets. Holding characteristics and the economic environment appear to have some limited influence on performance.