More Than a Bind That Ties—Introducing the Family Meta-Logic in Single-Family Offices When Navigating Financial and Social Welfare Logics

Single-family offices (SFOs) must balance financial, social welfare, and family logics. Drawing on institutional logics research, this multi-case study of German SFOs examines how the family logic shapes the relationship between financial and social welfare logics in investment decisions. We find that the family logic acts as a meta-logic. Depending on power distribution, value alignment, and governance design, it enables centrality, compatibility, or pseudo-compatibility of the two logics, and it works as an exit barrier that keeps tensions from escalating. We contribute by conceptualizing the family meta-logic and by showing how power dynamics and generational differences shape decision-making in SFOs.