UBS Global Family Office Report 2025: Key investment trends and strategic shifts among the world's wealthiest families

Economy ME

17-06-2025

UBS has released its Global Family Office Report 2025, offering the most comprehensive analysis to date of the investment strategies, concerns, and evolving priorities of the world's wealthiest families.
Drawing insights from 317 single family offices across more than 30 markets, the report covers a broad cross-section of global capital and influence, with participating families averaging a net worth of $2.7 billion and managing an average of $1.1 billion in assets.
Conducted between January 22 and April 4, 2025, the report offers timely insights into how this elite group is navigating a period of significant economic and geopolitical uncertainty, while also adapting to long-term structural changes in global markets.
European family offices outside Switzerland balance traditional and alternative assets equally, with 51 percent in equities and bonds, and 49 percent in private equity and real estate
Read: Middle East families to see $1 trillion transfer of generational wealth by 2030: Report
Top concerns for 2025: Geopolitical risk dominate
The most urgent concern among family offices globally is the potential for a global trade war, cited by 70 percent of respondents as a primary threat to achieving their financial objectives over the next 12 months. This reflects heightened tensions among major economies and increased uncertainty surrounding international trade flows.
Closely following this, 52 percent of family offices identified major geopolitical conflict as a pressing concern. As the planning horizon extends to the next five years, this concern deepens: 61 percent foresee geopolitical conflict as a top risk, and 53 percent are worried about a global recession, likely triggered by serious trade disputes and supply chain disruptions.
Concerns over sovereign debt are also widespread, with 50 percent of respondents expressing alarm about a potential global debt crisis, highlighting widespread unease over high government borrowing and fiscal sustainability.
Risk appetite and the search for stability
Despite the turbulent outlook, 59 percent of family offices plan to maintain their current level of portfolio risk in 2025. However, nearly four in ten (38 percent) admit to facing challenges in identifying effective strategies to offset those risks. 29 percent also note that traditional 'safe haven' assets are no longer predictable, due to shifting correlations and macroeconomic instability.
As a response, a significant percentage of family offices are turning toward more dynamic strategies to maintain diversification:
40 percent are increasing reliance on manager selection and active management
31 percent are investing more in hedge funds
27 percent are boosting allocations to illiquid assets
26 percent are favoring high-quality, short-duration fixed income
19 percent are using precious metals, with 21 percent planning to increase their allocation over the next five years
Family offices are expected to play an even greater role in shaping the future of capital markets through strategic deployment of assets, stewardship, and innovation
Asset allocation shifts: Focus on liquidity and developed markets
In light of ongoing volatility and macroeconomic headwinds, family offices are realigning their strategic asset allocations, with a marked shift toward liquid markets and developed economies. Allocations to developed market equities increased to 26 percent in 2024, and among those planning changes, the average expected increase in 2025 is up to 29 percent.
Looking ahead five years, 46 percent anticipate significantly or moderately increasing their exposure to developed market equities. Conversely, only 23 percent plan to increase allocations to developed market fixed income.
Barriers to investing in emerging markets remain consistent:
56 percent cite geopolitical instability
55 percent highlight political uncertainty and sovereign risk
51 percent are concerned about legal uncertainty and regulatory frameworks
48 percent worry about currency devaluations and inflation
Regional preferences: North America and Western Europe lead
Geographically, family offices remain concentrated in developed Western markets. North America accounts for 53 percent of total allocations, followed by Western Europe at 26 percent. Together, these regions comprise nearly 80 percent of global portfolio weightings.
Succession planning: A work in progress
The world is in the midst of the largest intergenerational
wealth
transfer in history, yet only 53 percent of family offices have formal wealth succession plans in place. The remaining families cite various reasons for inaction:
29 percent believe there is still plenty of time to plan
21 percent have yet to decide how wealth will be divided
18 percent indicate a lack of time to properly address the issue
For those with plans in place, the biggest challenge is ensuring tax efficiency (64 percent), followed by preparing the next generation to responsibly manage wealth (43 percent). Notably, only 26 percent involve the next generation in succession planning discussions from the outset.
Geographically, family offices remain concentrated in developed Western markets
Regional investment strategies: A global snapshot
U.S.A.
U.S. family offices maintain a heavy tilt toward alternative assets (54 percent), with 27 percent in private equity and 18 percent in real estate. Traditional asset classes make up 46 percent, led by equities (32 percent).
Portfolios are predominantly U.S.-centric, with 86 percent of assets in North America.
Switzerland
Swiss portfolios are weighted toward traditional assets (56 percent), including 34 percent in equities and 13 percent in fixed income. Alternative assets represent 44 percent, with 16 percent in private equity and 12 percent in real estate. Regionally, Western Europe is the preferred destination (53 percent).
Europe (Excluding Switzerland)
European family offices outside Switzerland balance traditional and alternative assets equally, with 51 percent in equities and bonds, and 49 percent in private equity and real estate. Investment is concentrated in Western Europe (44 percent) and the U.S. (43 percent).
Middle East
Portfolios are split 50/50 between traditional and alternative asset classes, led by equities (27 percent) and private equity (25 percent). Regional allocation is tilted toward North America (55 percent), followed by Western Europe (21 percent).
The latest UBS Global Family Office Report shows that family offices in the Middle East are embracing a diversified, forward-looking investment approach
Balancing risk, opportunity, and legacy
The 2025 UBS Global Family Office Report reveals a complex landscape for the world's wealthiest investors. While geopolitical and economic uncertainty dominate near-term concerns, family offices remain resilient and adaptive, making calculated shifts in asset allocation to preserve
wealth
and seize new growth opportunities.
At the same time, many are grappling with the practicalities of intergenerational wealth transfer, emphasizing the need for long-term governance and proactive planning. As global conditions continue to evolve, family offices are expected to play an even greater role in shaping the future of capital markets through strategic deployment of assets, stewardship, and innovation.
'At a time of increased volatility, global recession fears and following a near unprecedented market selloff in early April, our latest report serves as a good reminder that family offices around the world are first and foremost pursuing a steady, long-term approach, as they focus on preserving wealth across the next generations,' Benjamin Cavalli, head of strategic clients at UBS Global Wealth Management, says.
'While the global macroeconomic and political environment continues to be marked by rapid changes and a high degree of uncertainty, this survey offers a glimpse of what we can expect over the coming five years. And most importantly, it provides a snapshot into the thinking of family offices around the world, their objectives, preferences and concerns,' Yves-Alain Sommerhalder, head of Global Wealth Management Solutions at UBS Global Wealth Management, explains.
'The latest UBS Global Family Office Report shows that family offices in the Middle East are embracing a diversified, forward-looking investment approach. While maintaining a relatively cautious exposure to global public equities, which is the lowest amongst all regions globally, they have embraced the benefits of alternative investments,' says Niels Zilkens, head Wealth Management Middle East at UBS Global Wealth Management.
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