Shifts in geopolitics, technology and economics are influencing how family offices adapt to manage uncertainty and position themselves for sustained success. The 2025 North America Family Office Report explores this landscape by examining 141 family offices primarily across Canada and the United States, offering comparisons to global peers.
Learn more about trends impacting family offices, including the possibilities unlocked by AI, the factors shaping strategy, evolving investment priorities and the drive to strengthen operational resilience through talent and technology.
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North American family offices are navigating a mix of market uncertainty, rapid technological change and evolving priorities. The 2025 report highlights how offices are adapting by embracing innovation, refining strategies and exploring new ways to strengthen operations.
AI use is expanding in family offices, particularly in assisting with investment reporting and research.
In 2024, 11 percent of family offices had implemented generative AI, and 30 percent indicated a desire to adopt it. This year’s survey asked about specific applications: 29 percent use generative AI to aid investment reporting (63 percent express interest), and 30 percent to manage and research text, such as news, social media and transcripts (39 percent express interest). Adoption is expected to accelerate as the technology advances.
Generative AI offers family offices the opportunity to streamline routine processes and enhance staff capacity for higher-value work. Early adopters may be better positioned to adapt quickly and manage increasing complexity.
Expected returns for 2025 average 5 percent, with only 13 percent of family offices expecting returns to exceed 10 percent. That’s down from average expected returns of 11 percent in 2024, when 40 percent of family offices anticipated returns above 10 percent. This year, 15 percent of respondents anticipate a negative outcome, compared to just 1 percent the year before.
Many favour cash for near-term gains, while others remain focused on investing in AI, defense industries and the Magnificent Seven—unchanged from last year.
A weaker U.S. dollar has renewed interest in European equities, while U.S. fiscal policy will likely discourage long-duration government bonds. Only 16 percent would consider relocation if geopolitical risk was deemed serious enough, with most adjusting strategies without losing conviction.
Private markets account for 29 percent of the average family office portfolio in 2025, down slightly from 30 percent last year. Despite recent underperformance in private equity and venture capital, many expect these investments to deliver the best risk-adjusted returns over the long term.
Twenty-five percent of family offices are engaged in responsible investing, compared with 28 percent in 2024. Respondents reject the idea it means lower returns—a stance supported by academic research—and enthusiasm for incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations remains high, even after the U.S. administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
Top financial concerns include the impact of U.S. tariffs, followed closely by inflation shock, U.S. dollar depreciation and recession risk.
Eighty-seven percent of family offices (up from 78 percent in 2024) offer bonuses and other incentives competitive with financial institutions and professional firms, viewing them as essential for attracting skilled professionals in a tight labour market.Yet more than 90 percent of family offices report difficulty recruiting, and nearly 50 percent cite retention as an ongoing concern.
Some respondents are turning to outsourcing, with 37 percent saying cost pressures—including rising technology expenses and salary inflation—are prompting them to do so, particularly for IT.
Family offices are steadily replacing manual reporting with automated tools, with adoption rising to 69 percent, up from 46 percent in 2024.
The most sought-after solutions, cited by 27 percent of respondents, are wealth aggregation platforms and automated investment reporting systems, which consolidate data from multiple financial institutions into a single real-time view.
Many family offices still operate hybrid systems, and data inconsistencies across asset classes and custodians remain a challenge. However, technology is helping to reduce operational risk and streamline one of the most time-consuming functions in the office.
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