After starting the year with market turmoil and trade concerns, ultra-high-net-worth family offices are adjusting their strategy to protect and grow their wealth.
Despite market turbulence and trade concerns in early 2025, ultra-high-net-worth family offices remain committed to wealth preservation and growth, demonstrating agility and resilience amid a changing global landscape.
These offices are transforming caution into opportunity, embracing innovation and adapting strategies to be future-ready, according to the North America Family Office Report 2025 , produced by RBC and Campden Wealth.
The report focuses on survey responses from 141 single-family offices and private multi-family offices in North America, with an average total wealth of US$2 billion. Of the respondents, 37 percent are family members and 42 percent hold key leadership positions in family offices, such as chief executive, chairperson, founder, principal or president.
Family offices continue to evolve, and this report provides insight into their operations and priorities as they move cautiously forward amid a changing global and economic environment.
This year started with instability led by geopolitical unrest and trade tensions, which culminated in a particularly volatile second quarter for financial markets. The annual survey was undertaken during the second quarter, and the effect of the economic uncertainty seems to be evident in a more cautious investment outlook from family offices. Their average expected return for 2025 is five percent, with 15 percent of family offices expecting a negative outcome for their investments. These expectations are considerably less optimistic than this time last year, when the average expected return was 11 percent, and only one percent expected negative returns.
The good news is that the sharp drawdown at the start of the period has been followed by a robust, broad-based recovery in global equities. By the end of the second quarter, NASDAQ and the S&P 500 had reversed previous losses and reached new all-time highs.
With the improvement in market sentiment, it is possible that some of the caution expressed by family offices may have dissipated. However, the investment risks they feel are most likely to occur over the next 12 months – including constrained global growth and inflation shock – largely stem from the U.S. administration’s tariff agenda.
In line with their more cautious approach in 2025, the majority of family offices believe cash will offer the best return over the next year. For those inclined to invest in public markets, the most popular sectors are artificial intelligence (AI), defence industries and the Magnificent Seven, all unchanged from last year.
As the U.S. dollar weakens, family office leaders express a renewed interest in European equities. Most are avoiding long-duration government bonds, due to current U.S. fiscal policy.
Despite domestic concerns, few North American family offices are considering relocating anytime soon. Just 16 percent would consider changing their domicile if geopolitical risk was deemed serious enough.
Discover how family offices are responding to shifts in geopolitics, technology and economics to position for success.
Family office leaders aren’t just interested in investing in AI; they’re also interested in using it to improve their operations. Already, 29 percent of family offices are harnessing AI to assist with investment reporting and 30 percent use it to conduct research. This trend is expected to accelerate as AI tools become more advanced.
When asked about the operational risks that concern them, family office representatives most frequently cited manual processes and over-reliance on spreadsheets. As a result, their most sought-after pieces of technology are automated investment reporting systems and wealth aggregation platforms, which can provide a comprehensive real-time view of a family office’s financial position by consolidating data from multiple financial institutions. This year, 69 percent of family offices have adopted automated investment reporting systems, up from 46 percent last year.
However, technology comes at cost, which, when combined with salary inflation, is prompting many single-family offices to consider outsourcing their IT and technology requirements to multi-family offices and wealth managers. Family offices, particularly smaller ones, rely heavily on outsourcing for a broad range of advisory services. Larger family offices may have the option to provide services in-house or outsource them. In making this decision, 88 percent say access to specialist expertise is the determining factor.
As AI tools increasingly provide new options and promise improved efficiency, greater adoption is likely to result in a significant reduction in the number of family office staff engaged in basic accounting or administrative functions.
For many family offices, the opportunity to outsource or increase productivity with AI tools may be a welcome solution to workforce challenges. More than 90 percent of family offices report difficulty recruiting staff, and nearly half report difficulty with retention. These challenges persist despite the fact that the vast majority of family offices offer bonuses and other forms of incentive payments, which make compensation competitive with that offered by financial institutions and other professional firms.
As family offices work to balance the need for wealth preservation with the pursuit of growth, private markets remain a core focus for them. In recent years, family office investments have included an ever-increasing allocation to private markets, which now constitute 29 percent of the average portfolio, making it the most popular asset class for new investment.
At the time of the survey, roughly a quarter of family offices reported returns from private equity funds below their expectations, but they still expected the asset class to deliver the best risk-adjusted returns over the long term.
For many family office leaders, responsible investing focused on environmental or social concerns continues to be a priority. Family office respondents who are engaged in responsible investing widely confirmed that the U.S. administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement will not curb their enthusiasm for the strategy.
They also emphatically report that their approach does not mean accepting lower financial returns, a stance that is widely supported by academic research. The majority of academic studies find that responsible investing is neutral or beneficial to financial performance – not a drag on returns, according to Principles for Responsible Investment .
As family office leaders look to the future, they expect to continually tweak office operations and administer the transfer and management of wealth to a younger generation in the coming years.
For example, the costs and resources required to manage family offices continue to increase, with average annual operating costs ranging from $1.1 million for a small family office to $9.8 million for a very large family office. Moving forward, 37 percent of respondents agree that escalating costs will increase the use of outsourcing.
Over the previous decade, the next generation assumed control of around 10 percent of family offices. Going forward, it appears likely that the pace of transition will accelerate. Almost a quarter of all family offices expect the transition to happen within the next five years, and around half within the next 10 years. Encouragingly, 69 percent of family offices have a succession plan in place, up from 53 percent last year.
To prepare for that transition, many ultra-high-net-worth families are working to engage the next generation in using their wealth to support their family values. Philanthropy and impact investing are some of the tools family offices are utilising to support positive change while cementing family unity, facilitating next-gen engagement and building a legacy.
Philanthropy is one way family offices are engaging the next generation and putting family values into action. Despite legislative changes such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was passed in the U.S. in July and will only allow corporations to deduct donations that exceed one percent of their taxable income, family offices are generally continuing their philanthropic traditions.
Almost 90 percent of North American family offices report making charitable contributions, the majority over $1 million. The average donation is $15 million, representing one percent of average family office assets under management.
Mission statements are another tool to prepare for wealth transfer, with 81 percent of family offices using them as a means to define their values and give purpose to the family’s wealth beyond investments. By engaging the next generation in philanthropic activities and establishing clear family values, family offices can position themselves for a smooth transition of both their business and legacy.
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