Top Priorities: Portfolio Resilience, Navigating Global Trade Disputes and Addressing Family Needs
The region with the highest proportion of first-generation families controlling wealth was Europe, the Middle East and Africa (56%), reflecting a resurgence of wealth creation.
Citi Wealth released its 2025 Global Family Office Report, offering a rare glimpse into the thinking and behaviors of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors. The report was compiled by Citi Wealth’s Global Family Office Group, which works with over 1,800 family offices worldwide.
Amid trade policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and technological transformation, this flagship publication explores issues such as investment sentiment, portfolio actions and operational best practices. Its findings are drawn from an annual survey, in which a record 346 family office respondents from 45 countries participated. Conducted in June and July 2025, the survey sheds light on how expectations and strategies have changed since the U.S. tariff announcements earlier this year.
“These are exciting times for family offices worldwide—especially in the Middle East. A high proportion of first-generation families continue to control wealth, reflecting a resurgence of wealth creation in the region. At the same time, the UAE is experiencing a significant inflow of wealthy individuals relocating from abroad, further reinforcing its position as a global hub for family offices.” comments Hannes Hofmann, Head of Citi Wealth’s Global Family Office Group. These sophisticated clients are finding new ways to address their families’ ever-increasing expectations. We are proud to partner with them, drawing upon Citi’s global reach and deep resources to help them seize potential opportunities and achieve their ambitious goals.”
Key themes to emerge include:
• Generations in control of the wealth: The region with the highest proportion of first-generation families controlling wealth was Europe, the Middle East and Africa (56%), reflecting a resurgence of wealth creation. Asia Pacific led the way with second-generation control (43%), indicating a maturing market.
• Geopolitical Concerns: Global trade disputes emerged as a top concern (60%) for family offices, followed by U.S.-China relations (43%) and a resurgence of inflation (37%). Geopolitical tensions and government initiatives to attract capital are fueling interest in asset location and a re-evaluation of jurisdictions.
• Staying Resolute: Asset allocations were largely held steady, with family offices making fewer shifts than last year, pending greater clarity on trade policy. Among those implementing changes, bullish moves predominated. Private equity saw the most positive activity.
• Optimistic Outlook: Family offices expressed optimism about 12-month portfolio returns, despite limited consensus about which asset classes might drive performance. Potential U.S. deregulation, interest rate cuts and advances in artificial intelligence may explain positive sentiment.
• Active Response to Market Volatility: U.S. tariff announcements triggered swift, calculated adjustments to bolster portfolio resilience, with 39% of family offices favoring active management. They also pivoted toward perceived defensive asset classes and geographies as well as hedging strategies.
• Strong Commitment to Direct Investments: Seventy percent of respondents said they were engaged with direct investments. Of those, four out of ten said they had increased or significantly increased their activity in the last year, suggesting confidence in their ability to select deals that drive returns.
• Professionalization Gaps: While family offices have made progress in professionalizing their investment function, more improvement is needed in operational risk management, cybersecurity and leadership succession planning.
• Outsourcing Services: To manage their growing responsibilities in a cost-efficient manner, many family offices are considering external suppliers, but with decision-making authority largely remaining in-house.
• Advancing AI Deployment: The proportion of respondents mentioning they had deployed AI has doubled since last year, particularly in the automation of operational tasks and investment analytics. However, full integration will take time.
Almost all respondents said that they anticipated portfolio upside over the year ahead – with nearly four out of ten family offices expecting returns of 10% or more. That said, sentiment toward many individual asset classes was somewhat less positive than it was in 2024’s survey.
“Family offices globally remain highly focused on direct investing, as they seek exposure to the key transformative technologies of tomorrow and attractively valued companies across sectors,” says Dawn Nordberg, Head of Integrated Client Engagement for Citi Wealth. “We have a specialist team that works alongside colleagues from Citi’s world-class investment bank. Our mission is to enable our sophisticated family office clients to access proprietary private capital raises, asset divestitures and thought leadership across industries and geographies to support their direct investing.”
When it comes to risks faced, 70% of respondents cited those related to investments, followed by operational (37%) and family-related risks (33%). But while many family offices reported strengthening risk management, approximately half of respondents acknowledged being underprepared to address cybersecurity, personal security and geopolitical risks. Resource constraints remain a significant challenge here.
“Our survey reveals ongoing professionalization among family offices, particularly in the investment function,” explains Alexandre Monnier, Head of Global Family Office Advisory for Citi Wealth. “It also identifies areas where further development is crucial, such as risk management and talent acquisition for non-investment services. Our findings can help frame the discussion for those seeking to formalize their operations, prepare their family’s future leaders and preserve and grow generational wealth.”