Family offices are undertaking the biggest portfolio repositioning in years as concerns over geopolitical conflict, rising global debt levels and concentration risk reshape investment priorities.
A record 60% of family offices said they plan to make strategic changes to their asset allocations over the next 12 months, up from 35% in 2025 and 27% in 2024, according to a new survey by UBS Global Wealth Management. The planned changes point to increased allocations to emerging market equities, infrastructure and gold, while real estate allocations continue to decline.
The changes are likely to be incremental rather than dramatic, noted the survey. Family offices remain committed to growth assets, but are selectively increasing exposure to emerging markets and inflation-sensitive investments while reducing allocations to real estate. Developed market equities remain the largest allocation at 27%, while emerging market equities are set to rise to 6% in 2026 from 5% a year earlier. Infrastructure allocations are expected to double to 2%, while gold allocations are projected to increase from 2% to 3%. By contrast, real estate allocations are expected to fall from 11% of portfolios in 2025 to 8% among family offices planning allocation changes.
The repositioning reflects growing unease about the global economic outlook. More than half (56%) of family offices identified a major debt crisis as a significant risk over the next five years, while 61% cited the threat of major geopolitical conflict. Global recession risk is also rising as a long-term concern, even as fears surrounding tariffs and trade wars begin to ease.
Many family offices are also reconsidering geographic and currency exposures. Roughly two-thirds (65%) expect confidence in the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency to weaken over the next year, while a majority (88%) report holding bankable assets across two or more jurisdictions. While U.S. family offices continue to exhibit a strong home bias, investors in Europe and Asia-Pacific are increasingly looking to diversify exposure toward Western Europe and Asia-Pacific,
Yet even as caution rises, enthusiasm for artificial intelligence remains strong. AI ranked as the most widely adopted investment theme globally, with 65% of family offices already invested across the AI value chain, including data centers, software platforms and semiconductors. Another 7% plan to add exposure over the next 12 months, the highest level of planned investment among all themes tracked in the survey. Other areas attracting interest include infrastructure, with 16% planning to increase exposure, followed by power and resources (15%), automation and robotics (14%) and longevity-related investments (13%).
Despite concerns that parts of the AI investment landscape may be overheating, the report attributed the continued enthusiasm to a combination of conviction in AI’s long-term potential and concern about missing out on what many investors view as one of the decade’s defining investment opportunities.
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