UBS published research showing that 60% of family offices globally intend to change their investment strategy in response to two specific concerns: currency stability and the durability of geopolitical fracture. The figure comes from a survey of family offices managing a combined $5.4 trillion in assets, conducted in the first quarter of 2025. The report does not specify a timeframe for implementation, but 42% of respondents indicated they have already begun reallocation.
The currency concern is not hypothetical. 31% of surveyed offices reported reducing dollar-denominated holdings in the past twelve months, with particular movement into Swiss francs, Singapore dollars, and physical gold. The geopolitical driver is equally concrete: 54% of respondents cited supply chain fragmentation and the expectation of persistent regional blocs as reasons to diversify away from concentrated U.S. equity exposure. This is not a temporary risk-off posture. Family offices are pricing in a world where currency hegemony and globalized trade remain fractured for the next decade.
The shift has second-order effects that allocators should track closely. Real assets are absorbing capital that previously sat in liquid fixed income. 48% of offices plan to increase allocations to private credit, infrastructure, and commercial real estate over the next 18 months. Goldman Sachs separately reported that family offices are moving cash into risk assets despite expressing concern about volatility, a pattern consistent with the UBS findings. The logic is not contradictory: if currency and sovereign debt are mistrusted, then equity in operating businesses and hard assets become the safer bet. Fairbridge Asset Management's announcement that it will present real estate private credit strategies at the Family Office Club $100 million Summit in May reflects the same gravitational pull.
Succession dynamics are compressing the timeline. Younger family members, who now hold decision-making authority in 37% of offices surveyed, are accelerating the move toward alternative assets and ESG-aligned mandates. This is not generational preference; it is a reflection of the fact that the next generation will manage wealth in a currency environment and geopolitical structure fundamentally different from the one their predecessors navigated. The UBS report notes that offices with next-generation leadership are 22% more likely to have already begun reallocation.
Operators and allocators should watch three specific developments. First, the next UBS family office survey, expected in Q3 2025, will show whether the 60% planning to shift have executed or delayed. Second, the Family Office Club Summit in May will reveal which private credit and infrastructure managers are capturing the largest inflows. Third, the Swiss National Bank's foreign exchange reserve disclosures in June will indicate whether central banks are reinforcing or countering the family office move away from the dollar.
The conclusion is implicit in the data. If 60% of family offices managing $5.4 trillion believe the dollar's reserve role and geopolitical stability are both structurally impaired, then the next cycle is not a rotation—it is a reconfiguration.