從投資管理到專業化家族辦公室
From Investment Management to Institutionalized Family Offices

Emerging Trends in Global Family Offices: From Investment
Management to Comprehensive Wealth Management

Insights from Citi's 2026 Global Family Office Report

As global wealth continues to expand, the role of the family office is evolving.

Traditionally, many high-net-worth families have relied on private banks for investment and wealth management services. However, as family assets become increasingly diversified across countries, businesses, and investment sectors, financial products and investment advice alone are no longer sufficient to address the full range of their needs.

Citi Wealth's 2026 Global Family Office Report, published in September 2026, provides valuable insights into this transformation.

The survey covered 351 family offices across 41 countries, representing families with an average net worth of approximately US$2.1 billion.

The report identifies three central themes shaping the evolution of family offices: Capital, Capability, and Continuity.

1. Family Offices Are Moving Beyond Traditional Financial Products

According to the report:

• 75% of family offices participate in direct investments.

• 46% increased their allocations to publicly traded equities in 2026.

• 41% target annual investment returns of 7%–10%.

Family office investment portfolios are no longer limited to stocks, bonds, and investment funds. They increasingly encompass private companies, private equity, real estate, and other tangible assets.

As investment portfolios become more diversified, the complexity of managing them also increases.

For example, investing directly in a private company requires more than determining whether the investment is attractive. It involves financial and legal due diligence, management team assessments, ongoing business monitoring, and the development of an eventual exit strategy.

These responsibilities extend well beyond the traditional selection and management of financial products.

2. Building Internal Investment and Management Capabilities Is Becoming Increasingly Important

Citi's findings highlight the growing emphasis on formal investment governance and professional management within family offices:

• 63% have established investment committees.

• 60% have formal due diligence processes.

• 55% have adopted investment policy statements (IPS).

• 49% have formal risk management frameworks.

• 47% use integrated investment reporting software.

These findings illustrate the importance family offices place on developing structured investment decision-making and management capabilities.

Some larger family offices maintain dedicated internal investment teams responsible for sourcing opportunities, evaluating businesses, managing portfolios, and monitoring investment performance.

The Asia-Pacific findings are particularly noteworthy: 79% of surveyed family offices in the region participate in direct investments, while 77% identify internal teams as a primary source of direct investment opportunities.

This highlights the importance placed on independent investment capabilities among family offices in Asia.

However, not every family requires a large in-house team.

Some families prefer to maintain a small core decision-making team while engaging private banks, legal advisers, accountants, tax specialists, and external investment professionals as needed.

The critical factor is not the size of the team, but whether the family can independently evaluate investment opportunities, maintain visibility over its assets, manage risks, and make informed decisions when necessary.

3. Cross-Border Wealth Management Is Becoming More Complex

The report indicates that 38% of surveyed family offices expect their families to become more international over the next five years.

As family members, businesses, and investments become increasingly dispersed across jurisdictions, wealth management extends far beyond investment returns.

Important questions include:

• How should assets be owned and allocated across different jurisdictions?

• How can cross-border tax, legal, and regulatory requirements be coordinated?

• How should family businesses, private investments, and financial assets be managed collectively?

• What roles should trusts, holding companies, and other legal structures play?

• How can continuity in asset oversight, governance, and decision-making be maintained across generations?

Addressing these issues often requires expertise from multiple professional disciplines.

One of the most important functions of a family office is therefore to coordinate financial institutions and professional advisers across jurisdictions, ensuring that individual arrangements work together in the best interests of the family as a whole.

4. Wealth Succession Is About More Than Transferring Assets to the Next Generation

Citi's survey also found that approximately one-third of family offices anticipate a leadership transition involving the family, family business, or family office within the next five years.

The challenges of succession extend beyond determining how assets should be distributed.

Is the next generation prepared to manage family wealth? Who has the authority to make major investment decisions? How will family businesses maintain operational continuity? How can different generations establish shared principles for governance and decision-making?

These questions make trust structures, family governance, and succession planning essential components of long-term family wealth management.

Effective succession planning is not simply about transferring ownership. It is also about preserving the family's ability to make decisions, manage responsibilities, and sustain its wealth over generations.

5. Family Office vs. Private Banking: What Is the Difference?

Private banks provide a broad range of professional services, including investment management, financial products, financing, trust solutions, and wealth planning.

Family offices, by contrast, focus on coordinating the family's overall wealth across asset classes, jurisdictions, and professional service providers.

The two models are not mutually exclusive. In many cases, they are highly complementary.

Private banks are important providers of specialized financial services, while family offices coordinate and oversee these services from the perspective of the family's overall interests.

Larger families may choose to establish fully staffed family offices with dedicated investment, legal, financial, and administrative teams.

Other families may adopt a leaner structure, combining a small internal team with external professional advisers to achieve effective oversight without incurring substantial fixed operating costs.

The appropriate model depends on the family's asset complexity, governance needs, and long-term objectives.

Our Perspective

Citi's 2026 research highlights an important development in global wealth management:

The value of a family office is evolving from identifying attractive investment opportunities to managing the family's entire wealth over the long term.

This becomes particularly important when family assets span multiple countries, banks, businesses, and investment sectors.

What families increasingly require is not simply access to investment products, but the professional capability to coordinate investment management, risk oversight, legal and tax considerations, trust structures, and succession planning.

The family office of the future does not necessarily need to employ every specialist internally. However, it must possess the judgment and organizational capability to select, engage, and coordinate the right professional resources.

Creating wealth requires sound investment judgment. Managing and preserving wealth across generations requires enduring governance structures and professional capabilities.

Source: Citi Wealth, 2026 Global Family Office Report (September 2026).

Prepared by: ASJ Global Group | Insights & Research

This article is an independent research summary and commentary prepared by ASJ Global Group. It is not an official publication of, or endorsed by, Citi. The content is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice.