財富的延續，始於家族治理
Sustaining Wealth Through Family 

The Next Challenge for Global Family Offices: Beyond Investment Returns

As global private wealth continues to expand, the role of family offices is undergoing a significant transformation.

Traditionally, wealthy families have focused on preserving and growing their assets through professional investment management, global asset allocation, and wealth planning. However, as family wealth extends across multiple markets, jurisdictions, and generations, the complexity of managing that wealth increases substantially.

In May 2026, UBS published its Global Family Office Report 2026, surveying 307 family offices across more than 30 markets. The families surveyed reported an average net worth of approximately USD 2.7 billion, while their family offices managed an average of USD 1.3 billion in assets.

The findings reveal that family offices are becoming increasingly sophisticated in investment management and risk diversification. Yet significant gaps remain in family governance, succession planning, and next-generation preparation.

This highlights a fundamental challenge facing wealthy families:

Wealth can be created through successful investments and entrepreneurship, but sustaining it across generations requires effective governance and institutional continuity.

1. Global Risks Are Reshaping Family Wealth Management

The UBS report identifies geopolitical tensions, government debt, and global economic uncertainty as important concerns for family offices.

According to the survey:

• 60% of family offices plan to adjust their strategic asset allocation over the next 12 months, the highest proportion recorded in UBS's survey history.

• 65% anticipate declining confidence in the US dollar's position as the world's leading reserve currency.

• Family offices are placing greater emphasis on diversification across asset classes, currencies, and geographic regions.

These developments do not necessarily indicate a broad withdrawal from major financial markets. North America remains a significant destination for global family office investments, while some families are gradually exploring greater exposure to Asia-Pacific, Europe, and other regions.

For families holding operating businesses, real estate, financial investments, and private assets across multiple jurisdictions, wealth preservation is no longer solely about portfolio returns or market volatility.

It increasingly involves currency exposure, jurisdictional risk, asset ownership structures, and long-term governance arrangements.

True wealth resilience is not simply the ability to withstand market volatility. It is the capacity to maintain a sustainable wealth management framework through changing economic and geopolitical conditions.

2. Investment Management Is Becoming More Professional, but Family Governance Still Lags

One of the most significant findings in the UBS report is the difference between the maturity of investment management practices and family governance structures.

The survey highlights the following:

Family Office Management Practices

Adoption Rate

Formal financial performance measurement

68%

Investment committee

60%

Annual budgeting process

58%

Wealth succession plan for family members

57%

Formal governance and oversight structure

49%

Family office operating strategy or manual

37%

Succession plan for the family office itself

35%

Structured next-generation education and development

27%

Source: UBS Global Family Office Report 2026, p. 39.

These findings suggest that many family offices have developed investment management practices comparable to those of institutional investors, including formal investment committees, performance evaluation, budgeting, and structured decision-making processes.

However, governance arrangements relating to the family itself have not necessarily developed at the same pace.

For example, while 57% of surveyed family offices have established wealth succession plans for family members, only 35% have formal succession plans for the family office organization itself.

This distinction is particularly important.

A Wealth Succession Plan addresses how family wealth and beneficial interests may be transferred between generations, including asset distribution and related legal arrangements.

A Family Office Succession Plan, by contrast, focuses on the continuity of management teams, key decision-makers, and professional services responsible for overseeing family wealth.

Even where asset succession arrangements are in place, the absence of clearly defined governance responsibilities and management continuity can create operational risks during generational transitions.

The central question is therefore not only who will inherit family wealth, but also who will manage it, how decisions will be made, and whether the governance framework can remain effective over time.

3. Preparing the Next Generation: An Often-Overlooked Element of Wealth Continuity

Beyond governance structures, UBS places considerable emphasis on the participation and preparation of the next generation.

The report indicates that only 27% of surveyed family offices have established structured education and development programs for younger family members.

This reveals an important distinction between transferring wealth and preparing future generations to manage it responsibly.

For families with multinational businesses, private investments, and diversified financial portfolios, the next generation must develop capabilities extending beyond basic financial literacy.

These include investment judgment, risk awareness, corporate governance, decision-making responsibilities, and an understanding of the family's long-term objectives.

Family offices may facilitate this development through financial education, participation in investment committees, philanthropic initiatives, entrepreneurial activities, and progressively greater involvement in family governance.

The objective is not simply to prepare future beneficiaries, but to develop individuals capable of participating meaningfully in the stewardship of family wealth.

Assets can be transferred through legal structures, but sound judgment, shared values, and responsible stewardship must be developed over time.

4. The Role of Family Offices Is Expanding Beyond Investment Management

The UBS report also illustrates that modern family offices perform a much broader range of functions than investment management alone.

Approximately 40% of family office personnel are engaged in non-investment-related activities, including operations, accounting, legal support, and other family services.

This reflects the increasingly integrated nature of family office operations.

As family assets and requirements become more complex, effective family wealth management may involve coordinating multiple professional disciplines:

• Global asset allocation and investment risk management

• Family governance and decision-making frameworks

• Cross-border legal, tax, and ownership considerations

• Trust structures and succession planning

• Next-generation education and family participation

• Coordination among banks, investment managers, trustees, and external advisers

For many families, maintaining every specialized capability within a single internal organization may not be the most practical or efficient approach.

Instead, the long-term effectiveness of a family office may depend on its ability to establish clear governance arrangements, coordinate qualified professional advisers, and maintain consistent oversight of the family's objectives.

The value of a family office therefore extends beyond the amount of wealth it manages.

Its broader purpose is to bring together investment management, professional expertise, and family governance within a coherent and sustainable framework.

5. Singapore Trust & Family Office: From Asset Management to Long-Term Family Governance

As private wealth across Asia continues to expand, Singapore has emerged as an important international center for cross-border wealth management, family office services, and trust planning.

Singapore's established financial ecosystem, legal framework, and professional services infrastructure provide a supportive environment for families seeking to coordinate international assets and long-term succession arrangements.

Within this framework, family offices and trusts serve distinct but complementary purposes.

A Family Office may coordinate investment oversight, asset allocation, risk management, professional advisers, and family governance.

A Trust, subject to its governing law and specific terms, may provide a legal structure for holding assets, defining beneficial interests, allocating responsibilities, and facilitating long-term wealth succession.

When appropriately designed and professionally administered, these arrangements can work together to support more consistent wealth management across jurisdictions and generations.

For families with multinational business interests, private investments, complex ownership structures, or upcoming generational transitions, such coordination can be particularly valuable.

The UBS 2026 findings demonstrate that even sophisticated family offices with established investment management capabilities may still face gaps in governance, organizational succession, and next-generation preparation.

These challenges cannot be addressed solely by seeking higher investment returns.

They require long-term planning, appropriate legal structures, clear governance responsibilities, and effective professional coordination.

6. ASJ Global Group's Perspective: From Wealth Growth to Generational Continuity

Taken together, the 2026 global family office research published by Citi, J.P. Morgan, and UBS points toward a broader transformation in the family office landscape.

Family offices are evolving from investment-focused organizations into integrated platforms that coordinate global assets, investment expertise, risk management, family governance, and intergenerational wealth planning.

For ASJ Global Group, the development of Singapore Trust & Family Office reflects this evolving landscape.

Our perspective emphasizes connecting cross-border investment opportunities, family wealth planning, and professional advisory networks to support more structured and sustainable approaches to long-term family wealth management.

We believe the success of family wealth should not be measured solely by annual investment performance.

Equally important is whether wealth can continue to be managed effectively through changing market conditions, transitions in family leadership, and successive generations.

Investment Builds Wealth. Governance Sustains It.

ASJ Global Insights | Singapore Trust & Family Office

Connecting Global Investments, Family Governance and Generational Wealth.

Research Reference

UBS, Global Family Office Report 2026, May 2026.

Key sections referenced include Strategic Asset Allocation; Costs, Staffing and Governance; and Succession and the Next Generation.

Official report: https://www.ubs.com/content/dam/assets/wm/static/gfo/global-family-office-report-en-2026.pdf

Disclaimer

This article is provided for general information and research purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, tax, or trust advice. Any investment, trust, or wealth planning arrangement should be evaluated based on individual circumstances, applicable regulations, and advice from appropriately qualified professionals.