Family Office Knowledge
Family Office Guide
Independent guides to establishing, operating, governing and investing through a family office — covering single and multi-family offices, investment strategy, succession, governance and private markets.
Edited by James Taylor · Head of Partnerships, Private Markets Group Ltd
Understanding Family Offices
Family offices vary considerably according to family size, assets, complexity, jurisdiction and the level of in-house control a family wants. These guides set out the model before the detail.
2026 Research Snapshot
What Family Offices Are Prioritising in 2026
Four themes drawn from current family-office research. Each figure is reported with the sample it was measured against; different studies define their questions differently and are not directly comparable.
Portfolio resilience
UBS's 2026 survey of 307 family offices across more than 30 markets found 60% planned strategic asset-allocation changes within 12 months, with geopolitical risk, diversification and currency exposure weighing more heavily — 65% expected confidence in the US dollar's reserve status to weaken.
AI and infrastructure
UBS found 65% of respondents already invested across the AI value chain, and J.P. Morgan's 2026 survey of 333 family offices in 30 countries found 65% planning to prioritise AI — yet 79% of J.P. Morgan respondents reported no infrastructure allocation, the physical layer the AI economy depends on.
Governance and succession
UBS found 60% operating with investment committees but only 35% holding a defined family-office succession plan; J.P. Morgan found 86% lacked a clear succession plan for key decision-makers. Different measures, different samples — the same gap between investment process and continuity planning.
Private markets and institutionalisation
IQ-EQ's and JTC's 2026 family-office research point to continued reliance on private markets, increasingly institutional operating models, growing relevance of private-fund structures, and more formal governance reviewed periodically rather than set once.
Sources: UBS Global Family Office Report 2026 · J.P. Morgan 2026 Global Family Office Report · IQ-EQ family office research and insights (2026) · JTC Private Office insights (2026)
Issues Shaping Family Offices in 2026
The themes below reflect the questions family offices, institutional investors and specialist advisers are raising most often. They are described qualitatively: family offices are private, and published quantification of their behaviour varies materially between sources.
Governance and succession
Generational transition continues to dominate family office agendas, with attention on decision rights, successor preparation and the durability of governance frameworks.
Geopolitical and portfolio resilience
Families are re-examining concentration, currency exposure and jurisdictional risk across portfolios built for multi-decade horizons.
Private markets
Private equity, private credit and real assets remain central to how patient family capital is deployed, alongside growing use of secondaries as a portfolio management tool.
Direct investing
Direct and co-investment activity keeps expanding, raising practical questions about deal sourcing, diligence capacity and the internal expertise required to support it.
AI and family office technology
Consolidated reporting, data quality and the controlled use of AI in research and diligence are increasingly treated as governance matters rather than IT projects.
Operational risk
Cybersecurity, provider oversight and key-person dependency receive closer scrutiny as offices professionalise.
Philanthropy and impact
Structured giving and blended finance are more often integrated into the office's formal remit rather than run separately from it.
Next-generation involvement
Successors are being brought into governance and investment discussion earlier, frequently through philanthropy or a defined committee role.
From Research to Discussion
The Family Office Guide provides educational background to many of the questions discussed at the UK Family Office Summit Oxford, where family office principals, institutional investors and specialist advisers explore investment strategy, governance, succession, private markets, technology and long-term stewardship.
Further guides in this series — including single versus multi-family office structures, UK establishment, investment, governance, succession, private markets and philanthropy — are in preparation and will be published here as they are completed. This guide is general educational content published by Private Markets Group Ltd. It is not investment, tax, legal or regulatory advice, and it does not recommend any structure, jurisdiction, provider or investment. Family office arrangements vary considerably by family circumstances and jurisdiction; professional advice should be taken on any specific situation.
UKFOS Oxford 2026
Continue the Conversation in Oxford
Join family offices, global asset owners and institutional investors at The Randolph Hotel, Oxford, on 24–25 November 2026.