Successful investors often stand out by maintaining a long-term outlook despite market turbulence. Recent data shows wealthy American families are doing just that.
Global family office data for early 2025 released by UBS last month indicates that wealthy American families were increasing their exposure to stocks despite recession worries and global trade tensions. About 32% of their portfolios were allocated to equities as of April 4, compared with 28% last year.
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The report is based on a survey covering 317 single-family offices worldwide, each managing an average of $1.1 billion.
CNBC Wealth Editor Robert Frank said that the survey data shows that US family offices are increasing their allocation to stocks to the “highest level” in years.
“At the same time, they are trimming their private equity holdings, going to 35% from 27%,” Frank said. “This marks a sweeping reversal for family offices, which of course, had been moving to private markets away from public markets before this.”
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When asked why private equity is lagging in investment portfolios, Frank said that the lack of IPOs and merger & acquisition activity is impacting the performance of private equity. He also believes investors are preferring public markets to gain exposure to artificial intelligence.
“The number one investment theme for family offices right now is AI. So to play AI, you really have to do it through the public market,” according to Frank. “So private equity is less attractive and public markets are more attractive because that’s where they can get into the AI trade.”
‘Staying Close’ to Familiar Markets
The UBS report also shows that American family offices strongly favored domestic equities, with US stocks making up 86% of their portfolios, while Western Europe and Asia Pacific accounted for about 7% and 3%, respectively.
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John Mathews, head of UBS Private Wealth Management, told CNBC that investors preferred US stocks partly due to the American market’s better performance relative to the rest of the world.
“But I think really it’s the family offices are just—they’re staying close to what they understand, what they know,” Mathews added.
‘Preserving Wealth Across Next Generations’
Over 70% of family offices viewed a trade war as the biggest risk to their financial goals over the next 12 months, followed by major geopolitical conflict and inflation, the UBS survey showed. Despite these concerns, most family offices were planning to maintain the same level of portfolio risk in 2025 as they did in 2024.
“Our latest report serves as a good reminder that family offices around the world are first and foremost pursuing a steady, long-term approach, as they focus on preserving wealth across the next generations,” the report said.
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