The findings of this year’s Family Barometer suggest that today’s wealth holders are thinking globally but acting with increasing strategic precision – putting legacy, resilience, and proactive wealth planning at the heart of their decision-making.
For the 2025 edition, we canvassed close to 2,500 internal and external experts from across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America – including, for the first time, external asset managers, reflecting the survey’s expanding reach and commitment to capturing the full spectrum of UHNW advisory voices. Among those surveyed are relationship managers, tax advisors & lawyers, family office employees, consultants, wealth planners and more.
What’s new for wealthy families this year?
Shifting global demographics continue to reshape the distribution of wealthy families. Across multiple regions, we’re seeing dynamic changes in where wealth is concentrated, reflecting broader patterns of mobility, new wealth creation, and intergenerational transitions. More than 80 per cent of UHNW clients now have family members with connections to multiple countries, and over one-third of them hold physical assets in three or more jurisdictions. The globally entangled reality of UHNW families has never been more evident.
In a year defined by escalating global tensions and increased regulatory unpredictability, one of the most notable trends is the increasing engagement between UHNW clients and their wealth planners. More clients are turning to them as a central point of contact, reflecting a growing appetite for long-term strategic dialogue.
2025’s top five discussion topics
At first glance, it might seem that the central priorities of wealthy families barely shift – with taxation and regulatory changes, intergenerational wealth transfer, and succession planning playing a central role from one year to the next. Look closer, however, and the nuance becomes apparent. Year-on-year deltas and regional variations paint a vivid picture of a world where priorities are adapting to regional pressures and global dynamics.
The Family Barometer 2025 provides a unique lens through which to view these subtle yet significant shifts. This year, the following five topics stood out:
1. Building family legacy
For the first time, ‘Building family legacy’ ranks among the top three family-related topics in the Family Barometer 2025, with a particularly strong showing in Asia, where it takes third place. This reflects a generational handover underway across many family enterprises, especially in the East, where patriarchs and matriarchs are looking beyond succession planning toward more lasting, values-based imprinting.
This shift is shaping how UHNW families approach philanthropy, governance, and education. Families are investing more time and resources in articulating their values, vision, and purpose – codifying these into family constitutions, mission statements, and intergenerational mentoring. The growing focus on legacy signals a change in mindset. Wealth strategy now intersects with emotional intelligence, long-term planning with narrative building. The prioritisation of legacy reflects a broader recalibration – where financial capital is aligned in service of human and social capital, not the other way around.
2. Family office services
Around 40 per cent of UHNW clients surveyed currently either have or are served by a family office – a bespoke wealth management structure that handles topics like succession, philanthropy, and investments. Yet this year’s Family Barometer highlights the barriers that continue to deter many others. Cost remains the most frequently cited concern, followed by management complexity and the perception that their wealth may not be substantial enough to justify setting up a single family office.
These concerns are prompting families to explore more flexible, collaborative models. Increasingly, UHNW families are turning to wealth managers to access a curated suite of family office-style services without assuming the full operational burden themselves. This hybrid approach allows families to outsource selected functions while retaining control over others – tailoring the setup to their specific needs, priorities, and stage of maturity.
The survey reveals clear preferences when it comes to delegation. Services such as philanthropy, succession planning, and cybersecurity are often named as areas best handled externally, while more personal domains like liquidity management, public relations or family governance tend to stay in-house. In a fragmented world, hybrid models are offering families a practical and scalable path forward – combining trusted partnership with the freedom to evolve at their own pace. Read more about the various types of family offices here.
3. Political stability
For the second year running, ‘Political stability’ ranks as a key societal concern among UHNW families, especially in Europe, where it was the second most pressing issue. Regional conflicts, shifting power dynamics, and the erosion of democratic norms have left families seeking ways to insulate their wealth, and their lives, from macro-political shocks. This year’s data show that concerns about political risk now extend beyond traditionally volatile regions; fragility is increasingly seen as a global issue.
This persistent anxiety is translating into more sophisticated wealth strategies. Geographic diversification remains a key response. Latin American families, for example, now rank ‘geopolitical diversification’ as their second most important investment theme. Families are also reassessing citizenship, residency, and even educational paths for the next generation. Asset location is being reconsidered not just financially, but politically. For family offices, this has broadened the advisory remit to include political intelligence, scenario planning, and global mobility consulting.
4. Private direct investments and private equity
Private direct investments and private equity once again feature prominently in this year’s Family Barometer, confirming that private markets are no longer a niche interest – they are now central to the investment approach of sophisticated UHNW families. Private markets received particularly strong interest in the Middle East, for instance. This momentum reflects both a shift in market structure and a generational tilt toward more active, meaningful engagement with capital.
The allure of private markets lies not only in their potential for superior returns, but in the agency they afford. Families are increasingly using direct investments to align their capital with their convictions – whether through impact investing, venture capital, or sector-specific plays. The rise of next-generation involvement has also fuelled this trend, as younger family members look for investment opportunities that combine financial upside with thematic or mission-driven resonance.
5. Safety and security
Concerns around ‘Safety and security’ became more elevated in this year’s survey, with both ‘Data privacy and cybersecurity’ and ‘Personal safety’ cited frequently as critical societal discussion topics. As UHNW families become more globally visible – and as digital integration deepens in all areas of life – the vectors of risk have multiplied. The days when physical security alone sufficed are gone. Today’s risks are increasingly invisible: cyberattacks, identity theft, reputational exposure, and digital espionage.
The implications for wealth managers and family offices are profound. Security is no longer a siloed issue managed by outside consultants, but a central pillar of family governance and risk planning. Cybersecurity infrastructure, crisis communications protocols, and even secure digital family vaults are becoming standard practice among best-in-class family offices. Personal safety strategies have also evolved to include privacy-preserving technologies, secure travel protocols, and location-based risk assessment.
Families are seeking solutions that are not just reactive, but preventive. More importantly, they want integrated advice – security that fits seamlessly into their broader lifestyle, operational footprint, and strategic planning.
What does this mean for wealthy families?
The world of 2025 presents both opportunity and challenge for UHNW families. The Family Barometer highlights not just surface concerns, but deeper shifts in how wealth is perceived and managed. Complexity is rising – but so too is engagement. As families navigate cross-border rules, generational transitions, and evolving investment goals, they are turning more frequently to advisors with cross-disciplinary insight. This growing reliance reflects a world that demands agility and foresight.
What’s clear is that UHNW families no longer view themselves as passive stewards of wealth. They seek to build enduring legacies, invest with intention, and protect both private and public stability. The Family Barometer 2025 reveals a generation acting with purpose – across borders, generations, and asset classes.
Read more in our Family Barometer 2025 below.