A new survey of family offices finds significant growth over the past five years — and expectations that that growth will continue.
“Family offices are expanding around the world at an explosive rate,” says Rebecca Gooch, Global Head of Insights with Deloitte Private, which conducted the survey.
For “The Family Office Insights Series – Global Edition: Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024,” Deloitte Private surveyed 354 single-family offices worldwide and conducted 40 interviews with senior family office executives.
The survey found that there are currently an estimated 8,020 single-family offices globally, up 31% from 6,130 in 2019. It projects the number will grow to over 9,000 family offices next year and rise 33%, to 10,720, by 2030.
The study also broke down family offices by region:
- North America: 3,180 family offices today, up 44% from 2019, and projected to grow to 4,190 by 2030
- Asia Pacific: 2,290 family offices today, up 28% from 2019, and projected to grow to 3,200 by 2030
- Europe: 2,020 family offices today, 20% from 2019, and projected to grow to 2,650 by 2030
- Middle East: 290 family offices today
- South America: 190 family offices today
- Africa: 60 family offices today
Wealth is rising alongside the number of family offices. The survey found that the total estimated wealth for families with family offices has increased by 67% in five years, from $3.3 trillion in 2019 to $5.5 trillion today — and is projected to increase to $9.5 trillion by 2030. Family offices’ total AUM is also expected to rise, from an estimated $3.1 trillion currently to $5.4 trillion by 2030.
The survey also found that family offices spend about half their time on investment activities. It looked at the percentage of time spent on various activities:
- Portfolio management: 30%
- Direct investing: 22%
- Administration and compliance: 19%
- Supporting operating businesses: 15%
- Next generation training: 7%
- Philanthropy: 7%
“A family will say, ‘I really want you to focus on managing our assets and investing in X, Y and Z,’” Gooch says. “But sometimes there’s a bit of a disconnect between what the family wants the family office to be spending their time on and, in reality, what the family office is or can spend their time on.”
Underneath those broad trends some interesting details: Family offices that support G1, G2 and G3 spend more time on direct investing (23%) than those that support G4 and later (13%). And family offices in North America spend a lot of time on administration and compliance: 27% in North America compared with 18% in Europe and 12% in Asia Pacific.
“Those in North America spend vastly more time on administration and compliance duties than anywhere else in the world,” Gooch says. This raises questions for those offices: “Should we be spending this much time doing it, or can we maybe outsource some of this work? Or instead of outsourcing, perhaps integrated new technology could help us? So it’s about self-learning and self-awareness.”
Looking to the future, Gooch says family offices will likely become more sophisticated in a range of areas.
“I think we’re going to continue to see a rapid expansion in the number of family offices worldwide. Family offices are going to continue to become more institutionalized and professionally managed,” Gooch says. “We’ll see greater portfolio diversification both from an asset class and geographic perspective. They’ll expand the services they offer. They’ll further embrace digital technology in their operations and increasingly focus on sustainable investments and operations. I think that’s the direction that we’re going in.”
