Ongoing transitions among both family members and professional staff mean that many family offices will be focusing on the people and systems inside the family office in 2026. In an informal survey of family office leaders about goals for the upcoming year — both for their own family offices and for the family office industry in general — rising generation engagement, leadership transitions and governance modernization emerged as central themes.
“Succession planning and education are never-ending priorities,” says Craig J. Duchossois, chair emeritus of Duchossois Capital Management.
The rising generation plays a key role in both succession planning and family office governance, so engaging the next generation is an important driver of long-term continuity.
“Our biggest priorities are a continuation of two things: rising gen engagement and succession planning,” says Josh Kanter, president of Chicago Financial, Inc. “In the former case, our G3 rising gen are all adults, 20 to 40 years old. The ongoing discussions and work related to finding their areas of interest and engagement, and their goals for the family’s wealth for their generation and successive generations, are both timely and critically important.”
Engaging the next generation can help link the future and the past.
“I’m creating wealth for the next generation and for my generation, but there was definitely a base started by my parents,” says Andy Unanue, head of AUA Capital Management. “We’re extremely respectful of that and want to keep that in the back of our minds through everything we do.”
Unanue is working to involve the next generation of his family so they will carry on this legacy.
“There are family dynamics that I think all families go through: How do you get that next generation involved and get them to understand that they’re stewards of this capital? We want to build this to be perpetual, not just for me,” Unanue says. “We are continuing education for the next generation, making sure they get more involved and get deeper insight into the family office. As they get more mature, and some of them will become co-trustees in the next few years, we are getting them up to speed on what all that means.”
This engagement can take a variety of forms. For Unanue’s family, it’s a mix of one-on-one classes and group sessions that allow everyone to interact. And it’s not just a one-way communication.
“It’s not just us educating them, but us getting educated by them as to what’s important to them: what they would like to see the philanthropic arm do more of, and things of that nature,” Unanue says. “It’s education both ways.”
Governance modernization for a more complex family
As the next generation prepares to take on more responsibility in the family office, governance structures need to keep pace. As families grow, they generally become more diverse — in age, in geography and in interests. Maintaining family cohesion in the face of this diversity may require an updated governance system.
Revamping the family governance system is one of the top priorities for 2026 for CYMI Holdings, says Jill Barber, president.
“We are re-constituting the family council, creating a family assembly for the first time and fully integrating our G3s into this new structure. This work is about helping the generations of our family learn how to collaborate and make decisions together in a multigenerational way — and clarifying how the family office can best support that process,” Barber says. “We view this as essential to the long-term health of the family, which in turn underpins the strength and stability of the family office and broader enterprise.”
The process of modernizing family governance can help clarify decision making processes and strengthen communication across generations.
And just as there will be generational transitions among family members, there will also be turnover among the professional staff.
“As I look at succession planning, it is through a broad lens: How do we not only think about what might the succession plan be for me, as president of the family office, but how do we most effectively capture the know-how of each member of the family office and the advisors surrounding us, many of whom have been with us for 25 to 40 years, and each of whom holds a piece of the puzzle, institutional knowledge, etc.?” Kanter says. Kanter has created the leafplanner platform to help families capture some of this institutional knowledge, and they are using it to address these issues.
Preparing for generational transitions
Success in 2026 will hinge on engaging the rising generation and preparing both the family and the family office for what comes next.
Generational transitions can feel never-ending, says Rob Raich, president of Abacus and Associates, Inc.: “We just finished a succession between G3 and G4 and are immediately working on G4 to G5.”
And these transitions need to be handled carefully — both in engaging the rising generation and in making sure the elder generations are on board.
“My priorities for 2026 focus on two areas. First, I hope to clarify the elder generations’ vision for their ongoing leadership and involvement in the family office, which is essential to completing the final stages of our transition. Second, I want to ensure our family enterprise priorities reflect the needs of a growing and changing family,” says Bryn Monahan, senior consultant with Relative Solutions and board member for Foster Holdings, Inc. Her family’s family office is in the midst of a gradual generational transition. “While the family office team and executive committee set annual goals, it has been several years since we have asked the full family what they most want from the family office. Reopening that conversation feels both timely and important.”