Is it important for families to articulate a purpose for their wealth beyond simply preserving and growing it? Many wealthy families think so, according to the 2025 Family Office Operational Excellence Report by AlTi Tiedemann Global and Campden Wealth.
The report, based on a survey of 146 family offices globally, found that most family offices do have a plan for the purpose and use of their capital, or they are working to develop one. When respondents were asked for which topics their family office had either a strong plan or a good plan that still needed developing, the most frequent responses were:
- Managed investment portfolio: 47% strong plan, 27% good plan
- Self-directed investment: 35% strong plan, 35% good plan
- Philanthropy: 35% strong plan, 25% good plan
- Family engagement: 23% strong plan, 34% good plan
- Community involvement: 23% strong plan, 23% good plan
Having a purpose that goes beyond the family office’s investment policy statement can help unify and engage family members, especially the younger generation.
“Once you move beyond the wealth creator and you extend to the spouse and the children, and the generations afterwards, the meaning of the wealth is very different to all of them, because they didn’t create it,” said Erik Christoffersen, Head of Family Office Practice for AlTi Tiedemann Global. “Taking on that question — finding a way to say, What is the point of all this wealth for all of you? — helps the family embody some of the same attributes that led to the wealth being created in the first place: You have to take risks to make money. The family can invite family members to pick something that really excites them and take risks with that.”
The report calls purpose “a gateway to next-gen engagement” — and the survey found that the purpose of family capital topped the list of topics that respondents said are or should be priorities for family education:
- Purpose of family capital beyond just wealth preservation and growth: 62%
- Financial fundamentals, including personal money management, investing, and financial statements: 58%
- Leadership, including values, purpose, meaning, and personal and professional development: 45%
- Philanthropy and impact: 33%
- Risk management, including insurance, cybersecurity, identity theft and pre-nuptial agreements: 31%
“When you talk to the current generation – whether it’s the G1 that made the wealth or whoever is managing the wealth in the family office – they’re all saying that they want to engage the rising generation, and increasingly, they’re finding it difficult,” Christoffersen said. “When you ask the rising gen why it’s hard for them to engage, they say that they don’t feel they have a voice, or that their ideas will be judged. As a result, for many it’s like the family wealth is a dividend-paying stock, and every year you get a distribution — but you don’t have much say in the company.”
When the family unifies around a broader purpose for the wealth, it can uncover new opportunities — especially for the rising generation, Christoffersen said.
“They want to be able to get involved, to say, Can we take some of this money and do this next interesting thing? Try to build something in the community?” Christoffersen said. “It’s an exciting evolution: People are thinking about how to put their wealth to use, not just about how they keep growing it.”