Key Takeaways
- • 84% of family offices cite geopolitical environment as a critical challenge, with 60% expressing pessimism about global prospects, according to BlackRock's 2025 Global Family Office Survey; U.S. tariffs have further eroded confidence among institutional investors.
- • 68% of family offices are actively increasing diversification strategies, while 47% are expanding exposure to alternative return sources including private credit, infrastructure, illiquid alternatives, non-U.S. equities, and cash positions.
- • Private markets allocations are accelerating as capital flows shift toward external manager partnerships, driven by expectations that global alternative assets will exceed $30 trillion in AUM by 2030, representing a structural shift in portfolio construction.
- • Risk management has become the dominant operational posture, with family offices entering 2025 in a cautious stance expected to persist through 2026 as market fragmentation, policy uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions reshape investment decision-making frameworks.
Summary
Family offices globally have pivoted sharply toward defensive positioning in response to mounting geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds. According to BlackRock's 2025 Global Family Office Survey titled "Rewriting the Rules: Family Offices Navigate a New World Order," institutions are explicitly operating in risk management mode, with nearly nine in ten (84%) identifying the current geopolitical environment as a material challenge directly influencing capital allocation. This sentiment has darkened considerably, with 60% of family offices now pessimistic about global prospects—a deterioration the survey attributes to rising trade disruption concerns and U.S. tariff policies that have compounded existing market fragmentation anxieties.
The response to this risk environment is taking concrete form through portfolio repositioning. Two-thirds of family offices (68%) are focused on increasing diversification, while 47% are deliberately expanding their use of multiple return sources. This expansion explicitly includes private credit and infrastructure allocations, alongside increased exposure to liquid alternative assets, equities outside the United States, and elevated cash positions. The shift reflects a strategic recognition that traditional concentration risk has become untenable in the current policy and geopolitical landscape.
Notably, family offices are channeling capital into private markets at an accelerating pace, with growing engagement of external managers to navigate these asset classes. This trend aligns with broader industry forecasts projecting that global alternative assets will exceed $30 trillion in assets under management by 2030, according to Preqin data cited in the survey. This institutional migration toward private markets signals a deliberate pursuit of diversification benefits and potential return enhancement unavailable in public equities and fixed income under current market conditions.
Armando Senra, Head of Institutional Business for the Americas at BlackRock, characterized the prevailing posture as cautious and forward-looking, stating that family offices "entered 2025 cautiously, a stance expected to continue through 2026." This multi-year defensive positioning reflects structural concerns about policy continuity, geopolitical escalation risks, and ongoing market fragmentation that institutional investors expect will persist across the medium term, fundamentally reshaping portfolio construction and risk management priorities.
The response to this risk environment is taking concrete form through portfolio repositioning. Two-thirds of family offices (68%) are focused on increasing diversification, while 47% are deliberately expanding their use of multiple return sources. This expansion explicitly includes private credit and infrastructure allocations, alongside increased exposure to liquid alternative assets, equities outside the United States, and elevated cash positions. The shift reflects a strategic recognition that traditional concentration risk has become untenable in the current policy and geopolitical landscape.
Notably, family offices are channeling capital into private markets at an accelerating pace, with growing engagement of external managers to navigate these asset classes. This trend aligns with broader industry forecasts projecting that global alternative assets will exceed $30 trillion in assets under management by 2030, according to Preqin data cited in the survey. This institutional migration toward private markets signals a deliberate pursuit of diversification benefits and potential return enhancement unavailable in public equities and fixed income under current market conditions.
Armando Senra, Head of Institutional Business for the Americas at BlackRock, characterized the prevailing posture as cautious and forward-looking, stating that family offices "entered 2025 cautiously, a stance expected to continue through 2026." This multi-year defensive positioning reflects structural concerns about policy continuity, geopolitical escalation risks, and ongoing market fragmentation that institutional investors expect will persist across the medium term, fundamentally reshaping portfolio construction and risk management priorities.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.