Global Family Office Priorities in 2025: What the Data Reveals

Sixty-eight percent of family offices globally plan to increase allocations to private markets over the next two years, according to Ocorian's 2025 Global Family Office Report — a finding that carries direct implications for principals managing capital across Singapore, Hong Kong, and the broader Asia-Pacific region. The report, drawn from interviews with senior decision-makers at single and multi-family offices worldwide, maps the priorities, structural concerns, and investment convictions that will define the sector through mid-decade. For APAC principals, the confluence of regulatory maturation, next-generation succession pressure, and a pivot toward alternatives makes this one of the more consequential data sets to emerge from the global family office community this year.

Why should you care personally? Because the decisions your peers are making right now on governance structures, alternative allocations, and regulatory domicile will compound over the next decade. Family offices that align their operating model with these emerging norms today will be structurally better positioned when liquidity events, succession transitions, or regulatory reviews arrive. The Ocorian findings are not abstract benchmarks — they are a mirror against which principals can measure their own institutional readiness.

Private Markets Dominate the Allocation Agenda

The 68% figure on private markets intent is not an outlier. Across the report's respondent base, private equity, private credit, and real assets collectively represent the fastest-growing allocation categories, displacing listed equities as the primary vehicle for long-term capital preservation. Family offices cite three drivers: superior risk-adjusted returns over a ten-year horizon, reduced mark-to-market volatility compared with public portfolios, and the ability to access co-investment rights alongside trusted general partners. Private credit in particular is attracting attention as interest rate cycles normalise, with several APAC family offices building direct lending books alongside established managers.

Infrastructure and real assets are also gaining ground, with 41% of respondents indicating an intention to add exposure within 24 months. For Singapore-domiciled structures, this trend intersects with MAS's ongoing efforts to position the Variable Capital Company (VCC) framework as a preferred vehicle for holding illiquid alternatives. The VCC, introduced under the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018 and administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, allows for flexible capital redemption and sub-fund ring-fencing — features that are structurally well-suited to holding private market positions across multiple asset classes and geographies. Principals operating through a VCC can consolidate real estate, private equity, and private credit sleeves within a single regulated wrapper, reducing administrative friction and improving reporting coherence.

Hong Kong's equivalent, the Open-ended Fund Company (OFC) structure overseen by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), offers comparable flexibility and has seen accelerating adoption since the SFC expanded its operational guidance in 2023. For family offices with dual presences across Singapore and Hong Kong, the VCC-OFC pairing has become a practical architecture for managing cross-border private market exposure with regulatory clarity in both jurisdictions.

Governance and Succession Remain the Sector's Structural Fault Lines

Despite the investment sophistication on display in the Ocorian data, governance remains the area where family offices are most exposed. Forty-four percent of respondents acknowledge that their family office lacks a formally documented succession plan, a figure that will alarm any principal who has navigated an unplanned transition. The report draws a clear correlation between governance maturity and long-term capital preservation: family offices with formal investment policy statements, independent oversight committees, and documented succession frameworks consistently outperform peers on both financial and relational metrics over multi-generational horizons.

"Forty-four percent of family offices globally lack a formally documented succession plan — a structural vulnerability that compounds with every year it goes unaddressed." — Ocorian 2025 Global Family Office Report

Next-generation engagement is closely linked to this governance gap. The report finds that 57% of family offices have begun integrating next-gen members into investment committee processes, but fewer than a third have granted them formal decision-making authority. This gap between exposure and empowerment is a known precursor to post-transition disputes and capital fragmentation. In the APAC context, where family dynamics and cultural expectations around hierarchy can complicate Western-style governance frameworks, the challenge is more nuanced than the global data alone suggests. Principals in this region are increasingly working with specialist family governance advisers to design frameworks that honour both institutional best practice and family-specific values.

For Dubai-based or DIFC-registered structures, the DIFC's Family Arrangements Regulations — introduced in 2023 under the Dubai International Financial Centre's civil and commercial law framework — provide a formal mechanism for codifying family governance agreements, including succession protocols and dispute resolution procedures. DIFC-registered family offices with APAC investment mandates are increasingly using these regulations as a complement to their Singapore or Hong Kong operating structures, creating a tripartite governance architecture that spans the Gulf, South Asia, and East Asia corridors.

Operational Efficiency and Technology Investment Are Accelerating

The Ocorian report identifies operational efficiency as the third pillar of the 2025 family office agenda, with 52% of respondents planning to increase technology investment over the next 12 months. The primary use cases are consolidated reporting across multi-asset portfolios, automated compliance monitoring, and digital document management for governance records. For principals managing assets across multiple jurisdictions — a common profile among APAC single-family offices — the reporting consolidation use case alone justifies significant technology spend.

Talent acquisition and retention is an adjacent pressure point. The report notes that 39% of family offices cite difficulty attracting qualified investment professionals as a material operational risk. In Singapore, where MAS's Section 13O and Section 13U tax incentive schemes require family offices to maintain minimum AUM thresholds — S$10 million and S$50 million respectively at the fund level, with enhanced conditions for the 13U — and to employ at least one investment professional, the talent constraint is both a regulatory and a competitive issue. Hong Kong's family office tax concession regime, introduced under the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Concessions for Family-Owned Investment Holding Vehicles) Ordinance 2023, similarly requires qualifying family offices to engage licensed personnel, reinforcing the premium on experienced investment staff across both markets.

Philanthropy and Impact Allocation Are Moving from Aspiration to Architecture

One of the more striking data points in the Ocorian report is the shift in how family offices are structuring philanthropic activity. Thirty-six percent of respondents now operate a formal philanthropic vehicle — a charitable foundation, donor-advised fund, or impact investment mandate — that is integrated into the overall family office investment framework rather than managed as a separate discretionary activity. This represents a meaningful step toward what practitioners call "values-aligned capital deployment," where philanthropic and investment objectives are assessed on a unified return framework that includes social and environmental outcomes alongside financial performance.

For APAC principals, this trend intersects with Singapore's Philanthropy Tax Incentive Scheme and Hong Kong's approved charitable institution framework, both of which offer meaningful tax efficiency for structured giving when correctly implemented. The DIFC Foundation structure, available to family offices registered in Dubai, provides an additional vehicle for cross-border philanthropic mandates that span the Middle East and Asia. Family offices that have not yet formalised their philanthropic architecture are increasingly at risk of ad hoc giving that neither maximises tax efficiency nor aligns with the family's stated values — a gap that next-generation members, who tend to prioritise impact, are likely to surface during succession transitions.

Strategic Takeaways for Family Office Principals

1. Audit your private markets exposure: If your allocation to private equity, private credit, and real assets is below 30% of AUM, you are running behind the peer group. Review your VCC or OFC sub-fund architecture to confirm it can accommodate illiquid positions at scale.
2. Document your succession framework now: The 44% figure on missing succession plans is a sector-wide vulnerability. Engage a family governance specialist to produce a formally ratified succession protocol before your next investment committee cycle.
3. Verify MAS or SFC compliance thresholds: If you are operating under Singapore's Section 13O or 13U exemptions, confirm your AUM and headcount positions against current MAS requirements. Hong Kong principals should review SFC licensing obligations for investment personnel under the 2023 tax concession framework.
4. Integrate next-gen members with real authority: Exposure without empowerment is a governance liability. Define a structured pathway — investment committee observer status, then voting rights on sub-threshold decisions — with a clear timeline.
5. Formalise your philanthropic vehicle: Whether through a Singapore-registered charity, a Hong Kong approved institution, or a DIFC Foundation, structured philanthropy delivers tax efficiency and relational alignment across generations.
6. Invest in consolidated reporting technology: Multi-jurisdiction portfolios require real-time visibility. The 52% of family offices increasing technology spend are doing so because the cost of opacity — in compliance risk and missed rebalancing opportunities — now exceeds the cost of the platforms themselves.

What to Watch in the Months Ahead

MAS is expected to publish updated guidance on VCC governance standards and enhanced due diligence requirements for family office applicants under the Section 13U scheme in the second half of 2025, following a consultation period that drew significant industry feedback on minimum AUM thresholds and local investment requirements. Principals currently in the application pipeline should monitor these updates closely, as revised conditions could affect structuring decisions made before the guidance is finalised.

In Hong Kong, the SFC's ongoing review of the OFC regime — including potential enhancements to cross-border recognition with mainland Chinese regulators under the mutual recognition of funds framework — could expand the utility of the OFC structure for family offices with China-facing investment mandates. Any broadening of OFC recognition into the Greater Bay Area would represent a material structural opportunity for family offices currently holding China private equity positions through offshore vehicles. Dubai's DIFC is also expected to release updated Family Office Regulations in late 2025, consolidating guidance on governance, succession, and philanthropic structures into a single regulatory framework — a development that will be closely watched by APAC principals with Gulf-facing capital.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Ocorian 2025 Global Family Office Report reveal about private markets allocation trends?

The report finds that 68% of family offices globally plan to increase allocations to private markets — including private equity, private credit, and real assets — over the next two years. This reflects a structural shift away from listed equities as the primary vehicle for long-term capital preservation, driven by superior risk-adjusted returns, lower mark-to-market volatility, and access to co-investment opportunities alongside established general partners.

How do Singapore's VCC and Hong Kong's OFC structures support private market allocations?

Singapore's Variable Capital Company (VCC), administered by MAS under the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018, allows for flexible capital redemption and sub-fund ring-fencing — features well-suited to holding illiquid alternatives. Hong Kong's Open-ended Fund Company (OFC), overseen by the SFC, offers comparable structural flexibility. Together, they provide a regulated dual-jurisdiction architecture for APAC family offices managing cross-border private market portfolios.

What are the MAS requirements for family offices operating under the Section 13U tax exemption?

Under MAS guidelines, Section 13U applicants must maintain a minimum fund size of S$50 million, employ at least two investment professionals (at least one of whom must not be a family member), and commit to a minimum annual local business spend. Specific conditions have been subject to periodic revision, and principals should verify current thresholds directly with MAS or a licensed fund administrator before structuring.

How is the DIFC Family Arrangements Regulation relevant to APAC family offices?

The DIFC's Family Arrangements Regulations, introduced in 2023, provide a formal legal framework for codifying family governance agreements — including succession protocols, asset holding arrangements, and dispute resolution procedures — within a DIFC-registered structure. For APAC family offices with Gulf-facing capital or principals resident across multiple jurisdictions, the DIFC framework can complement Singapore or Hong Kong operating structures, creating a multi-jurisdictional governance architecture.

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