Global Family Office Priorities in 2025: What the Data Reveals

Seventy-three percent of family offices globally plan to increase their 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 Asia-Pacific. The report, which surveyed family offices spanning multiple jurisdictions and aggregate assets under management running into the hundreds of billions of dollars, provides granular cross-regional snapshots of how ultra-high-net-worth families are repositioning their wealth structures, governance frameworks, and investment mandates heading into the second half of this decade.

For principals operating single-family offices or multi-family office structures in Singapore, Hong Kong, or Dubai, this report is not background reading — it is a benchmark. If your allocation strategy, succession planning timeline, or regulatory posture diverges significantly from these findings, you either have a deliberate reason for that divergence or a gap worth addressing. The 2025 data makes clear that family offices are no longer passive capital pools; they are increasingly sophisticated institutional actors with defined governance standards and active portfolio construction mandates.

Private Markets Domination: Where Capital Is Actually Moving

The headline allocation trend in Ocorian's 2025 report is unmistakable: private equity, private credit, and real assets are absorbing an outsized share of new capital commitments. Specifically, 68% of respondents identified private equity as a top-three allocation priority, while private credit attracted significant interest from offices seeking yield above what listed fixed income currently offers. Real assets — encompassing infrastructure, timberland, and agricultural land — featured prominently among offices with longer investment horizons and multi-generational mandates.

In the Asia-Pacific context, this trend intersects with the rapid maturation of Singapore's Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure and Hong Kong's Open-ended Fund Company (OFC) framework. Both structures offer family offices tax-efficient, flexible vehicles for holding private market assets across sub-funds without triggering unnecessary redomiciliation costs. Singapore's Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reported over 900 VCCs incorporated since the structure's 2020 launch, with a meaningful proportion attributable to family office-linked entities. For principals considering how to house illiquid alternative allocations, the VCC's umbrella structure — allowing multiple sub-funds under a single legal entity — reduces administrative duplication while preserving segregation between asset pools.

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has similarly promoted the OFC as a competitive vehicle, particularly following amendments that allowed OFCs to be used for private funds in addition to public ones. Principals with cross-border mandates spanning Greater China and Southeast Asia are increasingly using OFC-VCC combinations to optimise for both jurisdictions' regulatory environments. The Ocorian data reinforces that this structural sophistication is not a luxury — it is becoming standard practice among offices managing above the USD 500 million threshold.

"73% of family offices globally plan to increase private markets allocations over the next two years — a structural shift that demands purpose-built legal vehicles, not legacy holding company arrangements."

Governance and Succession: The Structural Deficit That Still Persists

Despite increased professionalisation, Ocorian's 2025 report identifies a persistent governance deficit: only 43% of surveyed family offices reported having a fully documented succession plan in place. This figure is striking given that the average age of first-generation principals in Asia is advancing, and the next-generation cohort — many educated in the United States, United Kingdom, or Europe — is beginning to take active roles in investment committees and board structures. The absence of a formalised succession framework is not merely an administrative oversight; it is a material risk to asset continuity, regulatory standing, and family cohesion.

In Singapore, MAS's Section 13O and 13U family office incentive schemes require ongoing compliance with conditions including minimum AUM thresholds (SGD 10 million for 13O, SGD 50 million for 13U), local investment requirements, and employment of investment professionals. A succession event that disrupts these conditions — for example, a change in the qualifying individual or a temporary dip in locally managed AUM — can trigger a review of tax incentive status. Principals planning intergenerational transitions must therefore sequence governance changes in coordination with their MAS compliance calendar, not independently of it.

Dubai's DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) presents a parallel dynamic. Family offices domiciled under DIFC's regulatory framework benefit from the centre's DIFC Wills Service, which allows non-Muslim expatriates and international families to register succession documents under common law principles. The Ocorian report's finding that succession planning remains underdeveloped globally resonates particularly in the Gulf context, where cross-jurisdictional estate complexity — spanning DIFC structures, onshore UAE assets, and offshore holdings — demands multi-layered planning that few offices have fully executed.

Next-Generation Engagement and the ESG Allocation Shift

Ocorian's 2025 data shows that 61% of family offices report active next-generation involvement in investment decision-making, up from approximately 48% in prior survey cycles. This generational shift is not cosmetic. Next-gen principals are driving measurable changes in allocation philosophy: ESG-integrated mandates, impact investing sleeves, and exclusion of certain sectors (fossil fuels, tobacco, controversial weapons) are increasingly appearing in investment policy statements at the insistence of second- and third-generation family members.

For Asia-Pacific offices, this creates a specific tension. Many first-generation principals built wealth through industries — manufacturing, real estate development, commodities — that sit awkwardly against ESG screens, and the family's operating business may itself be a source of the very exposures the next generation wishes to exclude from the investment portfolio. The Ocorian report does not resolve this tension, but it documents it clearly: 54% of respondents identified intergenerational alignment on values and investment philosophy as a top-five governance challenge.

Philanthropy is emerging as a partial bridge. Family offices are increasingly establishing donor-advised funds, charitable foundations, or impact vehicles as a mechanism for engaging next-gen members in capital stewardship without immediately transferring control of the core investment portfolio. In Singapore, the Community Foundation of Singapore and various MAS-recognised charitable structures provide frameworks for this. In Hong Kong, the SFC's regulatory environment accommodates impact fund structures that can be co-governed by multiple family generations.

Talent, Technology, and the Operational Maturity Gap

Ocorian's report identifies talent acquisition and retention as the number-one operational challenge cited by family offices globally, with 58% of respondents flagging difficulty in hiring qualified investment professionals and compliance officers. In Asia, this challenge is compounded by competition from sovereign wealth funds, large asset managers, and the expanding multi-family office sector, all of which offer more structured career paths and, in some cases, higher compensation packages than single-family offices can match.

Technology adoption is accelerating as a partial response. Forty-seven percent of surveyed offices reported deploying or actively evaluating portfolio management systems capable of consolidating private market and public market positions into a single reporting framework. The shift toward unified reporting is not merely operational convenience — it is a governance requirement for offices managing complex multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction portfolios where principal-level visibility into total exposure is a fiduciary baseline. Platforms purpose-built for family office reporting, rather than adapted from institutional asset manager tools, are gaining traction across Singapore and Hong Kong.

Key Strategic Takeaways for Family Office Principals

1. Audit your private markets vehicle structure. If illiquid allocations are held in legacy holding companies rather than purpose-built structures like Singapore's VCC or Hong Kong's OFC, model the administrative, tax, and succession implications of migration.
2. Sequence succession planning against your MAS or SFC compliance calendar. A governance transition that inadvertently breaches 13O/13U conditions or DIFC licensing requirements can have material tax and regulatory consequences.
3. Formalise next-gen engagement before it becomes a governance crisis. The Ocorian data suggests offices that proactively structure next-gen roles — investment committee observer status, philanthropic mandates, co-investment rights — report lower intergenerational conflict.
4. Benchmark your ESG policy against your operating business exposures. Misalignment between the family's source of wealth and the investment portfolio's exclusion screens is a reputational and governance risk that should be explicitly addressed in the investment policy statement.
5. Invest in unified reporting infrastructure. The 47% adoption rate for consolidated reporting platforms signals that this is no longer a differentiator — it is becoming table stakes for professionally managed offices.
6. Address the talent gap structurally. Consider co-investment arrangements with multi-family offices or outsourced CIO models as a mechanism for accessing institutional-grade investment talent without the full cost of an in-house team.

What to Watch: Forward-Looking Indicators for 2025–2026

Several regulatory and market developments will materially shape the environment described in Ocorian's 2025 report over the next 18 months. MAS is expected to continue refining the conditions attached to 13O and 13U incentives, with particular attention to local hiring and investment requirements following a 2023 tightening of eligibility criteria. Principals who received approvals under pre-2023 conditions should verify whether their current structure remains fully compliant as renewal cycles approach.

In Hong Kong, the SFC's ongoing development of the family office regulatory framework — including potential new licensing categories for single-family offices managing external capital — will be worth monitoring closely. The SFC has signalled interest in bringing more family office activity within its regulatory perimeter, which would affect offices currently operating under exemptions. Dubai's DIFC is actively marketing itself as an alternative domicile for Asian family offices seeking a third-jurisdiction hub, and its 2024–2025 incentive packages for new family office registrations deserve evaluation by principals with Middle East exposure or global diversification mandates.

On the investment side, the private credit cycle will be a key variable. If interest rates in the US and Europe begin a sustained decline through 2025, the yield premium that has driven family office capital into private credit over the past 24 months will compress — potentially redirecting capital back toward private equity or real assets. Principals who have built significant private credit sleeves should stress-test their portfolio construction against a lower-rate scenario and assess whether rebalancing triggers are adequately defined in their investment policy statements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Ocorian 2025 Global Family Office Report say about private markets allocations?

The report found that 73% of family offices globally plan to increase their private markets allocations over the next two years, with private equity cited as a top-three priority by 68% of respondents. Private credit and real assets also feature prominently, driven by yield-seeking behaviour and long-horizon investment mandates.

How does Singapore's VCC structure benefit family offices allocating to private markets?

The Variable Capital Company (VCC), regulated by MAS, allows family offices to house multiple sub-funds under a single legal entity, segregating asset pools while reducing administrative duplication. It is particularly useful for illiquid alternative allocations and offers flexibility for repatriation and restructuring without triggering redomiciliation costs.

What are the succession planning risks for family offices under MAS 13O and 13U schemes?

A succession event that changes the qualifying individual, reduces locally managed AUM below SGD 10 million (13O) or SGD 50 million (13U), or disrupts local employment conditions can trigger a compliance review and potential loss of tax incentive status. Succession planning must be sequenced against MAS compliance renewal cycles, not treated as a separate governance exercise.

How are next-generation family members influencing family office investment strategy in Asia?

According to Ocorian's 2025 data, 61% of family offices report active next-gen involvement in investment decisions, with this cohort driving increased adoption of ESG-integrated mandates, impact investing sleeves, and sector exclusions. In Asia, this creates tension where the family's source of wealth may conflict with next-gen ESG preferences, making explicit investment policy alignment a governance priority.

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