UBS's latest Global Family Office Report finds 88% of Southeast Asian family offices have already invested in artificial intelligence, the highest share of any region surveyed, and a sign of how entrepreneurial, first-generation wealth in the region is shaping its own approach to portfolio risk.

TL;DR

  • UBS surveyed 307 family offices across more than 30 markets for its Global Family Office Report 2026 and found Southeast Asia the most AI-focused region globally, with 88% already invested in the theme.
  • Eighty-one percent of Southeast Asian family offices plan to adjust their strategic asset allocation in the year ahead, even as portfolios remain heavily weighted toward North America.
  • The finding lands alongside separate research pointing to a generational pattern behind it: most Southeast Asian family offices are still run by founders, whose businesses were often built on technology or industrial disruption in the first place.

What exactly did UBS find?

UBS's Global Family Office Report 2026 draws on responses from 307 family offices across more than 30 markets, with an average net worth of US$2.7 billion. Globally, the bank found family offices pivoting toward resilience and diversification amid geopolitical risk, but the regional breakdown is where Southeast Asia stands out: 88% of family offices there have already invested in AI, ahead of every other region UBS surveyed, including North Asia at 74%. Eighty-one percent of Southeast Asian respondents also plan to adjust their strategic asset allocation this year, even though portfolios remain concentrated in North American assets at 58% of holdings, with allocations to Greater China and the broader Asia-Pacific region growing.

Why is Southeast Asia so far ahead on AI?

Separate research from Agreus and KPMG Private Enterprise offers a plausible explanation: most Asian family offices are still run by their first- or second-generation founders, many of whom built their fortunes in technology, manufacturing or other operating businesses rather than inheriting passive portfolios. That background appears to translate into a higher comfort level with thematic, higher-conviction bets like AI, compared with more institutionalised family offices elsewhere that tend to delegate more decisions to independent boards or external managers. It is a pattern that echoes broader debates about how public figures frame AI's promise, including how Bill Gates's own recent essay on artificial intelligence has been read as advocacy rather than neutral commentary.

How does this compare with the rest of the region?

The AI finding sits within a wider set of regional dynamics that Asia-based family offices are navigating this year. Hong Kong has quietly overtaken Singapore on sheer numbers, with a Deloitte study commissioned by InvestHK putting its single-family office count above 3,380, while Singapore's own population has passed 2,000 and its regulator has continued adjusting the tax and substance rules that govern how family-office vehicles qualify for incentives. Neither hub publishes AI-specific investment data, so it is not yet confirmed how much of Southeast Asia's 88% figure sits in Singapore specifically versus other regional centres, but the two trends, rising family-office formation and rising AI conviction, appear to be running in parallel rather than in competition with each other.

What does this mean for allocators and advisers?

An 88% adoption figure does not mean every family office is running the same playbook. UBS's own regional breakdown shows Southeast Asian portfolios still carry substantial North American exposure, so AI conviction is, for many, layered onto an existing global allocation rather than replacing it. For advisers and managers serving the region, the practical takeaway is that thematic sophistication and home-market concentration are not mutually exclusive here: a family office can be an early, confident backer of an AI theme while still building out its governance, succession and reporting infrastructure from a first-generation base.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the UBS Global Family Office Report 2026 actually measure? It surveyed 307 family offices across more than 30 markets, with an average net worth of US$2.7 billion, on their portfolio strategy, risk views and thematic investment interests, including AI.

Does 88% AI adoption mean Southeast Asian family offices are AI-only investors? No. UBS's data shows Southeast Asian portfolios remain heavily weighted toward North American assets, so AI exposure is generally layered onto a broader, still-diversifying global allocation.

Is Singapore or Hong Kong driving the Southeast Asia AI figure? UBS has not broken the 88% figure down by individual market, and it is not yet confirmed how Singapore-based offices compare with those elsewhere in the region on this specific measure.

Sources and Method

This article is based on UBS's media release for the Global Family Office Report 2026, published 28 May 2026, cross-checked against Forbes' 1 September 2026 regional comparison of the report's findings and additional coverage from finews.asia and Yahoo Finance Singapore. Context on Asian family-office generational patterns draws on publicly summarised findings from Agreus and KPMG Private Enterprise's Global Family Office Compensation Benchmark Report. Singapore and Hong Kong family-office counts are as previously reported on this site and by Deloitte and MAS respectively.