UBS Finds Just 35% of Family Offices Have a Succession Plan for the Office Itself

UBS's Global Family Office Report 2026 finds most family offices still lack a formal succession plan for the office itself — a governance gap that matters as much in Singapore and Hong Kong as anywhere else.

TL;DR

• UBS surveyed 307 family offices across more than 30 markets for its Global Family Office Report 2026, published 28 May 2026, and found only 35% have a defined succession plan for the family office itself, and just 27% have a structured process to prepare the next generation for future roles.
• Governance is uneven across functions: 86% of family offices handle asset allocation in-house and 60% run an investment committee, but only around 40% have cybersecurity controls and just 28% have a risk management process beyond investments.
• Asia Pacific was the second-largest respondent group in the survey at 23% of participants, and the region's own family offices are aggressively adjusting portfolios (Southeast Asia 81% and North Asia 71% plan allocation changes this year) even as the succession and governance gaps the report identifies are global, not regional.

What exactly did UBS find on succession and governance?

UBS's Global Family Office Report 2026, published 28 May 2026, surveyed 307 family offices across more than 30 markets, with an average family net worth of US$2.7 billion and each office managing an average of roughly US$1.3 to US$1.7 billion in assets. While the report found family offices professionalising their investment operations, with 68% running formal financial performance measurement and 60% operating an investment committee, governance outside the investment function lags well behind. Fewer than half of family offices have implemented formal governance frameworks with board-level oversight, only 35% have a defined succession plan for the family office itself, and just 27% have a structured process to educate and prepare heirs for future roles.

The gap extends to risk management outside investing and to cybersecurity. UBS found only around 40% of family offices have cybersecurity controls in place, and just 28% have a risk management process that covers areas such as reputation, health or property rather than portfolio risk alone. Independent reporting on the same survey found that even where next-generation family members are old enough to participate, 21% remain uninvolved in the family office, separate from the 32% who are still considered too young.

Where does Asia Pacific fit into this picture?

Asia Pacific was the second-largest regional group in UBS's sample, at 23% of respondents behind Europe excluding Switzerland at 30%. The report's regional spotlights show Asia Pacific's family offices are anything but passive: Southeast Asian family offices plan the most aggressive portfolio shifts in the region, with 81% intending to adjust strategic asset allocation this year, while North Asia is close behind at 71%. Both sub-regions remain heavily weighted to North American assets, at 58% for Southeast Asia and 47% for North Asia, even as allocations to Greater China and the wider Asia Pacific region grow.

UBS did not break out succession and governance figures by region, so there is no confirmed Asia-specific version of the 35% and 27% findings. That is itself a data gap worth flagging: the same family offices that are moving fastest on portfolio strategy are being measured, on governance, only at a global level. Given that Singapore has passed 2,000 registered single family offices and Hong Kong more than 3,380, both hubs now have enough scale that a regional breakdown of succession-planning rates would be genuinely useful to regulators and advisers, not just a curiosity.

Why this matters for Asia's family offices

This finding lands the same week UBS's data on the region's AI conviction made headlines here (Southeast Asia's Family Offices Lead the World in AI Investing, UBS Finds, asiafamilyofficehub.com/southeast-asias-family-offices-lead-the-world-in-ai-investing-ubs-finds/), and the contrast is instructive. A family office can be sophisticated and fast-moving on portfolio strategy while still running on informal, undocumented succession arrangements, exactly the pattern UBS describes globally. For principals in Singapore and Hong Kong, where family office formation is accelerating (Hong Kong's Family Offices Pass 3,380 as Government Sets Sights on 220 More by 2028, asiafamilyofficehub.com/hong-kongs-family-offices-pass-3-380-as-government-sets-sights-on-220-more-by-2028/), the governance gap is not an abstract global statistic; it is a real question for any office that has grown quickly on the back of MAS or InvestHK incentives (MAS Relaxes Singapore Family Office Tax Incentive Conditions From 1 August 2026, asiafamilyofficehub.com/mas-relaxes-singapore-family-office-tax-incentive-conditions-from-1-august-2026/) without necessarily formalising who runs the office, or how, once the founding generation steps back.

It also helps explain a hiring pattern showing up across the region's more established multi-family offices: bringing in professional leadership from private banks to institutionalise functions that founders once ran informally, as seen this week when Raffles Family Office named its first-ever CIO from Citi's APAC investment strategy team (Raffles Family Office Names Its First-Ever CIO, Poaching Citi's APAC Investment Strategy Chief, asiafamilyofficehub.com/raffles-family-office-names-its-first-ever-cio-poaching-citis-apac-investment-strategy-chief/). UBS's findings suggest that kind of professionalisation still has further to run, particularly for succession planning and cybersecurity, well behind the progress family offices have made on investment governance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did UBS's Global Family Office Report 2026 actually measure?

It surveyed 307 family offices across more than 30 markets between January and March 2026, covering portfolio strategy, risk views, service provision and governance practices, including succession planning and next-generation preparedness.

Does the 35% succession-plan figure apply specifically to Asian family offices?

No. UBS reported succession and governance findings at a global level and did not break them out by region, even though it did publish region-specific data on portfolio allocation and investment themes. Asia Pacific made up 23% of the survey's respondents.

What should a family office in Singapore or Hong Kong take from this?

That strong investment governance, an investment committee and formal performance reporting, does not necessarily mean succession, cybersecurity and non-investment risk management have kept pace. UBS's data suggests these are the areas most family offices still need to formalise, regardless of region.

Sources and Method

This article draws on UBS's own media release for the Global Family Office Report 2026 (UBS Global, published 28 May 2026), cross-checked against independent reporting and additional data from Canadian Family Offices (Joe Chidley, 28 May 2026), which reviewed the full report and provided next-generation involvement figures not included in UBS's press release. Figures on respondent numbers, succession and governance percentages, and regional allocation and thematic data are as stated by UBS and corroborated by Canadian Family Offices' coverage. Asia Family Office Hub was not given early access to the report and has not independently verified UBS's underlying survey data.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or governance advice. Family offices should consult qualified advisers on succession, governance and risk management matters specific to their circumstances.