Survey of more than 200 family offices highlights investment priorities for 2023
Wealth managers for some of the world’s richest families have revealed their key focuses for the year ahead.
A poll of more than 200 family offices across 32 countries - 47% of the participants are from North America - shows that deal flow is a priority, while respondents said they are defensively positioned due to the current level of market volatility.
Diversification is essential with 85% of family offices believing in broad diversification of factors, and 74% using diversification across geographies.
The report has been published by global law firm Dentons and highlights multiple challenges cited by family members, C-suite executives, investment professionals and other family office staff members.
Asked about inflation, 70% of respondents said they were being patient and waiting for lower valuations before adding risk, while 68% are buying assets that will benefit from inflation.
Among the direct investment challenges mentioned are taking on too much operational risk (45% of respondents), finding high-quality deal flow (43%), having control of exit options (42%) and finding enough time for proper due diligence (41%).
Asked about making investment decisions, the report shows that family members are very involved in most cases.
Just 8% of respondents said they defer entirely to family office staff, while 30% said that important decisions are made by staff in collaboration with family members, and 29% said family members alone make these decisions.
New talent acquisition and strategies are on the agenda for many family offices in 2023.
Digital assets
The share of family offices that are exposed to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets is 24% according to the report.
A further 30% are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to digital assets, however that leaves around half of respondents who do not and have no intention to invest in these assets, especially with recent crypto market declines.
