UBS Global Family Office Report 2022: 221 Single Family Office Surveyed with $2.2 Billion Wealth Per Family Office
10th June 2022 | Hong Kong
UBS has released the UBS Global Family Office Report 2022, surveying 221 single family offices with total wealth of $493 billion ($258 billion AUM), averaging $2.2 billion ($1.2 billion AUM) per family office. Key findings from the 221 family offices include the average annual cost per family office is 0.42% of assets, identifying 3 major family office concerns (rising inflation, global geopolitics, valuation), and the top 3 tasks performed within the family office: Strategic asset allocation, Risk management, Financial accounting & reporting. On investments, the highest asset allocation for family offices are equities (32%), developed market (24%), fixed income (15%), private equity (21%) and direct investments (13%). 53% of family offices have also increased their due diligence process when looking to invest, and 63% feels that high-quality fixed income no longer helps to diversify overall portfolio risk. Of the 221 family offices surveyed, 42% (beneficial owners) are based in Europe, 10% are based in North America, 14% from Asia-Pacific, 16% from Middle East & Africa and 15% from Latin America. 85% of the family offices still have operating businesses, with the top sector representation from industrials (17%), financials (17%) and real estate (11%). See below for key highlights.
“ 221 Single Family Office Surveyed with $2.2 Billion Wealth Per Family Office “
Key Highlights of UBS Global Family Office Report 2022
Key Highlights:
- Average annual cost per family office is 0.42% of assets
- 3 major family office concerns: rising inflation, global geopolitics, valuation
- Top 3 tasks performed within the family office: Strategic asset allocation, Risk management, Financial accounting & reporting
- Highest asset allocation for family offices are equities (32%), developed market (24%), fixed income (15%), private equity (21%) and direct investments (13%).
- 53% of family offices have also increased their due diligence process when looking to invest
- 63% feels that high-quality fixed income no longer helps to diversify overall portfolio risk.
Key Family Office Investment findings:
- Top Asset Allocation: Equities (32%), Private Equity (21%), Real Estate (12%)
- Top Asset Allocation by Region: United States (44%), Western Europe (30%), Greater China (9%)
- Popular Global Investment Themes: Digital transformation (84%), Medical devices/ health tech (75%) , Automation & robotics (72%)
- Fixed Income Alternatives (Replacement): Real estate (21%), Private debt/ illiquid debt (18%), High-dividend stocks (15%), Private equity (14%)
- Private Equity Preference: Both funds & direct investments (52%), Funds or funds of funds (28%), Direct Investments only (22%)
- Private Equity Investments: Private equity expansion & growth equity (75%), Venture capital (63%), Leveraged buyouts (42%), Distressed buyouts (21%)
- Private Equity Sector: Technology (82%), Healthcare & Social Assistance (60%), Real Estate / Rental / Leasing (54%)
- Direct Deals Consideration: Expected Returns, IRR & MOIC, Company Data, Knowledge & Expertise, Economic Sector, Track Record of Sponsor / Deal Source
- Family Office allocating to Sustainable Investments – 56%
- Family Offices by Top 3 Region investing into Sustainable Investments – Middle East & Africa (70%), Western Europe (65%), Latin America (61%)
Key Family Office findings:
- Family office costs by AUM: $100 million to $250 million (0.586%), $251 million to $1 billion (0.425%), $1 billion or more (0.371%)
- Overall cost of running family office 2022: Family office operations (58%), Asset management costs (23%), Banking (11%)
- Family Office Top 5 Tasks Performed in-house: Strategic asset allocation, Risk management, Financial accounting & reporting, Portfolio administration, Accounting
Key 2022 UBS Global Family Office Report Observations:
- Exploring new options in unpredictable times
- Inflation, global geopolitics and high valuations top concerns
- Private equity a favoured source of return
- Taking a selective approach within sustainable investing
- Crypto-curious rather than crypto-committed
- Costs of family offices’ core activities set to rise
Of the 221 family offices surveyed:
- 42% (beneficial owners) are based in Europe
- 10% are based in North America, 14% from Asia-Pacific
- 16% from Middle East & Africa
- 15% from Latin America
- 85% of the family offices still have operating businesses, with the top sector representation from industrials (17%), financials (17%) and real estate (11%).
- 221 single family offices with $493 billion wealth ($2.2 billion per family office)
- 221 single family offices with $258 billion assets ($1.2 billion per family office)
1) Investments
2021 Strategic Asset Allocation:
- Equities – 32%
- Fixed Income – 10%
- Cash – 10%
- Private Equity – 21%
- Real Estate – 12%
- Hedge Funds – 4%
- Private Debt – 2%
- Gold / Precious Metals – 1%
- Commodities – 1%
- Art & Antiques – 1%
- Infrastructure – 1%
Alternative Asset Class Allocation:
- Private Equity: 21%
- Direct Investments: 13%
- Funds / Funds of Funds: 8%
- Real Estate: 12%
- Hedge Funds: 4%
- Private Debt: 2%
- Gold / Precious Metals: 1%
- Commodities: 1%
- Art & Antiques: 1%
- Infrastructure 0%
Asset Class
- Traditional – 57%
- Alternatives – 43%
Private Equity Allocation (2022) Increase / Decrease*:
- Fixed Income (developed markets): – 4%
- Fixed income (developing markets): 8%
- Equities (developed markets): 29%
- Equities (developing markets): 28%
- Private equity (direct investments): 42%
- Private equity (funds/funds of funds): 38%
- Private debt: 27%
- Hedge funds: 11%
- Real estate: 37%
- Infrastructure: 25%
- Gold / Precious metals: 4%
- Commodities: 10%
- Cash / Cash equivalent: -15%
- Art & antiques: 10%
- *Net ~ This is the net change. Some family offices have increase, stay the same, decrease or do not invest in private equity.
Family Office Asset Allocation by Region:
- United States – 44%
- Western Europe – 30%
- Greater China – 9%
- APAC* – 6%
- Latin America – 5%
- Middle East – 4%
- Eastern Europe – 2%
- Africa – 1%
*APAC excludes Greater China
3 Major Family Office Concerns:
- Rising inflation (25%)
- Global geopolitics (21%)
- Valuations (20%)
Family Office Home Bias (Asset Allocation within region, Top 3 Region):
- United States – 79% into United States, 8% Western Europe, 3% APAC
- Latin America – 18% into Latin America, 54% United States, 18% Western Europe
- Greater China – 3% into Greater China, 60% Western Europe, 28% United States
- Western Europe – 46% into Western Europe, 34% United States, APAC 7%
- MENA – 26% into MENA, 37% into United States, 23% Western Europe, 7% APAC
- APAC – 15% into APAC, 40% into Greater China, 35% United States
MENA ~ Middle East & North Africa
Fixed Income Alternatives (Replacement):
- Real estate – 21%
- Private debt/ illiquid debt – 18%
- High-dividend stocks – 15%
- Private equity – 14%
Popular Investment Theme:
- Digital Transformation: 84%
- Medical Devices / Health Tech: 75%
- Automation & Robotics: 72%
- Green Tech: 69%
- Fintech: 68%
Private Equity Preference:
- Both funds & direct investments – 52%
- Funds or funds of funds only – 28%
- Direct Investments only – 22%
Private Equity Sentiments (2022):
- Expect private equity investments to offer a greater return than public investments – 74%
- Broader range of potential investment opportunities in private equity – 52%
- Invest in private equity investments to distribute our exposure – 44%
- Beneficial owner is passionate about investing in private equity – 36%
- Private equity allows you the opportunity to influence the business directly – 34%
Private Equity Investments:
- Private equity expansion & growth equity – 75%
- Venture capital – 63%
- Leveraged buyouts – 42%
- Distressed buyouts – 21%
Private Equity Sector:
- Technology – 82%
- Healthcare & Social Assistance – 60%
- Real Estate / Rental / Leasing – 54%
Direct Deals Consideration:
- Expected Returns – 67%
- IRR & MOIC – 55%
- Company Data – 54%
- Knowledge & Expertise – 52%
- Economic Sector – 51%
- Track Record of Sponsor / Deal Source – 50%
Sustainable Investments:
- Family Office allocating to Sustainable Investments- 56%
- Middle East & Africa – 70%
- Western Europe – 65%
- Latin America – 61%
- APAC – 53%
- Greater China – 48%
- United States – 39%
Sustainable Investments Findings:
- Increased due diligence process when looking to invest – 53%
- Actively allocating more to companies/sectors that are focused on directly impacting real world issues – 41%
- Actively allocating more to companies/sectors that can demonstrate strong ESG performance – 34%
- Actively engaging with management teams on sustainability/ESG in private equity deals – 25%
- None of these – 18%
Views on Portfolio Construction:
- 63% ~ I no longer feel that high-quality fixed income helps me diversify my overall portfolio risk
- 62% ~ Illiquidity increases returns
- 54% ~ I’m managing portfolio risk more actively now in comparison to previously
- 37% ~ I’m willing to accept more risk in future in order to get the same returns
- 33% ~ I’m no longer able to build a complete portfolio with long-only investments
Investing / Considering Investing in Digital Assets:
- Distributed ledger technology – 35%
- Cryptocurrencies – 26%
- Decentralized finance (DeFi) – 22%
- Digital exchanges – 20%
- Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – 14%
- Digital assets (photos, videos) – 7%
Reasons for investing in cryptocurrencies
- To learn about the technology – 53%
- Expect a good return on investment – 49%
- Active source of diversification – 49%
- Concern around long-term consequences of monetary policies – 32%
- More organizations are starting to invest in cryptocurrencies – 25%
- I’m worried that we will miss out if we don’t – 25%
- Other – 4%
2) Family Office
Family Office Expenses (US / Western Europe / Switzerland / APAC):
- Staff Costs: 80% / 53% / 67% / 44%
- IT / Technology: 54% / 40% / 44% / 50%
- Research: 29% / 26% / 12% / 37%
- Legal &/or Compliance: 33% / 23% / 37% / 31%
- Asset management costs: NA
- Banking-related services fees: NA
- External structures: NA
Annual Cost of Family Office:
- Average: 0.42%
- $100 million to $250 million: 0.58%
- $251 million to $1 billion: 0.42%
- More than $1 billion: 0.31%
Family office costs by AUM:
- $100 million to $250 million – 58.6 bps (0.586%)
- $251 million to $1 billion – 42.5 bps (0.425%)
- $1 billion or more – 31.7 bps (0.371%)
Family office costs by no. of staff members:
- 1 to 3 staffs – 46.4 bps (0.464%)
- 4 or more staffs – 40.7 bps (0.407%)
Family Office costs to Increase in next 3 years
- Staff costs – 54%
- IT/technology – 46%
- Research – 27%
- Legal &/or compliance – 31%
Overall cost of running family office 2022:
- Family office operations – 58%
- Asset management costs – 23%
- Banking – 11%
- External Structures – 7%
- Others – 1%
Family office operations cost breakdown:
- Staff costs – 69%
- Legal and/or compliance – 12%
- IT/technology – 11%
- Research – 5%
- Other – 4%
No. of staffs in Family Office:
- 1 – 3: 23%
- 4 – 10: 38%
- 11 – 20: 24%
- 21 – 50: 11%
- More than 50: 4%
Top 3 Tasks Performed in-House
- Strategic asset allocation 83%
- Risk management 78%
- Financial accounting and reporting 70%
More Tasks Performed in-House
- Portfolio administration
- Accounting
- Philanthropy
- Succession planning
- Real estate
- Investment research
- Lifestyle services
- Corporate finance consulting
- Tax planning
- Legal services
- Pension/life assurance planning
Family Office Tasks Performed in-house:
- Strategic asset allocation – 83%
- Risk management – 78%
- Financial accounting & reporting – 70%
- Portfolio administration – 68%
- Accounting – 65%
- Philanthropy – 64%
- Own philanthropy – 63%
- Succession planning – 58%
- Real estate – 53%
- Investment research – 52%
- Lifestyle services – 44%
- Corporate finance consulting – 40%
- Tax planning – 32%
- Legal services – 31%
- Pension/life assurance planning – 21%
2022 UBS Global Family Office Report
The 2022 UBS Global Family Office Report is the 3rd of our annual surveys on the activities of family offices researched and written in-house. Significantly, the total wealth covered by the survey this year has more than doubled, while the number of family offices participating has also risen. Our 2022 report focuses on 221 of the world’s largest single family offices, up from 191 in 2021. It covers a total net worth of USD 493.0 billion (USD 225.7 billion in 2021), with the individual families’ net worth averaging USD 2.2 billion (USD 1.2 billion in 2021). The family offices manage a total of USD 258.8 billion of assets (USD 148.2 billion in 2021), or an average of USD 1.2 billion each (USD 0.8 billion in 2021). Over four fifths (85%) of the families still have operating businesses. The main industries represented are: industrials (17%), financials (17%) and real estate (11%).
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