New Family Office Research Reveals that Cross-Border Wealth is on the Rise and Defining Purpose Unlocks Next Gen Engagement
Now in its second year, the AlTi Tiedemann Global and Campden Wealth 2025 Family Office Operational Excellence Report has expanded to include data on families in Europe and Asia Pacific in addition to North America and introduces six new topic areas
AlTi Global, Inc. ("AlTi" or "AlTi Tiedemann Global") (NASDAQ:ALTI), a leading independent global wealth manager with $76 billion in combined assets, announces the launch of its 2025 Family Office Operational Excellence Report ("the Report"), developed in partnership with Campden Wealth. As complexity increases and the pace of change accelerates, the Report explores the inner workings of 146 single family offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
The Report provides a robust, data-driven view of how family offices operate, evolve, and define success, as well as actionable insights and strategies to improve operational performance across 16 functional areas. This year's data revealed several key themes:
- Cross-border wealth is on the rise. Ultra-high-net-worth families are becoming more global, with 57% of family offices surveyed reporting at least one family member residing outside the primary jurisdiction of the office. Family offices in Europe (76%) and Asia Pacific (67%) are significantly more likely to have non-domiciled family members compared to those in North America (47%).
- Purpose emerges as a key driver in next gen engagement. The top educational priority for next-generation engagement is understanding the broader purpose of a family's wealth beyond capital preservation and growth. However, only a third of families have fully developed plans for the use of their capital, and most of these strategies are investment focused.
- Investment success hinges on access to key talent – whether in-house or outsourced. 89% consider that experienced investment professionals are the most critical driver of investment success and 79% outsource at least part of their investment management. When it comes to getting access to top-tier managers in alternative asset classes, size of team and strength of networks are key factors.
- Talent is the largest operating expense and hiring and retention are a significant challenge. C-level compensation constitutes between 39% (large family offices) to 72% (small family offices) of total costs. 79% of family offices report difficulty hiring staff, and over half are concerned about retaining key staff. Asia Pacific families report far greater ease in recruiting new talent compared to their peers but find it harder to retain talent. Conversely, North American family offices find retaining talent relatively easy but struggle more with recruitment. European family offices report difficulties on both fronts.
- Technology spend remains limited while cyberthreats increase. Most family offices spend between $100,000 to $500,000 annually on tech, and 42% still rely on spreadsheets. At the same time, cybersecurity risks are rising sharply: 70% now rank it as their top operational risk (up from 59% last year), and 60% reported at least one cyberattack. AI is a major area of interest, with Asian family offices leading adoption with close to 50% using AI for a variety of applications.
- Family businesses prepare for transition. A majority of family offices globally (61%) continue to own operating businesses, though about one-third of families anticipate changes in ownership, such as sales of the business or reduced majority control. Amid this change, there is a growing recognition of the importance of formalizing next-generation participation and careful planning around succession, governance, and professionalization. Family businesses are a particular focus in Asia Pacific where 80% of families own an operating business as compared to only half of North American families.
- Outsourcing is now a critical strategy for almost all family offices, accounting for 19-32% of total costs. Access to specialized skills, greater efficiency and cost savings is the primary driver. Most family offices oversee vendor relationships directly, but vendor management is challenging as the number of providers grows. As a result, satisfaction is mixed, with only about 25% reporting consistently excellent service. Demand for outsourcing is expected to rise as talent becomes harder to retain and service areas like IT, investments, tax, governance, and rising gen engagement grow more complex.
Erik Christoffersen, Head of Family Office Practice, AlTi Tiedemann Global, commented: "As families become more global and their needs more complex, many family offices are recognizing the benefits of outsourcing as they seek to deliver value for their families, including increasing global capabilities, next gen engagement and keeping up with fast-evolving technology. Our hope is that family offices discover valuable benchmark data and insights from the report, along with practical strategies on how to enhance their operations."
Adam Ratner, Director of Research at Campden Wealth, added: "We are thrilled to work with AlTi to expand our 2025 insights across two new geographies and provide families around the world with key data and best practices to improve their operational excellence. The report underscores that family office success isn't simply driven by investment performance and risk management, but rather family governance and purpose must be at a strategy's core."
This year's Family Office Operational Excellence Report builds on the foundation laid in 2024, expanding both its scope and depth. Conducted between November 2024 and March 2025, the survey garnered responses from 146 family offices – 82 respondents from North America, 42 in Europe, and 22 in Asia Pacific. Respondents were segmented into three tiers based on assets under management (AUM): small (sub $250mm), medium ($250 to $1bn), and large (over $1bn). Where relevant and possible we also compared data for North American families with the data we gathered last year. The report covers 16 functional areas, including evolution of service offering, how operations impact investment success, wealth planning, governance and transition planning, education and engagement of the next generation, talent, outsourcing, technology, operational risks and costs.
To access the full 2025 Family Office Operational Excellence Report, please visit AlTi's website.
About AlTi Tiedemann Global
AlTi is a leading independent global wealth manager providing entrepreneurs, multi-generational families, institutions, and emerging next-generation leaders with fiduciary capabilities as well as alternative investment strategies and advisory services. AlTi's comprehensive offering is underscored by a commitment to impact or values-aligned investing. The firm currently manages or advises on $76 billion in combined assets and has an expansive network with approximately 430 professionals across the US, Europe and Asia.
AlTi's Family Office practice delivers comprehensive and customized solutions to address the three core pillars of the family office model: Office, Family and Administration. Our partnership model ranges from those who engage us to fully manage their family office to others who partner with us in a hybrid capacity to supplement their in-house capabilities. For more information, please visit us at www.alti-global.com.
About Campden Wealth
Campden Wealth is a family-owned, global membership organization providing education, connectivity, research and networking opportunities to families of significant wealth, supporting their critical decisions, helping to achieve enduring success for their enterprises and family offices, and preserving their family legacy. Campden Research supplies market insight on key sector issues for its client community and their advisers and suppliers. Through in-depth studies and comprehensive methodologies, Campden Research provides unique proprietary data and analysis based on primary sources. Campden Wealth owns the Campden Club, a private, qualified and invitation-only members club representing multi-generational business owning families, family offices and private investors across 43 countries, and the Institute for Private Investors (IPI), the pre-eminent membership network for private investors in North America. Campden further enhanced its international reach with the establishment of Campden Family Connect PVT. Ltd., a joint venture with the Patni family in Mumbai in 2015. For more information: www.campdenwealth.com Enquiries: [email protected]
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