Diversification, safe havens and the pivot to Asia for US Family Offices

Key takeaways

• Asia-Pacific has emerged as the region where most family offices plan to increase investments over the next five years, overtaking North America for the first time.
• India and Mainland China are the most popular emerging market destinations for increased family office exposure over the near term.
• Real estate has staged a comeback as a strategic anchor, with family offices seeking stability and tangible asset exposure in uncertain times.
• Sustainability and impact investing are evolving from risk management tools to opportunity-driven strategies.

The search for calmer waters

As geopolitical tensions escalate and inflationary pressures persist across Western markets, private clients and family offices are seeking out safe havens. The US dollar has weakened and strengthened since the start of 2025, gold prices have shown something of an inverse relationship to the US dollar, and inflation has become the dominant concern across developed economies. Precious metals allocations are on the rise globally, with family offices increasingly using gold and other metals as portfolio diversifiers.

Against this backdrop, a meaningful geographic rebalancing is underway. Asia-Pacific has emerged as the region where most family offices plan to increase investments over the next five years, overtaking North America for the first time. India is the most popular emerging market destination, followed by Mainland China.

We anticipate that China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia are all expected to grow at levels beyond the current expectations of Western economies. This combination of geographic distance from geopolitical flashpoints, a positive economic outlook and attractive valuations make Asia an increasingly compelling destination for private capital seeking stable growth. For lawyers advising family offices on this pivot, the structuring considerations are considerable: selecting the appropriate holding jurisdiction, navigating foreign investment restrictions, ensuring tax-efficient repatriation of returns and complying with local regulatory requirements all demand specialist cross-border expertise.

Real estate returns as a strategic anchor

After years of declining allocations, real estate has staged a comeback, with its share of total family office investment rising to its highest level in several years. Family office investments in residential property and development sites have grown substantially, reflecting a focus on land and development opportunities alongside a preference for more stable investment options in uncertain times. Family offices are also increasingly reorienting their strategies towards real assets more broadly, including infrastructure and natural resources.

From a legal perspective, increased real estate activity brings with it a familiar but complex set of considerations: title due diligence, planning and zoning compliance, joint venture structuring, financing arrangements and the tax treatment of cross-border real estate holdings. For US family offices investing in Asian or European real estate, treaty analysis and withholding tax planning are particularly important.

Sustainability as opportunity

Attitudes towards sustainability and impact investing are shifting meaningfully. A growing proportion of family offices that take sustainability into account within their investments now view it as providing attractive opportunities, rather than merely a risk management exercise. Family offices are participating through clean tech, green tech and climate tech in their investment portfolios, alongside health technologies and innovation. Leading family offices have responsible investment allocations on track to grow significantly, with many adopting ESG outcome-focused approaches.

The regulatory landscape for sustainable investment is evolving rapidly, with increasing disclosure requirements and anti-greenwashing rules in both the US and key international markets. Legal advisers play a vital role in helping family offices navigate these requirements, structure impact investments to achieve both financial and social returns and ensure that sustainability claims are substantiated and compliant.

The structuring imperative

The longer-term picture for private clients is about a more selective and sophisticated approach to US exposure. What has changed is not whether to invest in the US, but how. Global capability and flexibility from a service provider perspective are critical, enabling private clients and families to move quickly when and where they need to, with appropriate, watertight structuring solutions.

As US mobile capital looks to avail of opportunities in those markets, the ability to offer seamless, cross-border structuring becomes an indispensable differentiator in helping families protect, grow and transfer their wealth across generations and geographies.

This insight is part 6 of our ‘6 trends shaping Family Offices in 2026’ series, exploring the legal, tax and strategic issues set to influence private clients and family offices in the year ahead.