Diversification strategies come in many forms and one applies to where people choose to live. That includes where family offices choose to operate from.

The following article comes from Philip Pirecki, Americas lead at Jersey Finance. The organization is a mouthpiece for Jersey's financial industry, such as wealth management, funds, banking and investment. Like a number of international financial centers, Jersey Finance has set up a presence around the world, including the US. (The main picture shows part of St Helier, Jersey's principal town and its capital.)

The author's comments here about family offices and choices of jurisdictions echo some of the comments that this news service heard in its "family offices in motion" features at the start of this year, see here.

The editors of this news service are pleased to share these thoughts; the usual editorial disclaimers apply and if readers want to respond and suggest related topics and comments, please email tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com and amanda.cheesley@clearviewpublishing.com.

Philip Pirecki
 

While the US remains one of the world's most dynamic wealth markets, it also presents a unique challenge: complexity.

Unlike other international finance centres that operate within a single legal and regulatory framework, the US is characterized by a competitive federalism; 50 states testing, refining, and competing for talent and capital. As a result, trust legislation, tax treatment, reporting obligations, fiduciary standards and governance requirements can vary significantly from one state to another.

Evolving state-level tax proposals, such as plans to levy 5 per cent tax on billionaires in California (due to be voted on in November) and the possibility of the introduction of a substantial increase in property taxes in New York, are cases in point.

And this is all against the backdrop of the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history; families with members and assets scattered across borders and asset classes; a huge move into alternatives, digital assets and impact investing; more women and NextGen being involved in decision-making, and mounting regulation and compliance obligations.

Unsurprisingly, US families are increasingly seeking geographic diversification: working with SEC-registered investment managers based outside of the US, and custodying those assets in jurisdictions that they consider as secure, stable and reliable. 

It reflects a growing acceptance that jurisdictional diversification matters just as much as investment diversification, a foundational part of planning to protect family wealth for the long term. 

But as internationally-minded US families look beyond domestic structures and seek advisors and jurisdictions that can support their cross-border wealth planning, they are finding that the right non-US jurisdictional partner is a critical strategic decision. 

Sophisticated
Family offices now expect wealth structures to support global mobility, facilitate international investments, provide governance continuity across generations and remain resilient amid a shifting political and regulatory landscape.

In part, the need for non-US specialist expertise is about growth. Estimates suggest that US single-family offices now oversee about $3.1 trillion of assets, a substantial increase over recent years.

But it’s also about greater sophistication. Investment strategies are evolving, for instance, with the UBS Global Family Office Report indicating that US family offices allocate around 54 per cent of portfolios to alternative investments, including private equity, real estate and private debt.

Families are now managing direct investments, co-investments, operating businesses, private funds, trusts, philanthropic vehicles and succession arrangements, driving demand for a broader range of structuring solutions, often across multiple jurisdictions.

Then there is the risk mitigation factor. Geopolitical tension has become one of the biggest risks identified by family offices globally, according to the STEP Barometer 2026. In response, families are actively reassessing concentration risk across investments and structures, searching out locations that can guarantee security and stability.

Of course, tax is the first technical consideration in every structure. As families diversify and enter new markets, they need to ensure that they can maintain their reporting and filing obligations and the required level of tax transparency. 

Bringing all this together places an emphasis on cross-jurisdictional coordination, and for families to seek structures that complement, rather than replace, their US arrangements. Just as investment portfolios benefit from diversification, many family offices are now applying similar thinking to their jurisdictional footprint.

Combined, this has created an extensive jurisdictional shopping list, incorporating factors including:

-- Political stability and reliable regulation; 
-- Legal certainty and predictability; 
-- Specialist expertise in cross-border trust, corporate and fund administration; 
-- Robust governance frameworks that support multigenerational succession; 
-- Efficient coordination between advisors across multiple jurisdictions; and 
-- Flexibility to accommodate future family mobility and global investment.

Balance
But just as jurisdictional diversification is important, families are mindful too of striking a balance and not overcomplicating their non-US framework; and that is placing an emphasis on premium international finance centers with deep expertise in servicing globally connected families. 

There’s no doubt that Jersey (with more than six decades of international private client experience) is seeing the benefit of that. With a robust regulatory framework and a long-established body of trust law supported by a deep pool of case law, Jersey provides the certainty and consistency that is resonating with US families.

A strong and tested case-law, political, economic and fiscal stability, and a tax neutral environment are also combining to give international families the certainty and security they need. Jersey is also recognized as a neutral and internationally respected jurisdiction, a position reinforced by its strong 2024 MONEYVAL (Europe's FATF assessment body) assessment.

From a capability perspective, the fact that Jersey’s depth of professional expertise, including globally renowned trustees, lawyers, accountants, administrators and other specialist advisors, are complemented by an investment funds sector that has seen the value of assets it oversees more than double over the last 10 years and that is 90 per cent focused on alternatives, aligning strongly with the direction of travel of US families.

And innovation is critical too. Competence in fintech, AI, tokenized solutions, and impact investing are important aspects for NextGen family members, whilst the fact that Jersey benefits from high-quality broadband connectivity ranked as the second fastest in the world (Worldwide Broadband Speed League) underscores its focus on resilience.

Looking ahead to the next five years, the US family office landscape will continue to evolve, as families increase their focus on alternative investment opportunities; as governance becomes increasingly formalized by generational wealth transitions; as objectives become more international; and as technology adoption accelerates.

Informed by all of these dynamics, jurisdictional diversification is likely to become an increasingly mainstream strategic consideration, aimed at achieving a blend of international resilience and operational flexibility.

The families leaning into this aren’t picking a back-up jurisdiction, they are building the second part of a permanent internationalized structure. 

Find out more about Jersey’s private wealth offering for US clients here.