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Family Offices Expand Services To Keep Pace With Demand – Global Study
Tom Burroughes
12 June 2025
Nearly half of all family offices surveyed have expanded their service offerings in the past two years, reflecting a widespread shift to address evolving family needs, according to a new report on the sector. The latest report producers surveyed 146 family offices – 82 respondents from North America, 42 in Europe, 22 in Asia. The survey was conducted between November 2024 and March 2025. Other main findings Most family offices continue to own operating businesses, which span diverse sectors. For many they represent a substantial portion of family wealth, often exceeding the value of their investible assets. Governance has become a higher priority for family offices, with 62 per cent citing it as a key focus. Adoption rates of formal governance instruments such as mission statements, strategic investment frameworks, and risk management guidelines, have risen notably.
The Family Office Operational Excellence Report 2025, produced by Campden Wealth alongside AITi Tiedemann Global, the multi-family office, found that newly-added services span 17 areas and arise in all three pillars of the family office: Administrative , office , and family .
“While administrative services like accounting and legal are typically established early, the most dynamic growth is happening in family-focused services,” the 124-page report said.
Family engagement and education is now the single most frequently added service, it continued.
“This trend highlights a growing recognition that supporting family cohesion, education, and governance is critical to long-term success, and that neglecting these areas can introduce significant operational risks. Most family offices did not find it challenging to expand their service offering, whether services are delivered in-house or outsourced, suggesting strong confidence in their ability to adapt and redeploy resources as family needs evolve,” it said.
Talent squeeze
Talent remains the single largest operating expense and a top priority for family offices. While more than 80 per cent of family members express satisfaction with their dedicated staff, and three out of four believe that in-house teams deliver the most timely and high-quality results, finding and retaining qualified professionals is increasingly difficult, the report said.
The report comes at on the same day that BNY Wealth – part of the US bank, BNY – issued its report exploring the investment interests of the world’s family offices. The early summer is a busy time for wealth reports, as shown by the recent publication of the annual Capgemini World Wealth Report.
“The demands placed on family offices to meet the needs of their families have grown considerably. With the challenges also increasing, family offices must now evolve and adopt new approaches if not outright new models,” Erik Christoffersen, head of the family office practice, AlTi Tiedemann Global, said in the report. “The two most important factors of operational excellence are access to strong talent – whether in-house or outsourced – and successful leverage of technology to enable operational excellence and to protect the family office and its family members.”
Cross-border
The report also highlighted how for many FOs, they are cross-border organizations.
“A significant and growing proportion” of ultra-HNW families now have members living in multiple countries, with 57 per cent of surveyed family offices reporting at least one family member residing outside the primary jurisdiction of the office.
Supporting these non-domiciled family members is a high priority for 85 per cent of family offices, including the 58 per cent who consider it their number one priority. This cross-border dynamic introduces additional complexity, especially in the office pillar, where investment, tax, and estate planning needs are heightened by jurisdictional differences, the report said.
The most pressing issues for non-resident family members include tax planning , investment , and estate planning , while compliance and custody of assets also feature prominently.
Fewer than one-third of family offices identified family-related services as a priority for non-resident members, though concerns such as family dynamics, premarital planning, and governance impeded by local legislation are emerging as relevant issues.
“As families become more globally dispersed, the need for tailored solutions and proactive support across borders is expected to grow, further increasing the operational complexity and strategic importance of the family’s office,” it said.
The study said that family offices continue to view investment management as a core function, but operational models vary widely, with 79 per cent outsourcing at least part of their investment activities.
Outsourcing is mostly leveraged for public market investments such as equities and bonds while alternatives such as real estate and private equity are more likely to be managed internally.
Estate planning in family offices is characterized by close collaboration between in-house staff and external professionals, with satisfaction rates exceeding 90 per cent for both groups, the report said.
A growing number of family offices recognize the importance of defining the broader purpose of their wealth, exploring how resources can be used as a tool to support individual wellbeing and help families to flourish. Families are thinking beyond capital preservation and growth, looking at how money can enhance quality of life, offer access to education, deepen relationships, support entrepreneurship, and advance philanthropic, community, and social objectives, the report said.
Educating and engaging the rising generation remain a work in progress for many family offices, with nearly half expressing concerns that their heirs are underprepared for future responsibilities. While 60 per cent of the rising generation is invited to participate in board meetings and over half in multi-generational family gatherings, only a minority have structured educational or development plans, and formal engagement strategies are rare.