Asseta's cumulative report on the family office sector, bringing together more than 30 research studies covering over 2,500 family offices worldwide. Twenty pages, eight chapters, and eight exhibits on capital, talent, and technology. Free to download.

Family offices are the least documented large pool of capital in global finance. More than 10,000 single family offices now manage over $6 trillion between them, a figure that has more than doubled in a decade, yet no single survey covers the sector end to end. Every major institution publishes its own study, each with a different sample, a different definition, and a different set of questions.

We read all of them. This report synthesizes what more than 30 published studies say about how family offices invest, what they cost to run, who they employ, what technology they use, and how they plan for succession. Every figure is attributed to its original source. Where sources disagree, we present the range rather than picking a number.

What is inside the report

01
The landscape: an asset class hiding in plain sight
Market size, the formation boom, geographic distribution, and the $83 trillion wealth transfer ahead.
02
Portfolios: alternatives are the core, not the satellite
Allocation shifts, the artificial intelligence theme, currency diversification, and where digital assets actually landed.
03
The private markets squeeze
What a $24 trillion private capital industry wants from family offices, and the liquidity problem beneath it.
04
The operating model: scale economics and the outsourcing paradox
Cost benchmarks by office size, staffing structures, and where the build versus buy line is moving.
05
Talent: the war family offices are quietly losing
Compensation benchmarks by role, carry and co-investment, and the career path problem behind the hiring gap.
06
Technology and artificial intelligence: from spreadsheets to systems
The end of manual reporting by default, adoption doubling in a year, and cybersecurity as the top operational risk.
07
Governance and succession: the unfinished agenda
Why 86 percent of offices have no succession plan for the people who actually run them.
08
Outlook: five theses for 2026 to 2030
What the data implies for principals, family office executives, and the firms that serve them.

Five questions the report will help you answer

  1. If 60 percent of your peers are repositioning portfolios this year, do you know precisely what you own today, across every entity, custodian, and vehicle, and how fast could you answer that question?
  2. What is your true all-in cost, internal plus external, in basis points, and how does it compare with the 35 to 61 basis point benchmark range for your size?
  3. Can you model your private markets liquidity three years forward, and have you negotiated fees and terms that reflect being permanent capital?
  4. Which of your workflows would a competent operator automate first, and what is stopping you: expertise, trust in the data, or inertia?
  5. If your chief executive or chief investment officer resigned tomorrow, who runs the office next quarter, and is that written down?

Where the data comes from

The report draws on published research and survey data from UBS, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Citi Wealth and the Citi Institute, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, BNY Wealth, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley with Botoff Consulting, Campden Wealth with AlTi Tiedemann Global and RBC, the Wharton Global Family Alliance, With Intelligence, Motive Partners, Simple, HSBC, Capgemini, and McKinsey and Company, published between 2024 and 2026.

Survey samples, fieldwork dates, and definitions differ across these sources, so figures are attributed individually and ranges are shown where studies disagree. Compensation figures are United States market medians unless noted. The report is for informational purposes and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice.

Who this report is for

Principals and family members who want to see how their office compares with its peers on cost, staffing, and governance. Family office executives building the case for a budget, a hire, or a system. And the advisors, banks, and software firms who serve them and need a current picture of what this market actually looks like rather than what it looked like five years ago.