Family offices: priority to AI, but without sufficient exposure to venture capital, infrastructure or growth equity
12 FEB, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
Family offices want to be at the heart of the technological revolution, but they have not yet adjusted their portfolios to this ambition. This is one of the main conclusions of the Global Family Offices Report 2026 by J.P. Morgan Private Banking, a study that analyzes the strategic priorities of 333 family offices from 30 countries, with an average net worth of 1.6 billion dollars.
The report paints a scenario marked by geopolitical complexity, inflationary pressure and generational transitions, in which family investment offices show a clear willingness to take risks, albeit with notable contradictions between intention and execution.
“We serve the most prominent families worldwide across generations and jurisdictions, which allows us to have a unique perspective on their greatest aspirations,” says William Sinclair, global co-director of Family Office Practice at J.P. Morgan Private Banking. “Our role is to help them turn their ambition into lasting impact”.
The AI paradox: strategic priority without coherent allocation
Artificial intelligence is established as the major investment axis. 65% of the surveyed family offices affirm that they will prioritize AI. However, this intention is not yet translated into a coherent structural allocation.
57% admit to having no exposure to either venture capital or growth equity investment, segments where much of the technological innovation is concentrated. In addition, more than 70% admit not currently investing in infrastructure, despite the fact that the development of AI critically depends on data centers, energy capacity, semiconductors, and digital networks.
Christophe Aba, international director of Investments and Advice at J.P. Morgan Private Banking, emphasizes that “to make the most of the opportunities offered by AI, investors must look beyond the leading large companies and focus on the supply chain enablers”. According to the executive, much of the future value is being generated in the private market, where the top ten AI companies already reach valuations close to 1.5 trillion dollars.
The message of the report is clear: there is room for greater alignment between strategic ambition and actual portfolio positioning.
Geopolitics and inflation: high risk perception, limited hedges
Risk management is another major focus of the study. 64% of family offices identify geopolitics as the main threat to their portfolios. However, this concern is not necessarily reflected in a greater use of traditional safe haven assets.
72% have no exposure to gold and 89% do not own cryptocurrencies. Instead of resorting to classic or emerging hedges, many offices opt for tangible assets and consolidated strategies.
Inflation, on the other hand, is driving a greater allocation to alternative assets. Family offices most concerned about rising prices allocate about 60% of their capital to this category —about 20 percentage points above the global average—, with a particular emphasis on hedge funds and real estate investment.
Succession and governance: the most internal risk
The J.P. Morgan Private Banking report also focuses on governance and generational continuity. Family offices linked to family businesses show more formalized governance structures (48% compared to 40% of non-business ones), but they are also more aware of internal risks: 41% cite family conflicts as a key threat, almost double the rest.
Succession planning emerges as a structural vulnerability. 53% of business-owning families consider succession a critical priority, but 86% of all family offices lack a clear plan for key decision-makers. In a context of economic and generational acceleration, this gap represents one of the main challenges in the medium term.
Higher costs, more outsourcing and technological priority
The increasing operational sophistication is also transforming the organizational model. The average annual operating cost of a family office reaches 3 million dollars, a figure that rises to 6.6 million in those with more than 1,000 million under management. Between 25% and 28% of these costs are allocated to external services.
Outsourcing has become a strategic pillar: 80% subcontract some aspect of portfolio management and more than a third of large offices outsource more than half of their assets. Legal services (52%), trading and execution (45%) and cybersecurity (38%) top the list.
Digitization and data aggregation place technology at the center of the agenda. 32% identify cybersecurity as their main operational priority, in an environment where the protection of assets is no longer just financial, but also digital.
The Global Family Offices Report 2026 concludes that large family fortunes are willing to take risks in search of growth and future relevance. However, the gap between strategic intent and practical execution—especially in artificial intelligence—reveals that the real challenge is not identifying trends, but structuring portfolios and organizations to effectively capitalize on them.
