Billionaires have a growing appetite for risk. Where are they investing and what worries them?

Goldman Sachs surveyed 245 family offices around the world and looked at how "long" money is reshaping portfolios. Structures that manage hundreds of billions of dollars in capital can invest without the pressure of outside investors, the need to issue quarterly reports, or strict deadlines: their decisions allow them to see which strategies withstand turbulence and which assets remain the focus of "patient capital."

Family offices are one of the most closed segments of global capital. These are private companies that manage the money of ultra-wealthy families (usually from $30-100 million and above). They often take over the entire financial "circuit" of families: investments, taxes, inheritance, charitable programs, insurance, real estate management, and even day-to-day expenses.

The Rockefeller office has its roots in the industry: established in 1882, the structure has evolved into Rockefeller Capital Management, which operates in a multifamily format and manages about $151 billion. Famous family offices include Walton Enterprises of the Walton family (with about $430 billion under management) and Bill Gates' Cascade Investment, whose portfolio has been managed by Michael Larson since 1995. Today, there are more than 8,000 family offices in the world, with about $6 trillion under management.

Goldman Sachs has been surveying family offices every two years since 2021 about how they build portfolios. The latest report is the most extensive yet: the bank spoke to 245 family offices around the world, with more than two-thirds of respondents managing assets of $1 billion or more. Almost half of the participants are from the Americas, about a quarter from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and another quarter from Asia-Pacific (APAC).

The Goldman Sachs report emphasizes that the long-term capital of family offices allows them not to sell off assets during downturns, but instead invest when the market is short of cash and fund projects with a ten-year horizon, from medical technology and artificial intelligence to energy transition and infrastructure.

Family offices in 2025 generally maintain the usual balance between liquidity, risk and return. According to Goldman Sachs, on average, 12% of their portfolio remains in cash and cash equivalents - in case of successful entry points into assets. At the same time, a third of respondents plan to reduce this reserve during the year and allocate the freed funds to more profitable but risky asset classes.

Publicly traded equities are gradually regaining share in portfolios, now averaging 31% of portfolios - the 2021 level and about 3 pp higher than in 2023. The share of alternative assets - from private equity and private real estate to infrastructure, hedge funds and private credit - has fallen to 42% from 44% two years ago. The report attributes this to a delay between the reassessment of public and private markets and weak exit activity. Nevertheless, 61% of respondents were not shorting this block. For those who have, the main reasons are portfolio rebalancing (22%) and disappointment with returns or lack of allocations (14%). The authors of the report emphasize that the revival of the IPO and M&A market in 2024-2025 is bringing back interest in private strategies.

In the debt segment, offices are cautiously lengthening terms. 72% hold securities with maturities of three years and more, while 57% have a base range of 3-5 years. The share of bonds increased to about 11%.

The Goldman Sachs survey captures a clear turn toward technology. 58% of family offices expect IT to outweigh IT in their portfolios. Artificial intelligence has gone from being a "topic of the future" to a must-have: 86% of respondents already have AI-related investments.

The main channel for such investments is public shares of major technology companies. Some investors are widening the circle and betting on "secondary beneficiaries": about 32% are invested in industrial and energy companies, which bear the infrastructural burden of the digital economy. The report provides a scale: energy consumption by data centers may grow by about 160% in five years, which supports demand for generation, networks and related infrastructure.

Technology is also entering the wealth management process itself. 51% of family offices are already using AI in investment work (primarily for data analysis and research), and another 42% are planning such implementation. Automation of routine operations, i.e. those tasks where the effect is already noticeable, was reported by 70% of survey participants.

Cryptocurrencies - primarily bitcoin and ether - are no longer exotic in the portfolios of family offices, but they are still far from being "core". According to Goldman Sachs, the share of offices with investments in digital assets has grown from 16% in 2021 to 33% in 2025.

Among those who are already investing in crypto, businessmen from the countries of America (≈37%) and Asia-Pacific (35%) lead the way; in Europe this figure is lower - 25%. At the same time, it is Asia that shows the greatest "margin of interest": another 39% of local offices are considering entering the class (in the Americas and in Europe - 17% each).

Family offices choose the simplest and most liquid instruments: direct purchase of cryptocurrencies or exchange products that track their price and are traded on traditional platforms. This format allows them to quickly open and close positions and tightly control the share in the portfolio.

Attitudes towards digital currency remain subdued. According to Sarah Nason-Tarajano, head of capital markets at Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management, cryptocurrencies are not seen as a protection tool because of the high risk. Interest is growing, but the scale is limited: "It's not becoming a core part of portfolios." In the survey, only 11% of respondents cited digital assets as protection against rare but severe shocks (e.g., a sharp market crash or geopolitical escalation). For the majority, it is a diversification element with a small share.

Private markets are not leaving portfolios, but internally the emphasis is changing. According to a Goldman Sachs survey, 72% of family offices operate in the secondary market: buying stakes from existing investors at late stages. This approach gives access to more mature companies with a shorter time to exit and greater portfolio transparency, and at the same time smooths out the typical "drawdown of the first years": in classic funds at the beginning, profitability often goes into negative territory due to commissions and expenses, while in the secondary market this effect is noticeably weaker. Activity is fueled by record volumes of transactions through continuation funds in 2024 and sales of stakes by large university funds: this is a window of opportunity for family offices to buy quality assets at a discount.

Fifty-six percent of survey participants invest in infrastructure: the focus is on data centers (energy and cooling), logistics (ports and warehouses), and medical and social facilities. These themes are fueled by the real economy: digitalization increases energy consumption and requires grid modernization, reshaping trade routes requires new capacity in ports and logistics, and an aging population requires additional medical and care facilities.

Private lending is gaining ground: the average share has risen to around 4% (vs. 3% in 2023), with almost three-quarters of family offices already investing in this segment. The report attributes the interest to a combination of a premium to yield and better protection against losses: seniority requirements in the capital structure, stricter covenants and the ability to directly negotiate restructurings with borrowers.

Hedge funds hold a stable 6% of the portfolio. They are viewed as a source of even returns against the background of increased market volatility. The most interesting are multi-strategy platforms with developed risk management. At the same time, access to "star" managers is limited, so not all of them manage to increase their share.

In 2025, the top concern for family offices is politics. According to the Goldman Sachs survey, 61% of respondents rank geopolitical conflicts among the top three key threats, and 66% expect tensions to escalate in the coming year. Political instability (39%) and recession risk (38%) follow.

The trade agenda remains tough. 77% of respondents believe that economic protectionism will increase, and 70% believe that average global tariffs will remain at current levels or increase. There is a regional divergence: in the Americas, inflation is the most common concern (34% vs. 25% in EMEA and 17% in APAC), while in Asia, the risk of supply chain disruptions and tariff pressure is more acute.

The survey also shows an approach to protection against "rare but strong shocks". Geographic diversification is in first place (53%). Next are gold (24%), US Treasuries (22%) and other tangible assets besides gold (20%). Cryptocurrencies as a protective element are used by 11% of respondents - more often in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the coming year, family offices are going to cautiously add risk: increase the share of public equities (38%), increase investments in private equity (39%). In the fixed income block, plans are moderate: bonds are going to add 20% of family offices, and non-bank loans to companies - are preparing to expand 26%. The share of hedge funds wants to increase 24% of respondents.

Among real assets, infrastructure and private real estate are in the foreground: 21% and 20% of respondents plan to increase their share, respectively. Commodities remain more of a tactical addition: 14% are ready to increase their share.

The thematic focus for the year ahead is technology. 58% of family offices are going to increase information technology in their portfolios.

To summarize, Goldman Sachs writes: portfolios for 2025 are being assembled not "defensively" but with an eye toward deploying capital. Public equities remain the largest single class, technology and AI are reasserting leadership, and private markets - from infrastructure to credit - are becoming working tools where timing and access allow.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor