Inflation Tops Family Office Concerns; Stocks Still Top Choice

Inflation has become the leading worry for family offices, but stocks are still their preferred place for new money. Public equity exposure was increased by 46% of family offices over the last 12 months, Citi Wealth’s 2026 Global Family Office Report found.

A total of 351 family offices across 41 countries were surveyed. In the coming year, 37% plan to boost their developed-market equity holdings, compared with just 3% who plan to do so for digital assets.

Inflation Ascends Ranking of Worries While Stocks Absorb Funds

According to the Citi report, 63% of those surveyed cited inflation as their biggest worry, a jump from 37% in 2025. Tariff concerns, which topped the list a year earlier, dropped to 18% from 60%.

These worries have not led to a sell-off in stocks. Just 12% of family offices reduced their public equity positions over the past year, the survey indicated.

The net rise in public equity allocations was 23 percentage points higher compared with the 2025 survey. In the next 12 months, merely 5% of family offices intend to decrease their exposure to global developed equities.

Alexandre Monnier, who leads family office advisory at Citi Wealth, told CNBC that the shift in allocations was not as pronounced as the rise in inflation concerns.

“I think family offices are becoming more sophisticated and see risk management as something more active that allows you to stay invested during periods of uncertainty, instead of having to retrench the way they might have done it historically,” he said.

Household balance sheets in the US reflect a comparable tilt toward stocks. Equities account for 39.9% of household net worth, the highest proportion on record with the Federal Reserve.

Home equity declined to 19.3% during that quarter, creating a 20.6-percentage-point difference between the two asset categories.

Crypto Passes Barrier Check but Fails to Make Purchase List

Cryptocurrencies have not benefited from the same demand as equities. With only 3% intending to raise their crypto positions, 14% of family offices anticipate reducing their digital asset holdings in the coming year.

These expected reductions occur despite 46% of respondents telling Citi they face no major hurdles to increasing allocations. The most common barrier mentioned was insufficient internal expertise or governance structures, cited by 27%.

Offices in North America pointed to that gap most frequently, at 34%. Citi conceded that the low obstacles have not yet resulted in any significant increase in allocations.

Citi’s forthcoming annual survey will reveal if those intended reductions actually occurred.