More family offices putting cash to work in bonds and equity

Except in North America, nearly 40% cut their weighting in cash according to survey

- Angela Tan

Senior Business Correspondent Family offices are shifting their cash towards bonds, and public and private equity, with almost half expecting returns above 10 per cent over the next 12 months.

Public equity allocations were similar globally - between 26 per cent and 30 per cent. Allocations to private credit and real estate funds were also at comparable levels of around 2 per cent.

Bond allocations varied across the globe, with offices in the AsiaPacific and Latin America giving them more emphasis, compared with the other regions.

Asia-Pacific family offices - entities that manage the wealth of the super rich – led the way in deploying more to public equity, or publicly traded companies, said Citi Private Bank's 2024 Family Office survey on Sept 18.

About 68 per cent in the region reported increased allocations to public equity, the highest relative to other parts of the world. Only 32 per cent in North America did so.

About 42 per cent of Asia-Pacific family offices raised allocations to fixed income, while 39 per cent increased allocations to private equity or non-listed companies.

The asset class that saw the least change across every region was real estate.

Nearly 40 per cent of all family offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific cut their weighting in cash, compared with 30 per cent in North America.

The survey drew responses from 338 offices worldwide, with about 20 per cent of respondents from the Asia-Pacific. Half of the respondents had more than US$500 million (S$647 million) in assets under management (AUM).

Relations between the United States and China were a top concern for Asia-Pacific family offices.