Family offices name inflation top concern but favor public equities

Family offices named inflation their top concern, with 63 percent of respondents citing it in Citi Wealth's 2026 Global Family Office Report. Some 46 percent raised their public equity exposure over the past year. The survey covered 351 family offices in 41 countries. For the next year, 37 percent expect to add developed-market equities. Only 3 percent expect to add digital assets. Inflation concerns rose from 37 percent in 2025. Tariff worries fell from 60 percent to 18 percent. Only 12 percent cut their public equity exposure in the past 12 months. The net increase in public equity allocations was 23 percentage points larger than in the 2025 survey. Only 5 percent plan to reduce their allocation to global developed equities over the next 12 months. Alexandre Monnier, head of family office advisory at Citi Wealth, said allocations had not shifted as sharply as inflation fears. Monnier said active risk management allows family offices to stay invested during periods of uncertainty. Equities made up 39.9 percent of household net worth in Federal Reserve records. Home equity fell to 19.3 percent in the same quarter. The two measures had a 20.6 percentage point gap. Digital assets have not shared in the equity appetite. Some 14 percent of family offices expect to cut their digital asset holdings over the next year. Some 46 percent of respondents said they saw no significant barriers to raising digital asset allocations. A lack of internal expertise or governance frameworks was the most cited obstacle at 27 percent. North American offices cited that obstacle at 34 percent. Citi said the low barriers had not yet lifted digital asset allocations in a meaningful way. Citi's next annual survey will show whether the planned cuts took place.