The Quiet Exit: Global Family Offices Pivot Away from U.S. Dominance
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The Hedge Against Hegemony
For decades, the U.S. market has been the default sanctuary for the world’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals. But a quiet realignment is underway. According to the latest UBS Global Family Office Report, the private investment vehicles of the world’s wealthiest families are initiating some of the most significant portfolio shifts seen in years, moving away from a heavy reliance on U.S. assets.
The scale of the shift is stark: 60% of family offices plan to make strategic changes to their investment allocations over the next 12 months. This is roughly double the rate observed over the previous five years. While North America remains a central hub, it is currently the only region where these offices intend to actively reduce their holdings.
This isn’t a sudden panic sell-off, but rather a calculated pivot toward what advisors are calling “jurisdictional diversification.” The goal is simple: ensure that a localized crisis in one superpower doesn’t wipe out a multi-generational legacy. Two-thirds of family offices now hold bankable assets across at least three different jurisdictions, with nearly a third spanning four or more, including emerging clusters in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.
The ‘De-Dollarization’ Trade
At the heart of this movement is a growing skepticism regarding the U.S. dollar’s untouchable status. More than a quarter of these offices are planning to lower their holdings of dollar-denominated assets. This trend, often labeled as “de-dollarization,” is driven by a perception that the U.S. is becoming over-leveraged and politically volatile.
Nearly half of the surveyed offices admitted they are overexposed to the dollar, while two-thirds expect the currency’s role as the primary global reserve to erode. In its place, investors are gravitating toward the Swiss franc and the euro as stability anchors, while simultaneously increasing positions in gold and infrastructure—assets that provide tangible value regardless of currency fluctuations.
The drivers behind this exit are multifaceted. Beyond the macroeconomics of debt and bond yields, there is a palpable anxiety surrounding the tech sector. The extreme concentration of the U.S. stock market, heavily weighted by a few AI-driven giants, has led some investors to fear a bubble reminiscent of the dot-com era. When combined with the threat of global trade tariffs and volatile domestic policy, the “safe haven” of the U.S. starts to look like a concentrated risk.
A Tale of Two Hemispheres
Interestingly, there is a widening chasm between how U.S.-based family offices and their international counterparts view the current landscape. While the rest of the world is diversifying out, American family offices are doubling down. On average, U.S.-based offices increased their domestic asset share from 86% to 88% over the last year.
“The U.S. family offices have actually kind of doubled down,” says John Mathews, UBS head of private wealth management for the Americas. He notes that while domestic investors remain bullish, international offices are reacting to a different set of pressures: geopolitical tensions, global debt levels, and the long-term implications of shifting interest rates.
This divergence is most visible in the flow of capital toward emerging markets. Non-U.S. offices are aggressively repatriating funds or moving them into neutral territories. For example, Chinese family offices have pivoted significantly, with half of their assets now positioned in Western Europe. Western European offices are similarly leaning into their home regions, with 41% of assets remaining local.
Preparing for the ‘Interconnected Risk’ Era
The overarching sentiment among the global elite is one of cautious preparation. Geopolitical uncertainty remains the top-ranked risk for both the next year and the next five years, followed closely by the threat of a full-scale global trade war. Hyperinflation and cyberattacks also figure prominently in the risk matrices of these offices.
The shift toward “multishoring” strategies suggests that the era of the single, dominant safe haven is ending. By spreading capital across diverse legal and geographic boundaries, family offices are building resilience against a backdrop of interconnected risks that no single government or currency can fully mitigate.
