A new survey of more than 300 global family offices shows that artificial intelligence (AI) is in hot demand as the majority flagged it as a thematic they will prioritise as a future investment.
J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s 2026 Global Family Office Report, which includes ones from Australia, found that AI dominates much of their investment strategies.
Sixty-five percent of family offices said AI is top of mind, followed by healthcare innovation (50%) and infrastructure (41%).
“The promise of artificial intelligence is profound, but family offices lack key exposure,” the report said.
“At the same time, 79% of family offices have 0% allocation to infrastructure, despite its role as the physical backbone of AI through power, connectivity and logistics.”
Global family offices exhibited show stronger interest in automation and robotics compared to US counterparts of 40% versus 29% respectively. Non-US family offices are also keen on food and agricultural innovation (35% versus 15%).
US family offices, meanwhile, demand opportunities in sports investing, attracting the attention of 19% compared with 10% of global offices.
On average, some 75% of participants’ assets are allocated to a combination of public equities and alternatives. Listed equities continue to dominate at 38.4% as family offices have a large chunk of their money parked there.
Private investments come next at 30.8%. Private equity leads the pack within this asset class at 9.8% followed by real estate at 7.4%.
Drawdown funds are the most common way they access private investments, utilised by 67% of participants, the survey found.
This is closely followed by 64% investing in direct control minority ownership positions. Half (49%) hold direct control majority ownership positions, while 40% invest through fund-of-funds strategies, and 35% invest through evergreen funds.
Geopolitics tops family offices’ concerns as 74% view it as a significant investment risk, followed by trade policy and tariffs (60%), economic growth (57%) and interest rates (55%).
J.P. Morgan Private Bank global co-head of the family office practice William Sinclair said: “Through serving the world’s most prominent families across generations and jurisdictions, we have a unique vantage point into their greatest aspirations. This report reflects their perspectives and priorities, offering a window into how family offices are shaping their futures.”
“As family offices navigate a world of unprecedented complexity, our role is to help them transform ambition into enduring impact.”
Notably, succession planning for family office management is a frequent challenge and concern as 86% do not have a plan in place.
Many of the family offices surveyed are leanly staffed and struggle to identify successors for key roles.
More than half of family offices (51%) consider the absence of a succession plan for decision makers as a risk to the continuity and effectiveness of their offices.
