Family Offices and Philanthropy: Global Family Office Trends

This report, produced by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Campden Wealth, is an attempt to capture current and emerging trends in the philanthropic giving of UHNW individuals and families. In particular, it aims to explore the reasons and channels through which they engage in philanthropy, with a focus on strategic time horizons in giving.

Family offices go wherever wealth goes. Whilst traditionally concentrated in the West, recent years have seen their emergence in Asia as the region takes centre-stage as a global economic powerhouse. Against this backdrop, Singapore—an international financial centre and gateway to Asia’s opportunities—stands well-positioned to become a family office hub. According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the number of family offices in Singapore rose five-fold between 2017 and 2019.

Over the next 30 to 40 years, wealthy families around the world will participate in the largest transfer of wealth in human history. According to Accenture, that transfer will total US$30 trillion in assets in North America alone.
As families look to manage cross-generational wealth, many are also contending with the challenges associated with being a global family. With family members and assets spread across multiple countries, they are exploring how to create a charitable legacy and how to mobilize those assets to support values and causes that are important to their family.

This guide is designed to support and inspire the families and their advisers who are interested to combine investing their wealth with delivering positive change in the world. Family offices are in a unique position to apply their values to their investments. They are unconstrained by obligations that can inhibit other institutional investors to deliver impact, and therefore can, at pace, act on social and environmental issues they care about and maintain compelling financial performance.

he opening of new family offices around the world has contributed to a more diverse landscape, with new wealth centers emerging and a changing approach to wealth management in more mature markets. While the US is home to a large number of family offices there are signs that growth in other parts of the world is starting to take off. “There is considerable wealth held outside the US and it needs to be remembered that if you define a family office as $250m upwards, there are as many family offices in Europe as the US,” says Michael Oliver, co-founder of family office services firm Global Partnership Family Offices

On the pages of this report, you will find action steps and resources for your family and staff to start—or enrich— your conversations around philanthropy. It provides advice and guidelines for thinking strategically about giving, with an important eye toward impact. Family philanthropy is both a privilege and a great responsibility. It helps families come together around a common cause that matters to them, and create an important legacy across lifetimes.