India pips China as top investment country for global family offices

New Delhi: Global family offices are most likely to increase their exposure in their investment portfolios to India and China over the next 12 months and India has scored far better on the list, according to the ‘2025 Global Family Office’ report by UBS.

More than a quarter (28 per cent) of family offices are planning to increase their exposure to India over the next 12 months while almost a fifth (18 per cent) are planning to increase exposure to China, the report mentioned, clearing indicating the robust macro-economic indicators and strong domestic growth in India.

“Middle Eastern family offices were the most likely to increase exposure to India,” the report further stated. Middle Eastern family offices, followed by those in Europe, were the most likely to increase exposure to India.

The report captured the views of 317 UBS family office clients. The average net worth of participating families was $2.7 billion, with their family offices managing $1.1 billion each.

“Some of the most notable changes based on the latest survey include a shift toward developed market equities, with family offices likely seeking to access structural growth opportunities,” said the report.

They also increased investments in private debt, possibly in search of extra yield, and some indicated that they are planning to increase developed market fixed income allocations, perhaps in a bid to diversify.

“Family offices are most likely to have clear investment strategies for healthcare and/or medicine, and electrification. But they’re keen to understand the promise of a range of emerging technologies, seeing opportunities in both public and private markets,” the report explained.

Within operations, they’re most likely to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for financial reporting/data visualisation and text analysis over the next five years.

Another report last month said that in the Asia Pacific region, single-family offices have grown to 2,290 (surged by 28 per cent since 2019) and the region is expected to outpace North America moving forward, growing 40 per cent to reach 3,200 offices by 2030, adding that India is undergoing a similar evolution.

A growing number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and startup founders in the country are turning to institutional family office structures to manage wealth and succession planning, according to a white paper by Lighthouse Canton, a global investment institution.

According to a recent industry report, the number of family offices in the country has grown nearly sevenfold over the past six years, rising from 45 in 2018 to close to 300 in 2024. The nation’s booming startup ecosystem and generational wealth transfer are fuelling this growth, with many Indian families increasingly seeking institutional-grade investment strategies and governance solutions.

–IANS