We wrapped up 2021 by looking back at the matters that mattered most. From biotechnology to cryptocurrency, IPOs to NTFs and PE to ESG, 2021 in the Family Office Community, was a year that obsessed over its ethics, regulation and risk.

As we embark on 2022, we wanted to outline our predictions for the Family Office Community as well as our own ambitions for the year ahead and it all starts with globalisation.

  • More Family Office Hubs. As 2021 drew close to an end, Singapore was elevated as the new playground for Family Offices. It joined several other hubs bidding for a place in the Family Office world with Hong Kong, India and London all continuing to attract some of the wealthiest and most influential families to their shorelines. We anticipate the four of these Family Office communities continuing to have a huge pull over Family Offices in 2022 with many more popping up in-between. We are so confident about this prediction in fact that we will be establishing more Agreus offices in the Asia-Pacific and USA in the coming months which we will share more information about soon.
  • Social Impact Outside of Investments. We also ended the year with a white paper focused on Social Impact and how Family Offices were, in 2021, balancing their portfolios with meaningful programmes of change. 2022 will see this strengthen but rather than thinking of Social Impact as a branch of the Family Office’s investment strategy, social impact will encompass every decision we make from hiring, customer acquisition and staff satisfaction, to travel and due diligence on potential investors and opportunities. Family Office Leaders and the professionals working for them will be influenced by the impact of every decision they make and act accordingly to ensure each decision is the right one. This will include a focus on the green world over green washing, with the green symbolising any and every element of social good.
  • Communicating more meant connecting less. In 2021, more than 90% of Family Office Leaders embedded new technology to meet the demand for remote working. They joined almost every family, professional and individual in suddenly being able to communicate with the world at the touch of a button, at any and every hour of the day. We could attend multiple webinars simultaneously, meet with world leaders all in one time zone and interact with loved ones and associates all in the same way. We communicated more but connected less and 2022 will see a reintroduction of meaningful conversation. This means building networks of people who truly inspire and provoke intellectual conversation, teaming with other Family Offices who share an aligned purpose and more than ever before, concentrating on hiring exceptional professionals who are not just perfectly fitting with the culture of the Family Office but aligned with the objectives of the family and the office over a long period of time. This will also mean more in-person events (we hope) which will, in turn, be more focused on adding value and leading thoughts rather than networking for the sake of networking. Something we will be leading over the next few months.

With a global network of Family Offices, a greater impact to be made and more meaningful connections and conversations, 2022 is set to be a truly incredible year for the Family Office community and beyond. What are your predictions for the year 2022 and how will you be contributing to making them a success?