It’s been a year for Family Offices. From the remnants of COVID-19 to conflict, political instability and rising inflation with hopes of an economic recovery squashed along the way by talks of a recession.

‘The year of uncertainty’ that was used to describe 2019, 2020 and 2021 may well be used to describe 2022 in history books. Around every corner was a new challenge for Family Offices to overcome and every headline that broke came with less and less of a shock-factor. We had revolution, regulation and rising interest rates. We saw the impact of a new regime under Biden, social mobility capped by Brexit and more billionaires rising to the top of the pyramid than ever before.

You can read all of the good, bad and ugly from 2022 and re-cap on the biggest events to hit the space in our annual Family Office Round-up but as we break for the holidays, we wanted to reminisce on the challenges that were overcome and why they each make 2023 a year to finally look forward to:

  • Diversification: Despite the investment curveballs that came in the shape of currency inflation, rising interest rates and sanctions, Family Offices did not pause on making active investments. Far from it in fact. Family Offices diversified more than they ever have done before, looking to asset classes such as space, AgriTech, eSports and cryptocurrency to decentralise risk and generate risk-adjusted returns. Biotechnology continued to thrive as a Family Office asset class of choice and as attention wore away from vaccine production, it met with social impact to focus on causes such as long-covid. Real Estate continued to play a pivotal role in Family Office portfolios too.
  • A Global Approach: As we closed in 2021, Family Offices proved themselves to be the most fluid group of investors that served as the backbone of the global economy during the recovery of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, 2022 placed Family Offices on a platform for the world to see with countries not typically associated with professionalised Family Wealth standing up and offering themselves as a Family Office destination. Greece, the UAE and Hong Kong were amongst them, each rolling out a red carpet to Family Offices with an array of tax incentives to match. London, New York and Singapore finished the year in top place but 2023 will certainly be an interesting arena as Family Offices remain on a global stage.
  • Standardised Compensation: We have spent the last two months of the year working with Family Offices across the world to help them benchmark their staff compensation. We have seen more Family Offices than ever before reach out to us for a Compensation Consultation to ensure they are paying their staff correctly and it paints a perfect picture for 2023. One that sees Family Offices focusing on staff retention, aligning staff interests with those of the Family Office and incentivising their critical staff to generate the best returns through the use of long-term incentive plans. While neither of these are new phenomenon’s for 2022, they are finally being taken seriously which is excellent news for 2023.

2022 was a year of tremendous change and we think the new year will be all about working collaboratively to professionalise and standardise family wealth and ensure it is preserved for generations still to come.

From the entire Agreus Family to yours, wishing you a wonderful break for the holidays and a very happy new year.