Nearly a third worry that retirement will take key family leaders and staff out the door
Half of North American family offices have an incomplete or non-existent succession plan, and nearly a third are concerned about the retirement of key family leaders and staff.
The findings come from the 2026 North America Family Office Report, produced by RBC and Campden Wealth.
Some 23 percent of family offices have already experienced a generational transfer within the past five years.
Of those who have not, more than half expect the next transfer to be more than 10 years out.
At the same time, one in five offices has been formed within the past six years.
New wealth is arriving as fast as old wealth is moving.
Angie O'Leary, head of Wealth Strategies and Solutions, RBC Wealth Management – US, said "two transformations are happening at once."
Established families are preparing to transfer wealth and values, she said, while a new generation is creating family offices "from scratch."
Both groups need succession planning "well before a transition is imminent," she said.
Manju Jessa, vice president and head, Family Office and Strategic Clients, RBC Enterprise Strategic Client Group, said in the report that families "maintain a long-term perspective and patient capital position," while their family offices handle "near-term performance, operational demands" and the needs of multiple generations.
A year ago, family offices expected an average annual return of just five percent. Every asset class finished 2025 with a positive median return.
Respondents have revised their expectations sharply upward this year, with 84 percent expecting direct private equity to meet or exceed last year's performance.
AI is the top investment pick over the next 12 months, selected by a combined 85 percent of offices.
Adam Ratner, director of research for Campden Wealth, said the group is not "a cautious group returning to optimism" and has "a different reading of where we sit in the cycle."
Forward-looking sentiment has shifted far, he said, and "even patient capital can be caught up in the fear of missing out."
Half of offices say AI is embedded and essential to their workflow.
Seventy-three percent still believe investment reporting is too manual, a top concern for three years running.
Family offices have moved AI firmly into operational use across the sector.
Cybersecurity and data breaches are now the top near-term operational concern, cited by 59 percent of respondents, up from 16 percent last year.
About 59 percent of offices surveyed reported experiencing phishing attempts, up from 16 percent last year.
Failure to upgrade technology tops the long-term risk list at 51 percent.
Liquidity has become a defining characteristic in measuring the quality of private market investments, according to respondents.
Nearly one in five private-market investors attempted to exit a fund position this year.
Of those, 47 percent could not complete the exit as expected.
Most offices, 86 percent, invest in private markets.
Direct investments now average 45 percent of the private markets book, ahead of funds at 36 percent.
While 65 percent of offices are engaged in philanthropy, fewer offices engaged in what they labelled responsible investing, from 25 percent in 2025 to 19 percent this year.
Families are building values into asset allocation instead of treating them as an objective, said Bill Ringham, director of Private Wealth Strategies, RBC Wealth Management – US.
He said some hold meetings on wealth transfer planning and values "to ensure alignment and preparedness for future financial transitions."
