Ongoing geopolitical tensions are creating disagreements about investment policies among family offices and their investment managers, global research from Ocorian has found.

The service provider to high net worth individuals, family offices, and financial institutions conducted a study among family members and family office investment managers.

It revealed that 99 per cent of family members said there had been an increase in disagreements about managing investments and family wealth.

This fell slightly to 91 per cent of family office investment managers, with 6 per cent saying there had been no increase in disagreements over investment policy and 3 per cent not expressing an opinion.

Employees and family members were split on what the largest source of disagreement was, with 77 per cent of family office investment mangers identifying moving investments to new or more stable jurisdictions as a key issue, while 84 per cent of family members cited succession planning.

Although they disagreed on which issue was the main source of disputes, 73 per cent of family office investment managers felt that succession planning was a reason for disagreements and 72 per cent of family members said moving investments to new jurisdictions was a source of disputes.

The same proportion (57 per cent) of family office investment managers and family members cited investment strategies as a source of disagreement, while 46 per cent and 37 per cent respectively identified where the family lives as a reason.

Six in 10 (60 per cent) family office investment managers said volatility had increased due to Trump’s tariffs, while 58 per cent stated that their family office’s investments had suffered significant losses.

Meanwhile, 42 per cent said the tariffs had reduced their family office’s risk appetite and 44 per cent believed they had impacted their investment strategies.

As a result, 79 per cent had moved or were moving allocations to private markets from fixed income and equities, while 37 per cent had moved or were moving from equities to fixed income.

Almost a third (32 per cent) had moved or were moving more investments into digital assets.

“Family offices today are navigating much more than investment strategies,” said Ocorian head of private client – Cayman, Simona Watkis.

“With ongoing geopolitical tensions and constant regulatory shifts across jurisdictions, it's natural for there to be disagreements, especially when multiple generations are involved.

“The scale of these disagreements can be surprising, and I’ve seen first-hand how easily investment philosophies or succession plans can become points of friction.”

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