Geopolitical risk has loomed largest for Asia-Pacific (APAC) family offices, according to Goldman Sachs’ 2025 Family Office Investment Insights report.
The research found that 75 per cent of respondents from the APAC region reported geopolitical tensions as the top three investment risk.
“It is worth noting that despite the perceived elevated temperature in international relations, family offices are not significantly more concerned than they were in 2023,” Goldman Sachs said.
“In our last report, 73 per cent of family offices in APAC were concerned about geopolitical risks, while only about half of those in EMEA felt the same.”
Goldman Sachs noted that while “volume and tone of media coverage” on trade wars suggests that this is a dominant theme for investors, global tariffs were the fourth most cited investment risk, political instability and economic recession ranked higher at second and third (respectively).
Concerns about tariffs are most elevated in APAC, reflecting US–China trade tensions. The report noted that 77 per cent of family offices globally expect economic protectionism to increase in the coming year, while 70 per cent anticipate tariff rates will remain the same or rise.
Meanwhile, inflation anxiety is comparatively lower in APAC than in the Americas.
In the Americas, 34 per cent cite inflation as a top risk versus 25 per cent in EMEA and 17 per cent in APAC.
Broadening to the global picture, family offices place “governmental rather than fundamental” issues at the top of the risk register.
Almost two-thirds (61 per cent) rank geopolitical conflict among their top three risks, ahead of political instability and economic recession. Moreover, 66 per cent expect geopolitical risks to increase in the next year, underscoring persistent policy and statecraft uncertainty across markets.
Globally, 57 per cent expect inflation to rise in the next 12 months, and half see the probability of a US recession increasing.
Preparation for tail risks highlights further regional contrasts. In the Americas, a “strikingly large proportion (35 per cent)” are not positioning for tail risk, compared with 14 per cent in EMEA and 12 per cent in APAC.
Where family offices do hedge, geographic diversification is most common; in APAC, the second most common approach is investing in gold, while EMEA respondents lean to other hard assets.
“Despite these factors, the fundamental drivers of global growth and long-held investment themes appear to remain intact and family offices continue to demonstrate their willingness to ride out uncertainty,” Goldman Sachs said.
