How I Made $5000 in the Stock Market

The Rich Aren’t Scared by Market Jitters. How They Minimize Risk.

Oct 16, 2025 12:00:00 -0400 by Abby Schultz | #Wealth

Wealthy families remain confident in the long-term performance of private equity, venture, and private credit funds, according to a new study. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Key Points

The tariff-driven swings to markets during the second quarter this year were a reminder to U.S. family offices that public markets don’t always go up.

RBC and Campden Wealth’s annual survey of North American family offices—84% of which are located in the U.S.—was released on Thursday, but conducted during that volatile period. That led many of these offices serving the world’s wealthiest to think more about improving liquidity, and removing risk, from their investments. More than half of those surveyed said cash will offer the best financial return in the next 12 months.

At the same time, these family offices have faith in private markets, which are illiquid and arguably riskier because of their investments in newer companies and technologies. That’s also despite the fact that some wealthy families expect to experience disappointing returns from private equity and venture capital this year.

The fact wealthy families are viewing cash as well as private markets favorably reflects both their short-term and long-term thinking.

“Family offices were primarily concerned about short-term volatility within the U.S. markets around trade discussions, but they remain confident in the long-term performance of private equity, venture, and private credit funds which continue to represent 30% of the average family office portfolio,” Adam Ratner, Campden Wealth’s director of research, said in an email.

Giving extra weighting to long-term goals makes sense, considering “many of these people have time horizons that are a hundred-years-plus,” says Angie O’Leary, head of wealth strategies and solutions at RBC Wealth Management.

Also, since private market returns don’t correlate with public markets, investing in them can be considered a de-risking strategy, O’Leary says.

Still, family offices surveyed earlier this year expect their portfolios will deliver returns of only 5% in 2025, down from 11% in 2024, according to the 2025 North American Family Office Report 2025, produced by RBC and Campden Wealth.

The survey of 141 North American family offices was part of a larger global report on 317 offices. Nearly 90% of the North American respondents represented single-family offices, which manage investments for one family. Of all those surveyed, 39% are worth more than $1 billion, the report said.

Aside from cash, the investment themes favored by families over the next 12 months include AI (cited by 32%), defense (29%) and the Magnificent Seven tech stocks (25%). Over the next two to five years, AI is favored, cited by 75% families, followed by clean energy (56%), growth equities (54%), and large-cap North American equities (41%).

Another reason families may be interested in private markets, Ratner said, “is the desire to get exposure to growth, AI, and clean energy companies beyond the Mag 7 names.” The tech giants were only cited by 24% of families as a rewarding investment theme over the next two to five years.

“While venture has been the most disappointing asset class this year, with 33% of family offices reporting that they are underperforming expectations, private credit is outperforming expectations in 14% of family offices, behind only gold and cryptocurrency which have been the star outperformers of the year,” Ratner said.

The report also looks at how these families are planning to pass their wealth on to the next generation. According to the survey, 69% have succession plans in place up from 53% a year earlier.

That statistic is encouraging, as families that don’t plan for transferring wealth tend not to succeed over the long haul, and “those dollars are typically gone by the third generation,” O’Leary says.

One reason families are succeeding at plans to pass on their wealth is they are putting more emphasis on family values, she adds. That most clearly shows up in philanthropy. Of those surveyed, 86% are engaged in philanthropy and most donate more than $1 million. Giving back to society is the biggest reason why they donate, but a significant 77% say they are driven by engaging the next generation, the report said.

“They’ve been talking about [passing on values] for a while, but you are starting to see the recognition of it and actually the execution of it,” O’Leary says.

Write to Abby Schultz at abby.schultz@gmail.com