Asian family offices cited growing international tension as their top near-term concern for markets and the economy, according to a recent survey by Citi.
A significant majority of 79 percent of family offices in the Asia Pacific region indicated that geopolitical uncertainty was the top near-term worry for markets and the economy, according to Citi’s 2022 Family Office Survey. The next two highest on the list were the risks of recession and rising interest rates, both of which were tied with half of the respondents indicating them as concerns.
Whilst inflation was the top concern for the remaining three regions – Europe and MENA (86 percent), Latin America (75 percent), and North America (76 percent) – it was only cited by 64 percent of family offices in Asia.
Despite having fewer economic worries, Asian family offices weren’t especially optimistic on the upside for portfolio gains. Just 64 percent expect positive returns in the next 12 months, behind North America (85 percent) and Latin America (90 percent). Still, they were less pessimistic than others on the downside with just 7 percent expecting negative returns in the period. Europe and MENA led this category at 21 percent.
The report covered 126 family office respondents, of which 71 percent had $250 million or more in assets under management and 30 percent had over $1 billion. APAC respondents represented 12 percent of the survey.
