Family Offices Go Global

Single family offices (SFOs) are increasingly attracted to global investments, and many now have offices in multiple locations. 

When Madrid became a trending cultural destination, Mohari Hospitality, a global luxury and experiential hospitality platform backed by Mark Scheinberg’s family office, recognized the potential. Despite the city’s popularity, it lacked ultra-luxury hotel options, says Linda Nel, Managing Director and Head of Investor Solutions at Mohari. “Creating Spain’s first Four Seasons hotel gave us first-mover advantage in that gap,” she says.

As an integrated hospitality provider spanning hotels, food and beverage and luxury cruising, Mohari is an active owner and operator that sources, structures and manages opportunities across the full deal cycle. Its capacity to build portfolios of luxury assets across Europe and the Americas makes it part of the contemporary breed of investment platforms that is redrawing the map of private wealth.

The internationalization of SFOs partly mirrors global mobility, as family members open offices in new locations. But it also reflects the increasing complexity of investment portfolios and the search for strategic diversification.

Family offices were once passive custodians, safeguarding wealth for future generations. Today, their status as holders of the most long-term global capital has seen them evolve into influential players in the finance system.

“Luxury hospitality rewards the same discipline that propels family offices: precision, brand stewardship and long-term perspective. That alignment matters to ultra-high-net-worth investors,” says Elizabeth Sandler, Chief Operating Officer at Mohari.

“Iconic locations cannot be replicated,” says Sandler. “Planning restrictions, historic preservation and finite supply create scarcity that has real meaning for generational wealth preservation.”

Many family offices now compete with institutions for direct opportunities, while being sought after as co-investors. The natural outcome of this financial evolution has been global expansion.

Twenty-two percent of family offices operate from two geographical locations, while another 22% have three or more bases across the world, according to research by KPMG and Agreus.

Family office expansion across borders represents “another dimension of diversification,” says Marco Pagliara, Head of Emerging Markets, Deutsche Bank Private Bank. “The core of wealth protection is asset allocation and an investment strategy that’s sufficiently diversified across markets. Now, for different reasons—geopolitical, structural, security—it’s also becoming more relevant for families to consider diversifying where their assets are held.”

When it comes to investing internationally, “Deal access is the first hurdle,” Nel says. “The most compelling assets rarely trade publicly; they require relationships built over years. Platforms with continuous market presence have a structural advantage.”

Agile family offices have their own strategic advantages. “We target markets where demand is rising faster than supply,” says Nel. “First-mover advantage in those gaps compounds significantly from both an average daily rate [ADR] and capital appreciation standpoint.”

Expansion options for family offices are growing, as an increasing number of jurisdictions strive to position themselves as global wealth hubs.

Hong Kong remains a top SFO destination, but Singapore is quickly catching up. Its cross-border wealth growth is expected to match that of Hong Kong over the next few years, as the city-state continues to create an attractive ecosystem for family offices. 

Hong Kong and Singapore are both natural SFO destinations for high-wealth families based in Asian growth hotspots, such as India and Indonesia. Dubai has also been broadening its destination appeal, mainly among family offices in the Middle East and India.

“In the East, you have younger-generation family offices, which tend to be more open to expansion, particularly into Europe and the US,” says George Varoutsis, Head of Investment Management, US and Europe International at Deutsche Bank Private Bank. 

The US remains the prime destination of choice for Latin American families. In Europe, Varoutsis sees families retaining their presence in traditional hubs such as Switzerland, London, Luxembourg and Monaco, while adding locations elsewhere. 

Increasingly, these moves involve not just investing in opportunities or establishing offices in new jurisdictions but also hiring new investment talent on the ground.

For Mohari, a local presence is essential where execution risk is highest. “Heritage buildings, distinct regulatory frameworks and complex planning regimes all require on-the-ground expertise,” says Nel. “We set investment strategy and creative direction centrally, then partner locally to execute with precision.”

Nel points out that “Families without dedicated expertise consistently underestimate execution risk.” Since many family offices now resemble private market firms—adopting GP/LP structures—they often hire professional investment banking teams to manage cross-border growth.

“Effectively, the family establishes a private markets structure,” says Varoutsis. “They can allocate an ownership interest to the GP, which is an effective mechanism for attracting senior talent from the market—professionals from investment banking, private equity or the private credit industries.”

According to Sandler, the shift toward a more institutional approach to structuring deals is well under way. “We see families adopting rigorous due diligence, formal investment committees and governance frameworks that would have been rare a decade ago,” she says. “The most successful investors combine institutional discipline with long-term flexibility.”

Banking partners are also critical to success in new locations, as families navigate the complexities of local regulatory frameworks, legal structures and tax regimes.

Alongside banks’ expertise in governance, compliance, custody and oversight, family offices also seek institutions that can help them forge fresh connections in new jurisdictions.

Family offices also want to connect with one another. “Family offices are definitely interested in getting to know and understand each other and compare notes, so we are quite active in organizing symposiums for them, such as our Family Office Forums,” says Pagliara. 

As family offices continue to scale up, where wealth is held has become as strategically important as how it is invested. The next phase will be defined by how families continue to manage, govern and connect their wealth across borders.

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