Even wealthy families are concerned about inflation. A Citigroup survey reveals that rising prices have supplanted trade wars and tariffs as the top concern for family offices this year, followed by interest rate fluctuations and the stability of the global financial system.
Citigroup’s annual Global Family Office Report indicates that even the wealthiest investors are feeling the impact of rising prices. The survey, conducted in June and July, covered 350 family offices across more than 40 countries.
Andy Sieg, Head of Citi Wealth, said in an interview: “These individuals and families have achieved great success; outsiders might wonder why people with such vast wealth would care about prices. Yet, their success stems precisely from paying close attention to both revenue and costs. They are keenly aware of where living expenses are rising.”
Concerns regarding interest rate fluctuations and global financial system stability ranked next, reflecting growing anxiety—driven by pressures such as rising prices and geopolitical conflicts—about the economy’s resilience to shocks. Data from Bloomberg Economics shows that inflation rates exceed 3% in three of the world’s four largest economies, keeping interest rates high and slowing economic growth.
Despite this, over 90% of the family offices surveyed reported profitable portfolios this year, with nearly half increasing their holdings in publicly traded equities during the first half of the year. Dawn Nordberg, Head of Wealth Integrated Client Solutions and Global Family Office at Citi, noted: “We are seeing families slightly increase their exposure to public equities because, when balancing growth, stability, and investment flexibility, U.S. corporate stocks are hard to beat.”
Public equities also topped the list of asset classes respondents plan to increase investment in going forward. Sieg believes this reflects recent strong stock market performance and suggests investor skepticism regarding valuations in private markets—particularly for assets susceptible to regulation or other factors beyond their control.
Inflation concerns have also boosted the appeal of gold. Sieg remarked that gold now comes up in almost every investment conversation he has with clients—a shift from the situation just two years ago. He said: “Wealthy families who used to discuss exchange rates between different currencies now see that many developed nations are facing fiscal distress and rising inflation; gold may well be the most favored currency today.”
In response to the growing interest in gold among wealthy clients, Citi is expanding its vault services and has recently joined the select group of banks offering custody and settlement services in the London gold market.