Family Office more governance in strategies

mily Office in Italia is undergoing a major transformation, driven by an uncertain macroeconomic context, geopolitical tensions and a progressive generational change. The Nex Gen enters the company but above all takes on key roles in the Family Office and pushes the accelerator on governance and the definition of long-term strategies. If the wealth is still held by the second generation, there is a progressive involvement of the new heirs in decision-making processes. And so the Family Office evolves from a predominantly technical structure to a family governance platform, integrating financial expertise, management of relational dynamics and transmission of family values.

This is the image returned by PwC Italia's annual study that mapped the sector (48 structures of which 85% singol family offices and 15% multi family offices). "The 2025 survey shows signs of increasing professionalisation and approximation to international models, while maintaining characteristics linked to the Italian entrepreneurial culture," emphasise partner Pasquale Salvatore and Maria Grazia Portera, director authors of the work. - They are smaller in size, particularly when compared to the North American model, which operates with high assets, greater direct access to operations, and organisational structures more similar to real investment firms. The Italia Family Office has a more contained risk profile, with a significant presence of bond instruments.

Despite the growing openness towards the private market, which is confirmed as an asset class of strategic interest (on average, its weight is 21% in the portfolio) in line with the main trends at global level, "however, in the last year we have seen a downsizing perhaps due to the war effect and volatility, with a decrease of between 1 and 2%," adds Portera. Private equity, venture capital, private debt and direct investments are now a structural component of portfolios, while interest in club deals or direct investments remains strong, where we find a strong convergence between Italia and global markets. These modes are popular because they are akin to the entrepreneurial nature of families and because they allow them to share risk, access more complex transactions and benefit from complementary expertise. Secondly, they often see the younger generation at the forefront'. Club deals are often based on relationships of trust, established entrepreneurial networks and cultural proximity. In this context, Italian Family Offices continue to favour minority investments with a focus on the quality of management, solidity and competitiveness of the target company.

The birth of the Family Office is often linked to moments of significant transformation of the family's assets, rather than to structured planning such as (in 59%) the total or partial sale of the business, extraordinary transactions or asset reorganisation phases. Fifty-seven per cent of the multifamily respondents have assets under management (AUM) between 20 and 250 million, while the remaining 43% have assets between 250 and 500 million. The size of single family offices is more spread out along the bands, with 52% having assets of less than EUR 250 million. Of the remaining single family offices, 19% have assets of EUR 1 billion or more. 71% of multi family office families have assets between EUR 20 million and EUR 50 million a few more than EUR 50 million.