Single family offices are increasing their investment focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and private markets, while public equity allocations are falling, according to a report from BNY Wealth.

Its 2025 Investment Insights for Single Family Offices report found that 83 per cent of global investment professionals ranked AI as one of their highest conviction investment themes over the next five years.

This enthusiasm for AI investment was helping drive interest in growth-focused private equity, according to BNY Wealth, while 52 per cent of family offices were using AI to help make investment decisions.

In recognition of structural changes in public markets and the appeal of higher potential returns from the illiquidity premium, private assets had “continued to dominate”.

There was a 34 per cent rise in professionals planning to increase allocations to private equity over the past 12 months.

This trend was strongest among larger family offices, with a 69 per cent increase among family offices with assets under management of more than $1bn planning to increase allocations to private equity funds.

However, public equity’s relative position was “diminishing”, as while it still accounted for 15 per cent of family offices’ investable assets, this was a 28 per cent fall compared to last year.

BNY Wealth also noted that digital assets were becoming mainstream, with 74 per cent of investment professionals either having cryptocurrency investments or exploring the possibility, a 21 per cent increase in 12 months, while the share of those with no exposure or interest fell by 37 per cent over the year.

The increased interest in digital assets was driven by favourable regulatory developments, according to the report.

Direct investing was found to be “thriving” and the case for co-investing was rising, with 64 per cent of family offices expecting to make six or more direct investment in the coming year, a 10 per cent year-on-year increase.

However, BNY Wealth noted that resource constraints were prompting growing interest in external consultants and co-investment opportunities.

Luxury assets were also rising in popularity as family offices sought potential diversifiers.

A third of investors already held assets defined as uncorrelated, including watches, art and sports-related investments, and BNY Wealth said the asset class had room to grow amid new opportunities in sports team ownership and media rights, and its rising appeal for its inflation-hedging potential.

Meanwhile, key policies in the US were found to impacting the investment landscape, as a more relaxed regulatory environment, spending reductions, trade and tariffs, and potential tax changes were creating new opportunities and challenges.

“The 2020s are proving to be a decade of dizzying change,” the report stated. "Transformation and disruption can be unnerving, but they also present new opportunities for family office investors.”

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