Single family offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia “have on average lost -7.6% of their beneficial owners’ assets in custody at banks,” between 1 January and 29 July 2022. SFOs lost an average of -4.4% during the second quarter alone.

The largest year-to-date knock came from listed equities (-6.5%) and the biggest boost came from “alternative investments including commodities” (+0.7%).

Asian SFOs fared best, down by -6.6% in the first seven months of the year, compared with European (-8.1%) and Middle Eastern (-11.8%) outfits.

The figures were published in the Credit Suisse Single Family Office Index this week, for which the Swiss bank tapped data from more than 325 custodians and 312 SFOs.

Positive since 2020

Counting from the beginning of 2020 through 29 July 2022, single family offices fared better. Large SFOs (more than $500m in assets under management) notched up “cumulative asset growth of 15.8%.” Medium-sized SFOs ($100m-$500m) grew by 8.4%, while small SFOs (under $100m) “have more or less returned to their pre-pandemic levels of assets (+1.7%)”, Credit Suisse said.

European and Asian SFOs typically were about 5%-7% higher than pre-pandemic levels, while Middle Eastern SFOs were essentially treading water.

The average asset allocation of SFOs in the study was 47% in equities, 29% in bonds, 17% in alternative investments and 7% in multi-asset or other holdings, Credit Suisse stated.

Large SFOs tend to hold more listed equities and more direct investments, while small SFOs veer towards alternative investment vehicles.

Family offices handle investment and business affairs for wealthy families. Single family offices work for a sole family, while multi-family offices serve several families.