Dentons, the world’s largest global law firm and wealth management industry leader serving the international family office and family wealth industry, has launched The Evolving Risk Landscape for Family Offices - Survey Report. The report follows a comprehensive survey of over 200 family offices from more than 30 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with survey respondents representing family members, C-suite executives, investment professionals and other family office staff members.

The survey report identifies critical risk areas that most family offices acknowledge, including cyberattacks and privacy breaches, geopolitical upheaval, legal and regulatory issues, insurance troubles, aviation mishaps, physical danger and health complications.  

Among trends, the report highlights the following:

• Only a slim majority of family offices conduct risk assessments on a regular basis, struggling to mitigate risks when necessary.
• While human error is associated with risk, only 54% of family offices state that they participate in risk mitigation/security training and risk programs are undermined by team shortages.
• Geopolitical risk is named as one of the biggest risk management concerns, but a mere 17% of family offices have clear processes in place to protect against these risks.
• Over 70% of offices report that the likelihood of a cyberattack has increased dramatically yet, only 31% have sophisticated risk management programs in place and only 29% believe their training programs are sufficient.
• Family offices rely on insurance as their first line of defense, but cyber insurance is held by only 48% of family offices worldwide.
• European family offices are less confident about quality of healthcare and access to medical services while traveling.  
• Only 32% of families surveyed have an Emergency Response Plan in place to manage aviation related crisis situations.

“Dentons is at the forefront of providing the family office community with actionable intelligence and valuable benchmarks to compare risk profiles with peers similar in size and geographic reach.” said Edward Marshall, Dentons' Global Head of Family Office. “This analysis identifies best practices and solutions to protect assets, interests and, most importantly, the family. Our new report  equips family offices – globally – with the insights that will enhance their performance.”

“Our new Family Office survey report is illustrative of Dentons’ sophisticated approach to and understanding of the needs of the family office community,” said Dentons’ Global CEO Elliott Portnoy. “Our Family Office team, led by Edward Marshall, is continuously asking the questions and providing the real time knowledge that will support clients as they appropriately manage risk and position themselves for success.”

Dentons extends special gratitude to our survey partners for their assistance and leadership in bringing these findings to the family office community:
&Simple, Attenuer Risk, Black Bag, Charles River Associates, Concentric Advisors, Cynosure Group, F2 Strategy, Forbes Banister, Goose Rocks Wealth, Grant Thornton, Hughes Growth Strategies, Integris Aviation Consultancy, JDJ Family Office Services, Kreuzberger Associates, Lockton, Mack International, McFarland Partners, Next Capital Management, Orbital Risk, Peter Quinn & Associates, Presage Global, Private Medical, R360, Ron Varney Fine Arts Advisors, Sands Point Risk, Strategic Philanthropy, Succession Advisors, Surefire Cyber, TAG Associates, Tapestry Associates, The Global 51, The Rudin Group, The UHNW Institute, Tompkins Insurance Services, WE Family Offices, and Woodruff Sawyer.

The full report is available at: https://www.dentons.com/familyofficerisksurvey

About Dentons

Across over 80 countries, Dentons helps you grow, protect, operate and finance your organization by providing uniquely global and deeply local legal solutions. Polycentric, purpose-driven and committed to inclusion, diversity, equity and sustainability, we focus on what matters most to you. www.dentons.com