The world’s richest investors are quietly shifting their asset allocations.

According to Citi’s newly released 2026 Global Family Office Report, trade disputes and tariffs, which kept global wealthy investors highly nervous over the past year, have ceded their place as the top risk. In their place emerges a more intractable threat that will not fade quickly — inflation.

More notably, confronted with multiple uncertainties including inflation, interest rates and financial system stability, these family offices managing massive wealth have not simply opted to “flee risk”.

On the contrary, they are carrying out a seemingly contradictory operation:

continuing to increase equity holdings while boosting gold allocations.

What signal lies behind this?

What Ultra-Wealthy Investors Are Most Worried About Has Changed

Citi published the latest report on September 22, surveying 351 family offices across 41 countries between June and July this year. Citi’s global family office business serves more than 1,900 family offices, making this report an important window for tracking capital flows among the world’s ultra-high-net-worth investors.

One clear shift stands out:

Inflation has jumped to become the primary macro risk for family offices.

It is followed by interest rate shifts, financial system stability and market volatility.

In contrast, trade disputes and tariffs, which drew heavy attention in the 2025 survey, have declined markedly in importance.

This means the concerns of ultra-wealthy investors are gradually shifting from “how a specific policy may change” to a deeper question:

Will the purchASIng power of money itself hold up in the years ahead?

For ordinary investors, inflation means rising living costs for food, energy and housing. For families holding billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, the real challenge lies in preserving the actual purchASIng power of wealth over the long term.

Therefore, investment goals are not merely about booking paper gains, but outpacing inflation to preserve “real wealth”.

Nearly 90% Are Profitable, Yet They Are Not Rushing to Exit

Interestingly, despite mounting risks, these large family offices have not pulled out of markets on a large scale.

Citi data shows nearly 90% of surveyed family offices have achieved positive returns on their portfolios so far this year, and 41% still set an annual return target of 7% to 10%.

More than 40% of family offices have not made major asset adjustments amid recent geopolitical and macroeconomic shifts.

This indicates they are not adopting a simple “Risk Off” strategy.

In other words:

They are not betting on whether a crisis will happen, but trying to build portfolios that can be held even when risks materialize.

Thus emerges an interesting “dual-line allocation”.

Line One: Re-embracing Equities

Citi’s survey found nearly half of the surveyed family offices have increased their allocations to public market equities this year.

Global developed-market stocks are also the most favored category for planned net allocation increases.

The logic behind this is easy to understand.

In a high-inflation environment, holding large amounts of cash alone means purchASIng power may keep eroding. Meanwhile, listed stocks combine liquidity, growth potential and the ability to reposition quickly.

Compared with private market investments featuring longer lock-up periods, public equities offer family offices more room for tactical adjustments.

Citi therefore believes public markets are regaining investor favor, and investment focus may shift increASIngly from pure valuation expansion toward high-quality enterprises with genuine profitability, cash flow and competitive advantages.

But what truly deserves attention is the second line.

Line Two: Gold Enters the Core of Wealthy Investors’ Asset Allocations

While family offices add equity positions, they have not abandoned defensive holdings.

On the contrary, gold’s importance is rising markedly.

Andy Sieg, Head of Citi Wealth Management, revealed an interesting shift: gold has become nearly unavoidable in investment discussions with clients today, which was not the case two years ago.

Some wealthy global families have even begun viewing gold from a perspective closer to “currency allocation”.

The reason is that a growing number of advanced economies are simultaneously facing fiscal pressure, debt and inflation problems.

This means, in these investors’ eyes, gold’s role extends far beyond simply “whether the gold price will rise”.

It functions more like an insurance asset within the overall investment portfolio.

While equities capture economic growth and corporate earnings, gold undertakes another task:

hedging against declines in currency purchASIng power, fiscal risks and extreme volatility in the financial system.

Citi has even responded to this demand with tangible measures by expanding its London precious metals vault capacity to provide gold storage and settlement services for high-net-worth clients.

When a major global bank expands physical gold infrastructure, it at least shows client demand for gold is no longer limited to trading purposes.

A Notable Signal: Gold Has Not Been Crushed Even Amid Rate Hikes

Gold’s recent market performance has reinforced this trend.

On September 16, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate target range by 25 bASIs points to 3.75%-4.00%, its first rate hike since 2023.

According to traditional asset pricing logic, rising interest rates normally increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold and therefore pressure gold prices.

This time, however, gold has demonstrated notable resilience.

On the day of the rate hike, gold faced pressure from a stronger US dollar and higher US Treasury yields, yet markets had largely priced in the hike in advance. Meanwhile, Chinese demand, central bank gold purchases and other forces continued to underpin gold.

More importantly, capital flows have not reversed materially.

World Gold Council data shows global gold ETFs recorded inflows of approximately 18 billion US dollars in August alone, with holdings rising by 121 tonnes to a record 4,189 tonnes and assets under management climbing to 615 billion US dollars.

This indicates a powerful long-term allocation force behind the gold market that cannot be ignored.

Why “Equities + Gold” Is Not a Contradiction

At first glance, buying stocks and gold at the same time may seem contradictory.

Equities usually represent risk appetite, while gold is regarded as a safe-haven asset.

But from the family office perspective, these two trades may actually stem from the same judgement:

An economic collapse is not inevitable in the future, yet inflation, fiscal pressure and policy uncertainty may peRSIst longer than before.

If the economy continues to grow and corporate earnings remain resilient, equities can deliver capital appreciation;

If inflation re-accelerates, real purchASIng power erodes, or extreme events strike financial markets, gold can act as a buffer within the portfolio.

Therefore, they are not really betting on one single asset class.

Instead, they are positioning for a more complex macro environment:

neither fully exiting markets out of fear of risk nor holding assets without protection in pursuit of returns.

This may be the most valuable takeaway from Citi’s report for ordinary investors.

What Ultra-Wealthy Investors Are Really Guarding Against May Not Be the Next Market Crash

At a deeper level, the allocation logic of global family offices is undergoing a shift.

Over the past decade or more, investors have grown accustomed to a relatively simple script: economic downturn triggers central bank rate cuts; liquidity expands and risk assets rally.

But if the future brings stickier inflation, higher government debt, heavier fiscal pressure and monetary policy constrained as a result, traditional asset allocation frameworks will also need adjustment.

Citi’s survey reveals this shift:

Growth assets still need to be held, yet “wealth insurance” cannot be absent.

So what really deserves attention may not be “whether wealthy investors favor stocks or gold more”.

The answer may be — they want both.

Equities to participate in growth and gold to hedge tail risks; one for offense and one to protect purchASIng power.

And as inflation replaces trade wars as the top worry for the world’s ultra-wealthy, as gold starts appearing frequently in wealth management meetings, and even prompting Citi to expand its precious metals vaults, a bigger question emerges:

If the world’s richest group has begun repositioning for a “long-term inflation era”, should ordinary investors also reassess their asset allocations?