Family offices are among the most consequential financial structures in the world. They preserve and grow multigenerational wealth, shape philanthropic legacies, influence private markets, and increasingly set the terms on which capital moves globally. And yet, for all that influence, the people running them remain overwhelmingly male. That gap is not just a missed opportunity for women. It is a structural risk for the families, assets, and communities those offices serve.
I have spent my career at the intersection of family offices, private capital, and real estate. I have sat across tables where the decisions were significant and the rooms were largely homogeneous. That experience is part of why I joined the Executive Committee of Women in Family Offices — WIFO — a professional network built on the belief that women who shape financial strategy, governance, and philanthropy in family offices do not just belong there. They are essential.
The Numbers Tell a Clear Story
Women now serve as principals of 15% of family offices worldwide — 20% in Europe, 18% across Asia Pacific.¹ Women make up an estimated 14% of family office C-suite executives globally and just 9% of investment committee members.² Nearly 80% of family office CEOs worldwide are men.³ In the UK, 37% of family office CEOs are women — a notably higher share, and one that is expected to keep rising.¹
This is the context against which $84 trillion in family wealth is expected to transfer across generations over the next two decades.⁴ Family office AUM globally is projected to grow 73% to $5.4 trillion by 2030.¹ The families building and protecting that wealth increasingly include women — as principals, as next-generation leaders, as advisors, as investors in their own right. The structures managing that wealth have not caught up.
This is not a pipeline problem. There is no shortage of women with the qualifications, the experience, or the ambition to lead in this space. The shortage is structural: of networks, of visibility, of deliberate pathways into the rooms where decisions are made. Fixing it requires the same rigour that family offices apply to everything else — intentionality, long-term thinking, and a clear view of the return on investment.
Why It Matters Beyond the Numbers
The case for gender diversity in family office leadership is not primarily an ethical one — though it is that too. It is a performance case. Gender-diverse governance teams have consistently been shown to deliver stronger risk management and better long-term investment outcomes. Women in family offices are disproportionately driving philanthropic strategy and impact investing, areas that have become increasingly central to how sophisticated families define their legacy and measure success.
The next generation of wealth inheritors — who are already shaping family priorities — expect their offices to reflect inclusive values. Offices that do not adapt will struggle to retain talent and credibility with their own successors.
There is also a knowledge dimension. Women who have navigated careers in finance, law, real estate, or private markets bring hard-won perspectives on risk, governance, and relationship-building that are directly relevant to what family offices do. Leaving that expertise outside the room is simply poor capital allocation.
"The most powerful seat at the table is not empty because women are not ready for it. It is empty because the table has not always been set with them in mind."
What WIFO Is Building
Women in Family Offices was founded in Singapore by Sharon Sim and Serena Wong, both seasoned veterans in finance and family offices, with a clear mission: to reshape the landscape of wealth management by promoting the inclusion and leadership of women within the family office ecosystem. With more than 300 members in Singapore,⁵ WIFO is now expanding its reach globally to further support and connect women in family offices.
WIFO is built around three pillars. Intellectual capital: sharing knowledge, research, and insight that elevates the quality of thinking across the network. Social capital: building the kind of meaningful professional connections that open doors and create opportunity. Spiritual capital: something rarer and more important than either — nurturing a deeper sense of purpose, identity, and confidence in women who are often operating in environments that have not historically been designed with them in mind.
The community WIFO has built is not a talking shop. It is a professional network of women who hold real roles, manage real assets, and make real decisions — and who come together to support one another in doing that more effectively. Events range from investment roundtables and governance discussions to more personal sessions on leadership, wellbeing, and navigating the specific dynamics of family office environments. Partners include The Financial Times, Mishcon de Reya, and PGIM, reflecting the breadth of the ecosystem WIFO bridges.
The Opportunity Ahead
The numbers point clearly to where the momentum is heading. Almost a quarter of all family offices expect to transition leadership to the next generation within the next five years.⁶ That next generation expects inclusivity. It expects governance that reflects the full complexity of the families it serves. And it is watching how today's leadership structures respond.
Women represent 10% of individuals worldwide with $100 million or more in wealth — but 15% of family office principals at that wealth level.¹ Women are, in other words, more likely than men to formalise their wealth through a family office structure. That is both a data point and a signal. The families of the future will include more women as principals, decision-makers, and wealth creators. The infrastructure of professional community, governance knowledge, and mutual support that WIFO provides is not peripheral to the family office sector's future. It is part of how that future gets built.
The most powerful seat at the table is not empty because women are not ready for it. It is empty because the table has not always been set with them in mind. WIFO is changing that — one connection, one conversation, one chapter at a time.
Sources
- ¹ Deloitte Private, Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024. deloitte.com
- ² FINTRX, Women-Led Single Family Offices Research. fintrx.com
- ³ Agreus Group, Women in Wealth: How to Increase Female Leadership in Family Offices, 2025. agreusgroup.com
- ⁴ Heidrick & Struggles, Family Offices Compensation Survey, 2025. heidrick.com
- ⁵ Women in Family Offices, womeninfamilyoffices.com
- ⁶ RBC / Campden Wealth, North America Family Office Report, 2025. rbcwealthmanagement.com
This article contains general information only and does not constitute investment or financial advice. The views expressed are those of the author.