Family Offices Stumble on Succession and Risk Control

The DBS Asian Family Office Almanac 2026 highlights a disconnect: while 79 percent of families aim to preserve wealth for at least two generations, 43 percent exclude heirs from any planning. Only 1 percent of next-generation members currently lead their family’s strategy. This hesitation is reflected in transfer timelines, with 29 percent of families expecting the process to take more than seven years, often waiting for a crisis or incapacity to force their hand.

Operational vulnerabilities exacerbate these succession woes. More than 85 percent of offices lack formal business continuity plans, and nearly 40 percent have failed to address basic cybersecurity risks. Lee Woon Shiu, group head of wealth planning at DBS, warns that the most successful families will be those who act early, rather than those simply holding the most assets.

Structural inertia remains a significant hurdle. Most families still hold assets in personal names or private investment companies rather than utilizing professional trusts. This creates friction as heirs settle in different countries, with 23 percent of offices already identifying cross-border taxation as a primary barrier to wealth transfer. Despite the complexity of these global footprints, the majority of family offices continue to rely on legal frameworks designed solely for their home jurisdictions.