Key insights
- Wealthy families, surveyed by UBS, are reducing their exposure to the US dollar due to geopolitical tensions and rising sovereign debt. This trend, driven by a perception of weakening dollar confidence and a review of US-centric portfolios, suggests a potential shift in global capital flows away from dollar-denominated assets towards emerging markets and Europe. While the survey predates recent dollar strength, the underlying sentiment indicates a potential headwind for the US dollar and related assets if this de-dollarization trend gains traction.
ZURICH, May 28 (Reuters) - The world’s richest families are trimming exposure to the U.S. dollar as geopolitical tensions and rising sovereign debt drive a broader rethink of portfolio risk, UBS said in a report published on Thursday.
About two-thirds of family offices surveyed by the Swiss bank expect confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency to weaken over the year, UBS found. The survey was conducted between January and late March, before the dollar started to outperform many peers.
Here are details from UBS’s Global Family Office Report 2026:
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The dollar’s depreciation in the year before the survey was conducted has prompted many family offices to review their portfolios, with almost half concluding they are overexposed to the U.S. currency across asset classes, according to UBS strategist Maximilian Kunkel.
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Plans to reduce exposure to dollar-denominated assets reflect a wider reconsideration of U.S.-centric portfolios, UBS found. Family offices plan to add emerging market stocks and infrastructure, while trimming real estate holdings.
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"For the first time, we are feeling that family offices want to build up in Asia Pacific and, to a certain degree, also in Western Europe," UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said. "That mainly affects family offices outside the United States, but we are also seeing signs that a very limited part of the de-dollarisation move is coming from U.S. family offices."
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Geopolitical conflict is now the top concern by a wide margin, prompting family offices to combine asset allocation shifts with multishoring strategies, UBS said. Multishoring involves establishing family office activities across jurisdictions.
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UBS surveyed 307 clients worldwide. Participating families had an average net worth of $2.7 billion.
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