65% of UK-based family offices say they have opened additional offices in new jurisdictions over the past five years. Of those, 93% link this shift directly to family members living in multiple countries. What looks like a “London story” is, in reality, a structural reconfiguration of global wealth.
We see three forces intersecting. First, policy: the end of the UK non-dom regime and the extension of worldwide inheritance tax have accelerated the quiet outflow of principals to jurisdictions such as the UAE and Italy, where tax frameworks are more predictable and capital mobility is less constrained. Second, security and quality of life: concerns about street crime and perceived value-for-tax are pushing some families to reassess where they actually want to live and work. Third, generational change: NextGen family members increasingly think globally by default, and expect operating structures to follow.
The response has not been a wholesale abandonment of London, but a decoupling of “where the family lives” from “where the team sits.” Investment and deal teams remain anchored in deep talent pools such as London, while principals relocate and build lean investment pods or partnerships in hubs like Dubai, Milan, or Singapore. Multi-office footprints are becoming the norm, not the exception.
For families, this raises strategic questions that go beyond tax arbitrage. How do you design a governance and operating model that can handle multi-jurisdictional risk, cross-border investing, time-zone friction, and differing legal regimes, while still preserving cohesion across generations?
If you are responsible for a family office today, what is driving your location strategy more: tax and regulation, talent, lifestyle, or the geographic spread of your next generation?
We see three forces intersecting. First, policy: the end of the UK non-dom regime and the extension of worldwide inheritance tax have accelerated the quiet outflow of principals to jurisdictions such as the UAE and Italy, where tax frameworks are more predictable and capital mobility is less constrained. Second, security and quality of life: concerns about street crime and perceived value-for-tax are pushing some families to reassess where they actually want to live and work. Third, generational change: NextGen family members increasingly think globally by default, and expect operating structures to follow.
The response has not been a wholesale abandonment of London, but a decoupling of “where the family lives” from “where the team sits.” Investment and deal teams remain anchored in deep talent pools such as London, while principals relocate and build lean investment pods or partnerships in hubs like Dubai, Milan, or Singapore. Multi-office footprints are becoming the norm, not the exception.
For families, this raises strategic questions that go beyond tax arbitrage. How do you design a governance and operating model that can handle multi-jurisdictional risk, cross-border investing, time-zone friction, and differing legal regimes, while still preserving cohesion across generations?
If you are responsible for a family office today, what is driving your location strategy more: tax and regulation, talent, lifestyle, or the geographic spread of your next generation?