<strong>40% of family offices plan to increase allocations to both public and private equity over the next twelve months, according to Goldman Sachs' latest survey of 166 single-family offices managing a combined $520 billion. The dual mandate—simultaneous raises in liquid and illiquid equity—marks the clearest sector drift away from fixed income since rate normalization began.

The reallocation is not subtle. Family offices are trimming bonds and alternative fixed-income strategies at the fastest pace in three years, redirecting capital toward equity structures that offer inflation protection and operational leverage. Goldman's data shows private equity allocations already sit at 33% of total portfolios on average, while public equity holds 19%. The 40% planning increases will push both higher, compressing the residual space for cash, real estate, and alternatives. This is not rebalancing. This is repositioning.

The timing reflects two converging forces. First, bond yields have normalized but real returns remain compressed by inflation expectations that refuse to settle below 2.5%. Family offices, unlike pension funds, do not have duration mandates. They can exit. Second, generational transitions are accelerating. 62% of family offices surveyed report active succession planning, and younger principals prefer equity exposure over fixed-income preservation. The median age of decision-makers in these offices has dropped 4 years since 2019. The capital is moving because the people controlling it are different.

Public equity increases favor concentration over diversification. Family offices are adding to technology, healthcare, and select industrials—sectors with pricing power and margin expansion potential. Private equity allocations lean toward buyout funds with operational expertise and co-investment structures that reduce fee drag. The shift is not into venture or growth equity. It is into strategies that compound without relying on multiple expansion. Family offices learned from 2022. They are not chasing narrative. They are buying earnings.

The bond exit creates downstream pressure. As family offices reduce fixed-income allocations, they are also reducing relationships with traditional wealth managers who built practices around income generation. 28% of surveyed offices report consolidating external managers over the past 18 months, favoring direct relationships with GPs and cutting intermediaries. The wealth management model that worked for 30 years—balanced allocations, steady fees, quarterly calls—is losing clients. The offices that remain are writing smaller tickets.

Operators should watch three follow-on effects over the next six to nine months. First, private equity fundraising will skew toward established firms with family office LP bases; emerging managers without direct relationships will find capital harder. Second, public equity volatility may dampen as family office buying provides non-correlated demand—these are 10-year holders, not quarterly rebalancers. Third, fixed-income products aimed at ultra-high-net-worth clients will reprice or disappear. The bid is gone.

The 40% figure is not an outlier. It is the sector acknowledging what allocators already see: bonds do not solve the problems family offices face. Equity does. The capital is already moving.