The Challenge of Diversification: How Do Family Offices Currently Allocate Wealth Across Europe, Asia, and the Americas?

How is the wealth management of the world's great fortunes adapting to a world without borders? To find out, we interviewed Pascal Rapallino, Partner and Co-Manager at Côme Maison Financière Luxembourg.

As President of LAFO and a lawyer specializing in private equity, Pascal is at the crossroads of European wealth strategies. He gives us a precise diagnosis of the current upheavals: from the scattering of assets to the tax mobility of families, discover his analysis of the forces that are reshaping the way very high net worth individuals are supported today.

The end of the wealth homogeneity model

The model for structuring the fortunes of large families has undergone a radical transformation. Twenty years ago, the equation was simple: the family (the individual), the asset pooling vehicles and the underlying assets (the investments) were, in most cases, located in the same jurisdiction (Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc.).

Today, Pascal Rapallino points out that this homogeneity has all but disappeared. The trend is towards "absolutely mind-boggling" geographical diversification, estimating that almost 80% of families no longer concentrate the three components of their wealth in the same place.

The new international triptych of Family Offices

The modern approach of family offices now revolves around a dissociated geographical and fiscal triptych. On the one hand, there is a move towards countries such as Italy for Family Tax Residence, thanks to their advantageous tax regimes. On the other, Luxembourg retains a central role for Structuring Vehicles intended for European investments. Finally, the Investment Underlyings category is characterized by maximum diversification across different zones: the USA and US Tech remain unavoidable, Israel plays an important role despite tensions, Asia is present for other sectors, while European resilience is enhanced by a strong local investment "patriotism".

This article has been automatically translated using Breeze, powered by DeepL.