As part of our ongoing examination of how family offices are shifting their global presence, one theme has become increasingly clear: relocation is rarely driven by tax alone.
While headlines often focus on wealthy “non-doms” leaving the UK or speculation around wealth taxes in places like California, these narratives overlook a more important reality. For ultra-high-net-worth families, deciding where to base a family office is about far more than finding the lowest-tax jurisdiction.
Family offices thrive best within strong ecosystems – financial centres where families can access trusted networks, exchange ideas, and benefit from communities of peers and expert advisers. These environments are not always found in the places offering the most favourable tax rates.
WealthBriefing recently explored these ideas with Martin Roll, a globally recognised family business and family office adviser who leads the Martin Roll Company. Based in Copenhagen and travelling extensively across more than 40 countries each year, Roll works closely with business-owning families on strategy, leadership, transformation, governance, succession, and long-term stewardship.
Roll’s focus is not primarily on legal or tax structures, but on the deeper dynamics that shape multi-generational wealth: family psychology, identity, roles, and continuity. As he noted, protecting what is passed down is central to every decision.
“You don’t want to be the one who squanders grandma’s business,” he told WealthBriefing.
In Roll’s view, family offices are ultimately vehicles of stewardship. Their purpose is to preserve legacy, strengthen family cohesion, and ensure longevity across generations. Wealth matters, but the enduring mission is often about safeguarding heritage and maintaining unity over time.
Mobility as Long-Term Strategy
Roll suggests that the growing movement of family offices should be understood through a long-term lens.
Family offices relocate or establish satellite offices not just to optimise taxes, but to manage risk, hedge against uncertainty, and pursue opportunity. They often plan on a century-long horizon.
“They think in terms of 100 years,” Roll explained. “Every generation tends to make a major move that pushes the family forward.”
Most families retain an “anchor” location rooted in history, while building smaller outposts in emerging hubs such as Singapore or Dubai.
These choices are shaped by factors including access to specialist advisers, legislative stability, and the surrounding professional infrastructure.
A Rapidly Expanding Landscape
As wealth grows and family structures become more complex, demand for family office models continues to rise. Deloitte estimates there were around 8,030 single-family offices globally in 2024 – up 31 per cent from 2019. That number is expected to reach 10,720 by 2030.
Collectively, family offices manage trillions in wealth, with projections suggesting holdings could rise from $5.5 trillion today to $9.5 trillion by the end of the decade.
Global Competition Among Jurisdictions
This expansion has triggered intense competition among financial centres. Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malta, and others have introduced regimes and frameworks aimed at attracting family offices, although many are also tightening regulations to maintain credibility.
In Monaco, for example, multi-family offices must be authorised under specific legislation enacted in 2016, while single-family offices face fewer formal requirements.
These shifting dynamics mean the global family office map is constantly evolving.
“We should see these moving plates as innovation,” Roll said.
Generational Renewal and Family Roles
Beyond jurisdictional strategy, Roll emphasised that much of the movement reflects internal generational change.
Younger family members often have different ambitions, values, and expectations. They may seek independence, new ventures, or alternative ways to contribute beyond traditional leadership roles.
Many settle into one or more identities over time: owner, steward, or operator.
Their paths may evolve – working outside the family enterprise before returning later, or building experience elsewhere before stepping into responsibility.
Keeping the Family Connected
For Roll, one of the greatest challenges facing business families is inclusion.
Not every family member needs to sit on a board or run the business, but each should feel recognised and meaningfully connected to the family’s broader purpose.
Younger generations, he argues, should also be encouraged to explore, experiment, and even fail – as long as learning and renewal remain part of the family system.
In many cases, entrepreneurial energy can be channelled through the family office itself, allowing new adjacent ventures to grow under the shared umbrella rather than outside it entirely.
History shows that the most enduring family enterprises are those that continually renew themselves while remaining anchored in legacy.
