Family offices are no longer focused solely on preserving wealth and managing investments. As families place greater emphasis on governance, succession planning and preparing future generations, women are becoming increasingly influential in shaping how wealth is managed and passed on.
According to Deloitte, women currently represent just 15% of family office principals worldwide. However, as the responsibilities of family offices broaden, families are placing greater value on leaders who combine financial expertise with strong interpersonal skills to guide complex family relationships.
The shift comes as one of the largest wealth transfers in history gets underway. Research from Cerulli Associates estimates that US$124 trillion will be transferred in the United States by 2048. Women are expected to inherit the majority of this wealth, with more than 95% of the US$54 trillion passing to surviving spouses going to women, alongside an additional US$47 trillion expected to be inherited by younger women.
As more women become both wealth owners and trusted advisers, their influence within family offices is expanding.
Kathy Lintz, founder of Matter Family Office, believes the role of today’s family office extends well beyond investment management.
“Families now recognise that successful wealth management is about governance, education, preparing future generations, encouraging participation and making thoughtful investment decisions,” she says.
While investment expertise remains essential, Lintz says modern family office leaders also need emotional intelligence to manage relationships across generations. She believes this broader leadership model is opening more opportunities for women, while also encouraging more men to embrace the family-focused aspects of the role.
Historically, women often led areas such as philanthropy, education and family communication, while men dominated investment and financial management. That distinction is fading as more women join investment committees and more men become actively involved in strengthening family engagement.
Families are also changing how they select advisers. Rather than focusing only on technical capability, they increasingly seek firms that support governance, education and communication alongside investment advice.
Lintz notes that many requests for gender-balanced advisory teams now come from senior male family members who want younger female relatives to see themselves represented in leadership positions.
Despite this progress, women remain underrepresented across the industry. Research by Agreus and KPMG found women account for just 21% of family office professionals globally.
Lintz argues that recruitment alone is not enough. Family offices also need workplace cultures that allow women to build long-term careers. Flexible working arrangements have helped Matter Family Office retain senior female leaders through different stages of family life, demonstrating that supporting work-life balance can strengthen leadership pipelines.
Sasha Lund, founder of Core Values Consulting, believes women are also changing what family governance looks like. While traditional governance focused heavily on ownership structures, tax planning and control, women often introduce greater attention to family participation, shared values and philanthropy.
Rather than replacing financial discipline, Lund says these priorities complement it by helping families remain united across generations.
Her research involving female successors from family businesses found many participants identified their grandmothers as key role models, highlighting the lasting influence women have had on preserving family values alongside business success.
Lund believes women help make family offices more people-centred without sacrificing professionalism. As investment decisions increasingly reflect family purpose, sustainability and long-term resilience, women are playing an important role in balancing financial performance with broader family objectives.
She is also seeing more female successors choose to lead family offices rather than operating businesses, overseeing investments while developing governance structures that prepare future generations to become responsible stewards of family wealth.
Even with this growing influence, barriers remain. Lund says women are frequently consulted for their expertise but are not always given formal authority through board seats or voting rights. Their contributions may shape investment decisions without receiving recognition.
She also points to a confidence gap that can begin early in life when daughters are shielded from discussions about wealth instead of being prepared to participate in them.
Doris Meister, executive chair of Fiduciary Trust Company, has witnessed similar patterns throughout her career. She believes family offices and wealth advisers have an important responsibility to ensure women are fully included in governance and leadership decisions.
Although previous generations often overlooked women’s voices in family enterprises, Meister believes attitudes are changing. Increasingly, younger generations expect sisters and female cousins to have the same opportunities to participate in managing family wealth and shaping the family’s future.
As family offices evolve beyond investment management into broader stewardship of family legacy, women are becoming central to helping families navigate governance, succession and long-term continuity.
