Beyond Wealth: Indian Family Offices Embrace Legacy, Global Vision

Image Source: The Weekender

India’s family offices are undergoing a quiet revolution. Once focused solely on managing wealth for highnetworth individuals (HNIs), they’re now evolving into multigenerational command centers—blending investment strategy with legacy planning, governance, and global diversification.

Key Highlights:

Explosive Growth: The number of family offices in India has surged from 45 in 2018 to over 300 in 2025, managing an estimated $30 billion in assets.
Beyond Returns: According to Umang Papneja, CEO of Julius Baer India, the newage family office is about preserving wealth across generations, not just growing it. Tools like trusts, wills, and family constitutions are becoming standard.
Global & Alternative Bets: Family offices are increasingly investing in global equities, private equity, venture capital, and private credit, often via GIFT City and the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). ESG and impact investing are also gaining traction, especially among nextgen heirs.
Governance & Succession: Nearly 60% of family offices have formal succession plans in place, while 19% use trusts or LLPs to ensure smooth intergenerational wealth transfer.
Risk Appetite Rising: Firstgeneration entrepreneurs are leading the charge, embracing alternative investments and earlystage ventures to align wealth with purpose.
Challenges Ahead: Regulatory complexity, crossborder taxation, and limited access to private markets remain hurdles—but the ecosystem is maturing fast.

India’s family offices are no longer just vaults of wealth—they’re becoming architects of legacy, shaping how the ultrarich invest, give, and govern for generations to come.

Sources: Economic Times, Indian Express, India Today