RBC/Campden: family offices raise private equity and AI expectations as succession plans lag

North American family offices are entering 2026 with higher private equity return expectations and a bigger appetite for artificial intelligence, according to the RBC/Campden Wealth report published Sept. 29. Half of offices report an incomplete or non-existent succession plan.

Some 84% of offices expect direct private equity, and 74% expect private equity funds, to match or beat 2025 results in two to five years. The report ties the shift in sentiment to a strong 2025 and describes offices resetting their performance expectations in response. The survey measures expectations, not commitments or planned allocations.

Artificial intelligence is the top investment pick for the next 12 months, named by 85% of family offices. Offices also expect AI to produce efficiencies and additional value for the family, the report says. Cybersecurity and data breaches rank as the top near-term operational concern for 59% of respondents, up from 16% a year earlier.

The succession gap is especially sharp because 23% of offices have already been through a generational transfer in the past five years. One in five offices was formed within the past six years, which the report reads as a new generation of wealth creators arriving alongside the handover of older fortunes.