Family Offices Cut Stocks, Boosted Real Assets in 2023, KKR SaysFamily Offices Cut Stocks, Boosted Real Assets in 2023, KKR Says

(Bloomberg) -- Family offices devoted a smaller portion of their portfolios to stocks last year compared with 2020, according to a KKR & Co. survey.

Public equities dipped to 29% of the average total assets in family offices surveyed, down from 31% in 2020, according to Tuesday’s KKR Family Capital report, which canvassed more than 75 chief investment officers. Family offices turned instead to real assets, a category of tangible investments such as buildings and timber, which rose to 15% of the average in 2023 from 13% in 2020.

The changes occurred against the backdrop of rising rates, which were pinned near zero when the survey was last conducted in 2020. Despite higher rates, the S&P 500 still ended 2023 near record highs, gaining 24%.

Investment officers are more focused on building up bets in private credit, infrastructure and private equity in the year ahead, the survey found. New York-based KKR is one of the world’s largest private equity firms, with more than $550 billion in assets under management at the end of 2023. 

The majority of respondents to KKR’s survey managed $1 billion to $5 billion. About 40% of participants were based in North America, with the rest in other regions.