Wealthy Family Offices Begin De-Dollarization Trade, UBS Survey Shows

The world’s wealthiest families are starting to back away from U.S. assets, and the dollar is at the center of the shift. According to a new UBS Global Family Office Report, more than a quarter of family offices plan to cut their U.S. dollar-denominated holdings over the next year.

What the survey actually says

Fully 60% of family offices plan to make strategic changes to their investment allocation in the next year, about twice the level of the past five years, and North America is the only region where family offices plan to reduce their allocation in the next 12 months.

Two thirds of family offices said they expect confidence in the U.S. dollar’s reserve role to fall, and nearly half said they are overexposed to the dollar. The Swiss franc and the euro are the preferred currencies for diversification.

Why they are dialing back

America’s highly concentrated stock market and fears of an AI bubble, tariffs, a falling dollar, volatile economic policies and rising debt and bond yields have caused many family offices to dial back their U.S. exposure and spread more of their money around the world.

It is not a full capitulation. Advisors caution that it’s not a wholesale “sell America” trade. Rather, international family offices want to be more diversified geographically as global crises grow.

Geopolitics ranks as the top risk

Family offices said the No. 1 risk in the next 12 months, as well as in the next five years, is geopolitical uncertainty. The second-ranked risk was a global trade war. Hyperinflation, cyberattacks and debt crises were also cited as high risks.

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U.S. families are doing the opposite

The split between domestic and international money is notable. “The U.S. family offices have actually kind of doubled down,” Mathews said. “But all the other family offices around the world are now diversifying out of the dollar-denominated securities, out of the U.S. a little bit.”

Treasury market data already reflects part of the drift. Foreign investors remain the largest constituent within the Treasury market, but their share of ownership has fallen to 30% as of early 2025, down from a peak of above 50% during the GFC.

Options market and stocks to watch

If the de-dollarization theme keeps building, watch the dollar-sensitive names and the diversification beneficiaries:

UUP: the Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund is the most direct read on dollar weakness, watch for sustained outflows if family-office rotation broadens.

GLD and SLV: precious metals tend to catch the bid when reserve-currency confidence wobbles, watch for flow rotating out of USD cash.

EFA and FXE: developed-market ex-US equities and euro exposure are the natural landing spots cited in the UBS survey.

NVDA: as the poster child for the AI trade flagged in the report, watch for any signs that overseas family-office trims hit the most concentrated mega-cap names.

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