PE investments among world’s wealthiest families surge

Investments into private equity (PE) by the world's wealthiest families have increased consistently between 2019 and 2021 according to a survey commissioned by Swiss bank UBS. The survey covered 221 family offices overseeing USD493bn in assets. PE posted stellar returns last year as trillions of dollars in pandemic-related stimulus prompted a record surge in deal-making in 2021. Direct allocations as a percentage of their total investments rose to 13% in 2021 from 10% the previous year while indirect allocations were 8% last year versus 7%. About 63% of the family offices surveyed said they no longer felt high-quality fixed income helped diversify their overall portfolio risk. About 81% of them had invested nearly 3% into cryptocurrencies.