Three trends point to increased complexity for today’s wealthy families:
- First, McKinsey’s 2025 research identified what they call “The Great Convergence” — traditional and alternative asset management worlds merging as $6 to $10.5 trillion moves across asset classes by 2030.
- Second, BCG reported cross-border wealth surged to $14.4 trillion, growing 8.7% in 2024 alone versus the previous four-year average of 6.3%.
- Third, Henley & Partners documents 142,000 millionaires relocating internationally in 2025 — the highest number on record.
Together, these trends suggest that the typical wealthy family is more diversified not only in terms of where its members live but also the portfolio they steward. For example, that portfolio might include London real estate, Singapore private equity, and New York hedge funds. Assets in different countries obviously involve different reporting: different currencies, different tax years, and different custodial platforms.
The natural response, especially as family members move across borders, is to build infrastructure in each new location. For an example of this logic in action, consider the proliferation and expansion of family offices. Deloitte’s research shows that more than 8,000 single family offices operate globally today — up over 31% from 2019. Amongst Asia-Pacific offices, 61% now operate across multiple locations. Twelve per cent are planning to open yet another branch. Forty per cent are hiring additional staff.
The strategic response, however, is to build the right type of infrastructure in the right places. That could mean adding a family office branch in a new country, but the overall goal should be to limit operational complexity despite rising geographical complexity.
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More Offices Shouldn't Mean More Spreadsheets
When you operate family office branches in multiple jurisdictions, each location typically adopts local best practices. The result: different portfolio management systems, different reporting formats, different performance calculations, different fee structures. One location might report in dirhams on a calendar year basis. Another might report in pounds sterling on an April-to-April tax year. A third might use Singapore dollars with yet another methodology.
Families need to understand the big picture of their wealth. Different reporting methodologies may be necessary, yet they often complicate the process of providing this single comprehensive view.
This process can become challenging for family offices handling it manually with spreadsheets. By the time the consolidated view is ready, the underlying data has changed. Version control becomes a persistent headache: Which spreadsheet is current? Did the latest update from one office get incorporated? When was the data from another office last refreshed?
The maths is exponential: asset class complexity multiplied by geographic complexity creates a data challenge that overwhelms manual approaches and fragments operational infrastructure. Hours spent reconciling spreadsheets can’t be spent optimising portfolios. Wealth owners lack consolidated views spanning their complete wealth.
McKinsey’s research reveals the consequence. Less than one-third of wealth manager growth over the past decade came from existing advisers successfully growing client relationships. In mature markets, this figure drops to just 22%. The root cause isn’t lack of expertise. McKinsey notes firms remain “saddled with deferred IT maintenance costs, manually intensive processes, and complex servicing arrangements.”
The original challenge — dispersed holdings — is unavoidable. Diversification is a hallmark of good wealth management. The second challenge — dispersed manual operations — is avoidable.
The Way Forward: Unified Data, Controlled Access
Smart families separate where they operate from where their data lives.
Your holdings stay where they are, custodied at banks and brokers across continents. Your advisers remain local experts in their markets. Your family lives where it makes sense for tax, lifestyle, and business. But your data consolidates in one place, with family decision-makers controlling who accesses what, from where.
This approach requires technology that can connect to custodians automatically. Modern wealth platforms use application programming interfaces (APIs) to pull data directly from financial institutions worldwide. Such platforms speak the language of each custodian’s data, convert currencies automatically, reconcile different reporting formats, and present everything in a unified view that makes sense to family members wherever they are.
The practical operational benefit: your tax adviser in one city, your estate attorney in another, and your family office team in a third all work from the same near real-time data with access you’ve authorised. No version conflicts. No reconciliation burden. No information asymmetry between advisers.
As family wealth restructures and crosses borders, a practical question emerges: under which regulatory framework should the data on this wealth consolidate?
Why Switzerland for Wealth Data Consolidation
Switzerland’s 200-year track record combined with robust data protection laws and neutral political stance makes it a top choice for where to consolidate wealth data. Assets themselves can be held anywhere. Data consolidates securely under Swiss regulatory protection, with families controlling global access.
Switzerland manages approximately CHF 2.2 trillion in foreign assets, about 25% of all global cross-border wealth according to BCG’s research. BCG also predicts Switzerland will capture 15-20% of all new cross-border wealth through 2028. These figures are not an accident of history. They reflect structural advantages that remain relevant for data protection.
The opportunity lies in combining Swiss structural advantages of neutrality, stability, and data protection laws with modern technology platforms.
Architecture for Wealth in Motion
The optimal approach is clear. Diversify your domicile for tax and lifestyle. Diversify your holdings by investing where opportunities exist. Consolidate your data governance under one strong regulatory framework and control access for stakeholders worldwide.
The Altoo Wealth Platform embodies this approach — Swiss-hosted data consolidation connecting to 3,500+ institutions across 40+ asset types. You control precisely who accesses what through customisable permissions based on the need-to-know principle. Tax advisers, estate attorneys, and family office teams work from the same real-time view under your authorisation.
Smart wealth infrastructure optimises regulatory protection whilst minimising operational friction. As your family considers its next move, ask where your data belongs — not just where your advisers sit. Contact us to explore how Swiss-hosted data consolidation can simplify your multi-jurisdictional wealth management.
