Family offices operating outside of the United States are opting for greater allocations to the country’s markets, despite rising economic nationalism and questions over American exceptionalism.
One such investor is Vishnu Amble, head of investments for the GreenBear Group, a family office formed in Singapore. He told II that he has been actively increasing the office’s commitment to the U.S. market recently, both in terms of portfolio allocation and with the introduction of an office in South Florida.
“The U.S. has the best talent pool and the best tech system for fostering success that brings more entrepreneurship, a market that’s going to spend, a strong currency, and a government that is working hard on building the right ecosystem to foster continued innovation and leadership,” he said. “The Europeans on the other hand have been on vacation for years. Everything goes back to regulation, government involvement, and protection. You get a lot of tech talent in Europe, but they want to go to the U.S., and people want their capital there too.”
Whether this talent pool will remain as deep following the current administration’s crackdown on immigration, including changes to the H1-B visas used for foreign workers in tech and finance, remains to be seen. Investors have also questioned whether other policy changes, like the implementation of tariffs earlier this year, necessitate diversification away from U.S. markets. But for Amble, U.S. exceptionalism is alive and well, and the demand for U.S. funds proves that.
“There are several funds that we’ve had to fight to get in; some we just can’t get into at all because they are just so oversubscribed,” he said. “That says a lot.” He added that GreenBear is reducing allocations to emerging markets and international private equity in favor of increasing allocations to U.S. funds.
This is in contrast to the rising economic nationalism seen in U.K. and Canadian pension sectors. The moves, made in direct response to American foreign economic policy, are intended to help lower dependence on the U.S. and its capital markets and help rejuvenate local economies by increasing productivity and stimulating investment into domestic businesses. (Critics suggest that doing this can limit returns and therefore may not adhere to the fiduciary obligations that these pension funds have.)
Family offices, meanwhile, remain heavily invested in the U.S., according to survey data from the UBS family office report for 2025. Almost 90 percent of North American capital is invested in the U.S. markets, the report found. For family offices based in other regions, allocations to the U.S. range from 39 percent in Switzerland to 64 percent in Latin America, with an average of 53 percent globally. Both the U.S. percentage and the global average were up from the same report in 2024.
The report found that domestic families brought cash back to the U.S. in recent years as it was proving itself to be a high growth region, while international families invested in the country because of the depth of its capital markets and the stability and safety they offer.
As the CEO of one London-based family explained, a strategy of focusing on the capital markets of one’s home base could prove disadvantageous if national pride got before maximizing returns. He removed any British-centrism from the office’s portfolio several years ago and said that the strategic decision to focus on global equities has since paid off, because it led to an increase in U.S. exposure. The CEO added that he has no plans to reverse this decision any time soon.
“Probably the best thing I did for the family was suggest we remove any focus on U.K. equity,” he said. “We don’t have any now; we just work with global equity. The question is what does U.K. equity mean anyway? Is it stocks that are listed in the U.K.? Companies based or controlled in the U.K. that make their money in the U.K. or in pounds sterling?
"I don’t think it really means anything other than that they are listed on the LSE. And what is the relevance of that for us as a single family office?”
