SKN | Goldman Sachs Highlights the Growing Role of Alternative Assets in Ultra-High-Net-Worth Portfolios

Key Takeaways:

• Goldman Sachs is highlighting a structural shift among ultra-high-net-worth investors toward alternative assets rather than relying exclusively on traditional public markets.
• The bank’s family-office research shows alternatives remain a substantial portfolio allocation, with private equity, real estate, private credit and hedge funds forming a significant part of sophisticated wealth structures.
• Goldman Sachs has continued expanding its own alternatives platform, reinforcing the importance of private-market access within its wealth-management strategy.
• For wealthy clients, the issue is not simply reducing equity exposure but understanding how liquidity, complexity and diversification change when private assets become a larger component of a portfolio.

Goldman Sachs Identifies a Different Wealth-Management Landscape

Goldman Sachs is placing increasing emphasis on the role of alternative investments in portfolios managed for the world’s wealthiest investors. The bank’s research and wealth-management business point to a broader evolution in how family offices and ultra-high-net-worth clients approach portfolio construction, particularly as public-market valuations, geopolitical uncertainty and changing interest-rate conditions complicate traditional allocations.

Goldman’s 2025 Family Office Investment Insights report found that surveyed family offices held an average 42% allocation to alternatives, including private equity, private real estate and infrastructure, private credit and hedge funds. Public equities represented 31%, while fixed income accounted for 11%.

Goldman Sachs Is Building Around Private Markets

The significance of the bank’s message is strengthened by its own business strategy. Goldman Sachs Asset Management operates a substantial alternatives platform spanning private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure and hedge funds. The firm’s annual report states that alternatives fundraising reached a record $115 billion in 2025, with the firm targeting $750 billion in fee-paying alternative assets under supervision by the end of 2030.

That expansion is being reinforced through acquisitions and new distribution channels. Goldman Sachs completed its acquisition of Industry Ventures in January 2026, adding technology-focused venture capabilities to its alternatives platform.

Why Goldman Sachs Sees Alternatives as Strategic

Goldman’s approach is not limited to one alternative asset class. The bank’s platform covers multiple sources of potential return and income, allowing its wealth-management franchise to construct solutions across private equity, private credit, real estate and hedge funds.

This breadth matters for ultra-high-net-worth clients because alternative investments introduce different liquidity profiles and risk characteristics than publicly traded securities. Goldman Sachs itself notes that private-market allocations require consideration of illiquidity and greater complexity, even as many family offices view private markets as a potential source of incremental returns.

The Bank’s Expansion Reinforces the Wealth-Management Shift

Goldman Sachs is effectively positioning alternatives as a core component of its wealth-management architecture rather than a peripheral allocation. Its wealth-management franchise serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, foundations and executives, while its alternatives business provides access across public and private markets.

For sophisticated global wealth structures, the strategic signal is therefore broader than the current equity cycle. Goldman Sachs is building infrastructure for a financial environment in which private markets occupy a more important role in wealth management. The resulting considerations extend beyond return potential to liquidity planning, jurisdiction, valuation transparency, financing capacity and succession structures.

For a confidential discussion regarding your cross-border banking structure, private-market access or international wealth strategy, contact our senior advisory team.