Global Family Office Numbers Triple Since 2019, Managing Over $6 Trillion

The number of family offices in the world has tripled since 2019, with over 4,500 family offices worldwide last year. North America has the largest share of family offices, with 1,682. Family offices now manage $6 trillion or more, with experts indicating that their ranks are growing. There are more than 2,600 billionaires in the world, almost all requiring a family office. According to Wealth-X, there are over 90,000 individuals worldwide worth $100 million or more, the typical threshold for a family office. Private equity firms, hedge funds, and venture capital firms are engaging in a race to attract investments from family offices. Blackstone, KKR, and Carlyle are expanding their teams, funding events, and building products specifically catering to family offices. Family offices are increasingly seeking higher long-term returns with private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, infrastructure, and real estate. More than half of the family offices surveyed by Preqin expressed disappointment with venture capital returns, while a third were disappointed with private equity returns. Private equity firms are aggressively targeting the family office market, with Blackstone ramping up its Private Capital Group. Blackstone's Private Capital Group has doubled its team to 25 people over the past few years and is likely to continue growing. Family offices are seen as dream clients for alternative investment firms due to their increasing interest in diverse investment opportunities. U.S. job growth totaled 275,000 in February, exceeding expectations. However, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in February. Job growth from the previous two months was lower than initially reported: January revised down to 229,000 from 353,000 and December down to 290,000 from 333,000. The household survey showed a decline of 184,000 in employed individuals. The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.5%, while the "prime age" rate increased to 83.5%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% for the month, slightly below estimates, and increased by 4.3% from a year ago. The average workweek increased to 34.3 hours, up 0.1 percentage point. The Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates later this year based on job numbers. Employment growth skewed towards part-time positions. The health care sector led with 67,000 new jobs, followed by the government with 52,000 and restaurants/bars with 42,000. Markets reacted positively to the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 150 points. Fed officials have mixed signals on inflation and monetary policy, with potential rate cuts in the future. Despite recent high-profile layoffs in the tech industry, job creation has remained strong. Markets have adjusted expectations, with traders now pricing in the first Fed interest rate cut in June. The U.S. economy added 275,000 jobs in February, surpassing expectations of 200,000. Despite the strong job creation, the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 3.9% from 3.7% in February, the highest level since January 2022. The jobless rate has remained below 4% for 25 consecutive months, the longest stretch since the late 1960s. The job gains in February were seen in sectors such as health care, government, food services and bars, social assistance, and transportation and warehousing. Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents to $34.57 in February. Wall Street's view is that the Federal Reserve might begin trimming rates in the coming months. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank is close to a decision to cut its benchmark rate to steer the economy towards a soft landing and avoid recession. The optimism reflected in the stock market, lower inflation, and a healthy job market has led to stocks reaching record highs, with traders anticipating Fed rate cuts to begin. President Joe Biden is being blamed by voters for the surge in consumer prices that began in 2021, according to polls. Stocks and gold prices rallied to new records, with gold prices advancing for an eighth consecutive session. The Fed's move towards easing monetary policy is seen as adding to gold's appeal as compared to yield-bearing assets like bonds. In February, the U.S. labor market showed strength with 275,000 jobs created. The health care and social assistance sector saw the biggest gains with 90,700 jobs added. Notably, hospital and ambulatory health-care services saw significant growth in employment. Leisure and hospitality added 58,000 jobs, with noticeable growth in food services and drinking places. Transportation and warehouse employment rose by 19,700 jobs, with couriers and messengers accounting for 17,000 new jobs. However, manufacturing jobs dropped by 4,000, with losses in transportation equipment and computer and electronics manufacturing. Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, highlighted strong year-over-year wage growth in the report. She noted that while good for workers, the wage growth isn't necessarily bad for employers or inflation, suggesting that productivity growth has been strong and may make wage growth sustainable. The continued fall in manufacturing employment despite federal investment remains a puzzle. Declines in tech-related sub-industries hint that the 'tech-session' is not over. Additional finance-related stories from CNBC PRO were highlighted in the article. Job growth in the U.S. likely decelerated in February, with an expected increase of 198,000 and an unchanged unemployment rate of 3.7%. Companies are hiring cautiously to match business activity, with employers not aggressively hiring for growth or expansion. January saw a surge in job growth, following a robust gain in December, partially due to seasonal distortions. The job-seeker survey by ZipRecruiter shows high expectations for job outlook with concerns about a red-hot job market that could impact the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions. Companies are continuing hiring despite mixed signs regarding layoffs, as indicated by little change in weekly jobless claims. The labor market remains tight, with layoffs decreasing and job openings outnumbering available workers. Tech giants have seen layoffs, whereas other sectors like healthcare and civil engineering are showing strong demand for professionals. The Federal Reserve found that the ultra-tight labor market has loosened somewhat, but challenges persist in hiring highly skilled workers. Wage gains are continuing but at a slower pace, with expectations of average hourly earnings to increase 0.2% in February. Despite inflation concerns, Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned the Fed is close to gaining confidence in the inflation trajectory to consider rate cuts.