Madeira is increasingly attracting high-net-worth individuals and expatriates who value its strategic location, advantageous tax regime, and high quality of life. For those moving to the island, whether they already have a family office or wish to emulate one, understanding how the world’s most sophisticated investors are positioning their portfolios in 2025 can be invaluable.
Recent insights from the UBS Global Family Office Report 2025 reveal how ultra-wealthy families are navigating global market volatility, geopolitical risks, and technological change. These strategies offer a blueprint for expats in Madeira seeking robust wealth management structures.
1. The 2025 Family Office Playbook: Stability, Growth, and Diversification
Family offices globally are pursuing structural growth, higher yields, and broad diversification. In 2025, the allocation split between traditional and alternative assets remains relatively stable, but with notable shifts:
- Increased allocations to developed market equities, rising from 26% to a planned 29%, targeting transformative sectors such as generative AI, healthcare, and longevity.
- Growth in private debt, doubling from 2% to 4% in 2024 and expected to rise to 5%, offering both yield enhancement and portfolio diversification.
- Selective increases in developed market fixed income with plans to move from 15% to 17% as a defensive counterbalance.
For expats in Madeira, these trends reinforce the importance of a long-term, multi-asset strategy designed to preserve wealth while capturing innovation-driven growth.
2. The Strategic Role of Madeira in Wealth Management
Madeira offers a unique combination of EU stability, competitive tax advantages under the International Business Centre (IBC) regime, and a highly qualified professional services ecosystem.
By setting up a local holding structure or investment vehicle, expats can:
- Optimize international tax exposure within a compliant EU framework.
- Access European markets while benefiting from a favourable regulatory environment.
- Coordinate cross-border investment strategies through local advisers who understand both global markets and Madeira’s legal framework.
While MCS is not a family office, we support high-net-worth individuals and expats in Madeira who wish to adopt the same disciplined, multi-asset approach used by family offices. Through advisory, tax planning, and corporate structuring, we help clients implement these strategies within Madeira’s and Portugal’s legal and fiscal framework.
3. Key Risks and How Family Offices Are Responding
In 2025, the top concerns among family offices include:
- Global trade wars (70% view as the main short-term risk)
- Major geopolitical conflicts (61% over the next five years)
- Potential global recession and debt crises
To mitigate these risks, family offices increasingly rely on active portfolio management, manager selection, hedge funds, and precious metals as defensive layers. For Madeira-based expats, embedding such strategies into a local investment structure can help safeguard wealth against global volatility.
4. The Next Five Years: Where Family Offices Are Heading
Looking beyond 2025, family offices anticipate:
- Sustained overweight in developed market equities
- Renewed interest in private equity and infrastructure
- Continued exploration of emerging technologies such as electrification, green tech, and generative AI
Madeira’s position as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Americas offers unique opportunities for those seeking diversified regional exposure while maintaining a strong EU presence.
Conclusion: Bringing Family Office Discipline to Your Madeira Investment Strategy
Whether you operate a dedicated family office or aspire to manage your wealth with the same discipline, the global best practices outlined in the UBS report offer a clear path forward: long-term vision, disciplined diversification, and active risk management.
By partnering with MCS, expats in Madeira can access the same calibre of strategic planning, tax optimization, and cross-border structuring that the world’s most sophisticated investors rely on, ensuring their wealth is not only preserved but positioned for growth.
The founding of Madeira Corporate Services dates back to 1996. MCS started as a corporate service provider in the Madeira International Business Center and rapidly became a leading management company… Read more
