What share of high-net-worth investors own investment real estate?

Long Angle's 2025 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report found that two-thirds of high-net-worth investors hold investment real estate. Direct residential ownership is described as the dominant strategy within that group. The source notes real estate provides both income generation and inflation protection for these investors.

Investment Strategies

Investors With $5 Million to $30 Million Shift to Private Markets, Real Estate

Two-thirds of high-net-worth individuals now hold investment real estate, while private equity and venture capital allocations climb as portfolios exceed $25 million.

By the Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk·Monday, September 28, 2026·2 min read

Editorial summary of reporting bySmartAsset Our editorial standards →

The answer · checked against SmartAsset

How do high-net-worth investors with $5 million to $30 million allocate across real estate and private markets?

Very-high-net-worth individuals, defined as those with $5 million to $30 million in liquid investable assets, are shifting portfolios away from public equities toward private markets and real estate. Long Angle's 2025 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report shows public equities drop from 47% of the average portfolio to 38% among investors with more than $25 million in net worth, while two-thirds of high-net-worth investors hold investment real estate.

Key facts

Long Angle's 2025 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report found that public equities comprise approximately 47% of the average high-net-worth portfolio.
Among investors with more than $25 million in net worth, Long Angle's 2025 report found the public equity allocation drops to 38% as these investors gain access to a broader range of private and alternative investments.
Long Angle data shows that two-thirds of high-net-worth investors hold investment real estate, with direct residential ownership as the dominant strategy.
Capgemini's 2025 World Wealth Report indicates that high-net-worth investors now allocate 15% of their portfolios to alternative investments including private equity and cryptocurrencies.
Capgemini data shows that 61% of millennial and Gen Z high-net-worth investors allocate capital to higher-growth asset classes and niche offerings.

Investors With $5 Million to $30 Million Shift to Private Markets, Real Estate — Image: editorial illustration · Story sourced from SmartAsset

Investors with $5 million to $30 million in liquid assets are allocating more capital to private markets and real estate as they gain access to strategies unavailable at lower wealth levels, according to industry research. The wealth management industry classifies this group as very-high-net-worth individuals, a tier that sits between high-net-worth individuals with $1 million to $5 million and ultra-high-net-worth individuals with more than $30 million.

Public equities comprise 47% of the average high-net-worth portfolio, according to Long Angle's 2025 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report. Among investors with more than $25 million in net worth, that figure drops to 38% as these investors gain access to a broader range of private and alternative investments, the report said.

Private investments, including private equity, venture capital and direct business ownership, become increasingly prominent at higher wealth levels. High-net-worth investors now allocate 15% of their portfolios to alternative investments including private equity and cryptocurrencies, according to Capgemini's 2025 World Wealth Report. That percentage typically increases as net worth rises, with investors gaining access to institutional-quality opportunities that have minimum investment thresholds of $250,000 to $1 million or more.

Two-thirds of high-net-worth investors hold investment real estate, with direct residential ownership as the dominant strategy, Long Angle data showed. The asset class provides both income generation and inflation protection.

Crypto allocations now exceed precious metals among younger high-net-worth investors. Capgemini data showed that 61% of millennial and Gen Z high-net-worth investors allocate capital to higher-growth asset classes and niche offerings.

The very-high-net-worth tier is distinct because this group is too wealthy for standard wealth management but typically below the threshold for a single-family office, which usually requires at least $100 million to justify the cost of dedicated staff and infrastructure. The classifications come primarily from industry research reports. The SEC uses different thresholds for regulatory purposes, defining qualified purchasers as individuals with at least $5 million in investments or accredited investors as those with $1 million in net worth excluding primary residence or $200,000 in annual income.

The Deployment Angle

Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk · our analysis, not the source's

The allocation split argues for a co-GP or programmatic joint venture route rather than direct ownership at this wealth level. Minimum cheques of $250,000 to $1 million for institutional-quality private equity and venture capital opportunities mean a $10 million allocation across alternatives requires eight to ten separate positions to achieve diversification. That portfolio construction task is what multi-family office platforms are built to handle.

The arithmetic matters. If public equities fall from 47% to 38% of a $20 million portfolio as alternative allocations rise to 15%, that shift moves $1.8 million out of liquid markets and $3 million into alternatives. Executing $3 million across private equity, venture capital and opportunistic real estate without overpaying for access or doubling up on sector exposure requires sponsor relationships and deal flow that most principals do not maintain in-house.

The residential-real-estate dominance in the two-thirds figure is a warning. Direct residential ownership at scale is management-intensive and geographically concentrated. Principals should underwrite whether a separate account with a diversified property-type mandate delivers better risk-adjusted returns net of time spent than adding more single-family rentals or small multifamily assets directly.

The generational data on crypto and growth allocations suggests this tier is where asset preferences diverge sharply by age. Underwrite whether a 15% alternative allocation weighted to venture capital and digital assets matches the risk tolerance of a $25 million portfolio that may need to fund three decades of spending, or whether it reflects recency bias from a bull market in private valuations.

Questions this story answers

02How do portfolio allocations change once a high-net-worth investor crosses $25 million in net worth?

According to Long Angle's 2025 High-Net-Worth Asset Allocation Report, public equities make up approximately 47% of the average high-net-worth portfolio, but that figure falls to 38% among investors with more than $25 million in net worth as those investors gain access to a broader range of private and alternative investments.

03How are younger high-net-worth investors allocating differently from older ones?

Capgemini data cited in the source shows that 61% of millennial and Gen Z high-net-worth investors allocate capital to higher-growth asset classes and niche offerings. The source also notes that crypto allocations now exceed precious metals among younger high-net-worth investors, reflecting generational differences in asset preferences.

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