By Abby Schultz
Just because you're rich doesn't mean you aren't nervous. A new report from J.P. Morgan Private Bank finds that 20% of 333 global single-family offices with average wealth of $1.6 billion named "geopolitics" as their top concern. Fully 74% of non-U.S. families cited geopolitics as among their top five concerns, as did 57% of U.S. families.
Still, family offices haven't been big users of popular hedges. Half don't own hedge funds, 72% don't invest in gold, and 89% had no crypto or other digital assets. (For its part, J.P. Morgan questions crypto's role as a hedge, given its volatility and "inconsistent correlation" with other asset classes.)
One reason that few families invest in gold, says J.P. Morgan Private Bank co-head William Sinclair, is that it underperformed stocks for a long period. "It wasn't until last year when gold was up 65% that clients were starting to say, '[Considering] some of the geopolitical risks, is this an asset class I want to introduce into my portfolio?'" Tax efficiency drives how families invest, particularly in the U.S., he says. Globally, families allocate a large amount -- 30.8%, on average -- to private markets.
They haven't been crazy for artificial intelligence, though 65% do plan to prioritize it. More than half have no exposure to growth equity or venture capital -- backers of start-ups like Databricks, OpenAI, and Anthropic -- and 79% have zero exposure to AI infrastructure. They like "large-cap Magnificent Seven--type stocks," says Sinclair.
Write to Abby Schultz at abby.schultz@barrons.com
Last Week
Markets
Gold, silver, oil, copper, aluminum, and Bitcoin fell hard. Stocks initially shrugged off the selloff, with the S&P 500 approaching a new high. U.S. manufacturing went positive in January and President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India. Investors dumped software stocks after Anthropic released a productivity tool for lawyers, then tech fell further after Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm reported and fears of artificial-intelligence capital spending spread. Friday saw a rally, with the Dow industrials breaking 50,000. On the week, the Dow rose 2.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite 1.8%.
Companies
Alphabet beat expectations and said it would double AI spending. Amazon.com and Oracle upped capital spending to $200 billion and $50 billion, respectively. China banned flush car door handles starting in 2027. Walt Disney theme park chief Josh D'Amaro will replace CEO Bob Iger. Novo Nordisk said sales will fall this year on price pressures on obesity drugs; Hims announced a $49-a-month weight-loss pill. Walmart hit a trillion dollars in market value.
Deals
Elon Musk's SpaceX acquired his xAI for $250 billion, producing a combined company valued at $1.25 trillion...Spain's Banco Santander agreed to buy Webster Financial in a $12.3 billion deal... Texas Instruments is paying $7.5 billion for Silicon Laboratories... Devon Energy and Coterra Energy finally sealed their $21.5 billion all-stock shale merger...Rio Tinto ended merger talks with Glencore.
Next Week
Monday 2/9
Earnings season rolls on with about 75 more S&P 500 index companies set to report. Of the roughly 300 companies that have reported so far, nearly 80% have beaten earnings-per-share estimates, while just over 70% have exceeded revenue expectations. Coca-Cola, CVS Health, and Ford Motor announce results on Tuesday, followed by Cisco Systems, McDonald's, and T-Mobile US on Wednesday. Airbnb, Applied Materials, and Arista Networks release earnings on Thursday.
Wednesday 2/11
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the jobs report for January. Economists forecast a 70,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls, after a 50,000 gain in December. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.4%. This release was originally scheduled for Feb. 6 but was delayed due to the brief government shutdown last week.
Friday 2/13
The BLS releases the consumer price index for January. Consensus estimate is for a 2.5% year-over-year increase, two-tenths of a percentage points less than in December. The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is also expected to rise 2.5%, compared with 2.6% previously. A 2.5% annual change for the core CPI would be the lowest since March 2021.
The Numbers
62%
Percentage of buyers in 2025 who purchased homes at a discount to the original list price.
$8 M
Average price of a 30-second ad for Sunday's Super Bowl LX, a record, up from $7 million in 2022 to 2025,
200 K
Number of U.S. manufacturing jobs lost since 2023, including declines over the past eight months.
$1.1 T
The decline in Bitcoin market value over the past four months, from roughly $126,000 to around $70,000.
Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2026 21:46 ET (02:46 GMT)
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