RBC strategist links family offices’ AI enthusiasm to fear of missing out

Wealthy families’ investment firms see opportunity in AI without dismissing the risk of a bust. In CNBC’s October 12 coverage of a family-office survey, RBC strategist Bill Ringham pointed to fear of missing out as one possible explanation: 85% expected AI to reward investors over at least one surveyed time horizon, while 75% expected a bubble to burst within five years.

The optimism came with a warning

The findings come from the North America Family Office Report 2026, produced by RBC Wealth Management and Campden Wealth. RBC published its summary on September 29. The survey covered 155 single-family and private multi-family offices in North America, with average total wealth of $2.25 billion—a sample focused on organizations managing substantial family fortunes.

Respondents were often close to the decisions being described. Forty percent were family members, and more than half held senior roles such as chief executive, chairperson, founder, principal or president. Their answers capture investment expectations among those offices, rather than a measure of returns already earned from AI.

The 85% figure combines respondents who expected AI to reward investors over the next 12 months, the next two to five years, or both. On that combined measure, AI ranked ahead of U.S. equities at 76% and direct investments at 72%. It was not an 85% vote for one particular investment period.

Even patient capital can be caught up in the fear of missing out

Bill Ringham, RBC director of private wealth strategies, speaking to CNBC

Ringham’s explanation turns on timing

Ringham, RBC’s director of private wealth strategies, told CNBC that cautious optimism and concern about missing an investment boom could both help explain the results. He characterized fear of missing out as a short-term outlook, contrasting AI’s immediate appeal with a longer-term preference for U.S. equities. That is his interpretation, not a causal finding from the survey.

The time-horizon breakdown gives that argument some context. AI was selected by 59% as a top investment theme over the next 12 months. Over two to five years, 64% selected AI, but U.S. equities drew 69%. Direct investments followed closely at 62%, according to CNBC’s account of the results.

Ringham also described family offices as cautiously optimistic about AI startups. Investors can believe a company will succeed over the longer term while recognizing the possibility of a bubble, he said. His warning was about selecting among many new companies: enthusiasm for the technology does not remove the need to approach those investments carefully.

Enthusiasm is not an allocation plan

The bubble concern was not a marginal view. Three-quarters expected an AI investment bubble to burst within five years. CNBC placed that just below excessive government borrowing, identified by 76% as a market risk likely to materialize over the same period. These are respondents’ expectations about risks, not forecasts establishing that either outcome will happen.

Inside the offices themselves, confidence in AI’s business value was less uniform. RBC’s summary says 40% considered AI embedded and essential to their workflow, while 38% disagreed. The investment-theme answers therefore sit alongside a much closer split over whether AI is already indispensable to the respondents’ own operations.

Willingness to pay was divided, too. Asked whether they were prepared to pay for enterprise-grade AI, 36% said yes and 46% said no; the rest were undecided. That question concerns purchasing AI for business use, rather than investing in AI-related assets. The two sets of answers describe different decisions and should not be treated as interchangeable.

The next investment decision remains unresolved: the survey did not ask how family offices planned to change their allocations specifically around AI. Ringham noted that the technology touches multiple asset classes. The results show a strong appetite for potential AI returns, but not how much additional money these offices intend to commit.