John Walters has immersed himself in the tax world for nearly four decades, but only in the past few months did he expand his work into something else, as one of the newest multi-family office directors with Financial Gravity.

Amid an uncertain economy, family offices are continuously turning toward alternative assets such as music royalties to ride the revenue wave created by digital streaming.

About two-thirds of allocators said they were either optimistic or very optimistic about hedge funds. They were especially keen on investing in global macro- and multi-strategy funds, the survey found.

Family offices have made major shifts in their investment strategies due to economic uncertainty and the need for succession planning, according to a new report by London-based Aeon Investments.

Across the board, real estate investors are pulling back dramatically on home buying, with purchases falling 46% year over year in the fourth quarter, according to a report released last week by Redfin.