A second residency is no longer simply a luxury item for high-net-worth investors. It’s now a form of portfolio insurance.
A record 165,000 millionaires are projected to relocate globally in 2026, according to Henley and Partners, a global residence and citizenship planning specialist. That marks the largest private wealth migration cycle in modern history.
And for the first time, family offices and wealth managers say Americans are emerging as a leading driver of demand for alternative residency, and not necessarily as a means to lower their tax bills. Political volatility, rising debt levels, and policy uncertainty are pushing the wealthiest investors to consider their jurisdictional exposure the same way they think about their portfolio allocations.
InvestmentNews sat down with Dominic Jones, managing director of Greener Pastures New Zealand, to learn more about why more high-net-worth Americans are establishing residency beyond the nation's borders.
InvestmentNews: Why is U.S. wealth migration shifting from opportunistic moves to a long-term risk strategy?
Dominic Jones: Wealth migration used to be primarily driven by tax optimization, but today it’s increasingly become about risk management. This is particularly true for our clients, who are seeking a safe haven in New Zealand. What we have been seeing in our conversations with our clients is a shift toward treating geography more as part of people’s portfolio construction, not just their lifestyle preference. Political volatility, rising debt levels, and policy uncertainty are pushing these investors to think about their jurisdictional exposure the same way they think about their asset allocation. In that sense, a second residency is no longer just a luxury item. It’s a form of portfolio insurance. Advisors are recognizing that concentrating both their wealth and residency in a single system introduces a level of risk that many of their clients no longer feel comfortable with. This is a structural shift, not a cyclical trend.
InvestmentNews: What are American investors privately concerned about but not saying publicly?
Jones: Privately, we’re seeing investors that are less concerned about their short-term market performance and more focused on long-term system stability. Our clients, seeking residency by investment in New Zealand are attracted to the uncorrelated nature of returns when investing in New Zealand. The part that is unsaid is a desire to have a hedge against global markets. There is also a growing concern about how quickly they have seen rules change, high levels of government debt and money printing, capital controls, or broader regulatory shifts.
We are seeing a focus on investment in real assets, with productive New Zealand land an attractive option as an inflation hedge and long-term wealth protection. When dealing with people in private, these discussions are far more direct. The underlying theme of these conversations is not fear, but simply a desire for optionality.
InvestmentNews: Which jurisdictions are emerging as safe havens and why?
Jones: The jurisdictions attracting the most attention today are those offering a specific combination consisting of political stability, rule of law, long-term policy consistency, and quality of life. New Zealand, for example, continues to stand out because of its geographic isolation, transparent legal framework, and historically stable government.
On a broader scale investors are prioritizing countries that are less exposed to international conflict and that have strong institutions. What defines a “safe haven” now for many is not just tax efficiency, but rather a resilience. Simply put, they want to know how a country performs under stress. Clients are looking for places where capital, family, and lifestyle can all be protected for generations. In many ways, safety has now been redefined from long-term capital positioning to systemic reliability.
InvestmentNews: How are family offices thinking about geographic diversification of wealth and lifestyle?
Jones: Family offices are increasingly approaching geography the same way they approach any other asset allocation. They are focusing on diversification and downside protection. Rather than concentrating everything in one country, they’re now building multi-jurisdictional strategies that include residency, banking, and in some cases operating assets. This is not about abandoning the U.S., but about reducing single-country exposure. Regardless of the country.
We are seeing more families structure their lives to have flexibility in where they live, invest, and operate depending on the global environment. The key shift here is that lifestyle decisions are now being integrated into their financial strategies. Geography is no longer a passive item. It’s an active lever in long-term wealth preservation.
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