As intergenerational wealth transfer is taking place, with tens of trillions of dollars at stake, preparing heirs to manage assets and businesses is a major focus for private banks. HSBC is working with a business school to build a new programme, and it is about to go live.

HSBC Private Bank has launched a global educational programme for the heirs of ultra-high net worth clients to help them prepare to be future leaders of their family’s business and wealth.

The private bank has created The Future Family Leaders Digital Programme in collaboration with MIT Sloan School of Management for clients between the ages of 23 and 30, HSBC said in a statement yesterday.

The initiative is an example of NextGen education programmes that tap into a global intergenerational wealth transfer amounting to trillions of dollars. 

The six-week online course incorporates content co-designed and co-delivered by family governance specialists at HSBC Private Bank and family enterprise experts at MIT Sloan Executive Education. The curriculum includes modules on family enterprise dynamics, the owner mindset, family unity, managing difficult conversations, and developing a future pathway.

The first cohort from around the world will begin the course on 3 November and finish on 8 December, following the completion of six modules over six weeks. 

In May, more than 60 clients attended the programme’s flagship event, the annual Future Family Leaders Forum, in Athens. The private bank is launching more in-person events and opportunities later this year with regional forums tailored to local market needs.

In July, another large financial firm, BNY, said that 47 per cent of the UHNW people it interviewed for a report said comprehensive transfer plans are in place; 53 per cent acknowledged that plans were not complete.

A December 2024 report from Cerulli Associates said that wealth transferred through 2048 will total $124 trillion; $105 trillion is expected to flow to heirs, while $18 trillion will go to charity.

“Wealth transfer can fall short when the next generation inherits the family’s wealth and business without the necessary skills to lead. Our clients consistently tell us they want their children to gain experience managing the demands before the transition, not after it,” Ida Liu (pictured below), CEO of HSBC Private Bank, said. “This programme develops the technical capabilities and confidence they need to navigate the family conversations that successful succession requires.”

Ida Liu

John Davis, senior lecturer in family enterprise at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said: “At MIT Sloan, our work is grounded in decades of research and real-world engagement with enterprising families, their businesses, family offices, and social impact activities.”

This publication recently interviewed Liu about the private bank’s global strategy.