The fear that the children or relatives of HNW clients might choose a different advisor is one of those factors, arguably, that keep banks and wealth managers awake at night. We talk to Capgemini about a massive shift in global wealth to younger generations and what this means for advisors.

Tens of trillions of dollars in wealth are in motion between generations, a recent Capgemini report has shown. And if a rising cohort of HNWIs are likely to replace their parents’ advisors, firms must be ready for the challenge.

“The risks and opportunities that the [intergenerational wealth] transfer represents” is one of the most important findings from the Capgemini World Wealth Report 2025, as published in June, Gareth Wilson, global banking industry leader at the firm, said.

“We have seen quite a correlation between the type of relationship with an advisor and the propensity to move to a different organisation,” Wilson told this publication. 

Once an advisor meets their expectations, Next-Gen HNW individuals demonstrate strong personal loyalty, often prioritising the advisor over the firm, the report found. Some 62 per cent of Next-Gen HNW individuals said they would follow their advisor if they moved to a different firm. Therefore, the ability to retain top-performing relationship managers is not merely a staffing concern, it directly influences client retention and long-term firm profitability.

The study said Generation X (aged 44 to 59 years by 2025), Millennials (aged 28 to 43 years by the same data) and Generation Z (12 to 27 years by that date) will inherit $83.5 trillion by 2048. Some 81 per cent of Next-Gen HNW individuals intend to switch from their parent’s wealth management firm within one to two years after inheriting the wealth. (There were echoes of such a finding in a recent EY study that showed that Asia-Pacific wealth clients are more likely to fire an advisor than their global peers in general.)

At a time when there is a need for advisors to be brought into the sector, to cope with an ageing population of advisors, there is a level of dissatisfaction with the tools that advisors are given, the report said.

“This [Capgemini report] comes together in terms of a call to action to build tools and services to give clients the experience that they want,” Wilson said. 

The fear that the children or relatives of HNW clients might choose a different advisor is one of those factors, arguably, that keep banks and wealth managers awake at night. To give one example, Avaloq, the digital banking solutions firm, said a survey showed that a quarter of investors globally would consider switching from wealth managers that fail to modernise and embrace new technology. (Those findings are based on online surveys of 3,012 affluent to ultra-high net worth investors and 341 wealth management professionals with a minimum of five years’ industry experience.) 

These stories about advisors' concerns about generational change have been building for years. In 2017, a study from JD Power found that up and coming Millennials in the US, with at least $100,000 in investable assets, control the largest chunk of “at-risk” assets run by full-service advisors in the US, and almost half (48 per cent) of them expect to fire their current provider in the next 12 months.

Growth, not just protection
Wilson, when asked about other findings that stand out in the report, said that “future generations have more of a growth mindset than preservation as a mindset.”

“The next generation is looking at global opportunities in terms of its wealth,” he said. For example, Hong Kong and Singapore are emerging as wealth hubs where HNW people consider taking a more international approach to where they invest and deploy capital.

Asked about threats to wealth from redistributive taxes, etc, he said: “It definitely plays a role in terms of everybody’s consciousness.”

The stability of financial centres/jurisdictions is an increasingly important draw. “People want to maximise stability in terms of where their portfolios are invested,” she said.

Among the higher echelons of those with wealth, investments and purchasing objects of “passion” are noteworthy.