Conversations concerning the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ have historically focused around numbers. Trillions of pounds’ worth of assets are expected to change hands over the next several decades – with millennials, Gen Z and even younger generations inheriting it all. In the UK alone, according to Kings Court Trust, the figure is expected to stand at about £5.5tn.
With such enormous numbers floating around, wealth managers have naturally put a major emphasis on making that transition of funds as smooth as possible, dedicating a lot of effort to figuring out the legalities, tax efficiency, succession structures and so on. Yet while all of that certainly does matter, the industry has also not been devoting the same level of attention to an equally important subject – that of building trust with the inheritors in question.
A lot of time is spent paving the way for the transfer of assets between generations, but far less so preparing relationships to shift alongside them. And it is important to make that distinction clear: inheriting wealth does not automatically mean inheriting trust.
In many cases, by the time wealth changes hands, the next generation has already decided who they are going to turn to for financial guidance – and that person may not necessarily be the same managers their parents relied on. As a matter of fact, according to a late-2025 survey by Cerulli Associates, fewer than a third of inheritors plan to keep the former wealth advisers. That is a noticeable gap – and it should give advisory firms a reason to think carefully about their future.
Trust is built long before wealth changes hands
To a certain extent, it makes sense to expect that client-adviser relationships would naturally follow assets. Parents have worked with the same firms for years, so their children would continue the relationship after inheriting.
That was certainly the general assumption for a long time – yet it is one that is growing increasingly far from reality because today’s younger investors are exposed to financial information in entirely different ways. When they seek investment content, they do so through digital channels first: YouTube, online communities, social media, podcasts and other similar platforms. Is it any wonder, then, that this has also shaped their judgment on who to trust with their money?
Even in 2023, FCA research was suggesting almost half (44%) of Gen Z in the UK were of the opinion social media was providing trustworthy financial advice; two years later in the US, according to the Federal Bank of Philadelphia, it was the majority (76%). By now, this percentage will have only grown even more – that is how much influence digital channels have over financial decision-making.
“A lot of time is spent paving the way for the transfer of assets between generations – far less so preparing relationships to shift alongside them.
Trust now develops over years of exposure to different voices and perspectives – and, as things stand, traditional advisers are not part of these conversations.”
For wealth managers, the key issue here is that a lot of these channels do not involve them at all. Trust is no longer formed through in-person meetings – it develops over years of exposure to different voices and perspectives and, as things stand, traditional advisers are not part of these conversations.
By the time the wealth actually changes hands, the inheritors will often have already established the necessary relationships to manage it. In other words, the wealth transfer itself is not the beginning of the client journey at all – it is simply the moment when the advisory companies start noticing the missed opportunities and the resulting losses.
The real challenge of retaining clients
All this being so, measuring success by how effectively wealth firms preserve assets through a transfer event is no longer the most relevant factor. The bigger question is how well they can retain ‘people’.
Upon crossing the inheritance point, clients are more likely to stay with the same advisers only if they know and genuinely trust them. They need the comfort and confidence of knowing the party they trust with their money understands not only their portfolio, but also their ambitions, concerns and financial habits.
If advisers meet young investors for the first time only after assets have already transferred, they are effectively entering a competition they may have already lost.”
Relationships like that cannot be built only after an inheritance event occurs; you have to start earlier than that and lay that foundation of trust over months, if not years. If advisers meet young investors for the first time only after assets have already transferred, they are effectively entering a competition they may have already lost.
This does not necessarily mean that new-gen clients want completely different financial outcomes. Most of them still value professional guidance – especially since their financial lives become more complex the moment they come into inheritance. CFA Institute research has revealed that more than 90% of Gen Z and millennial investors do seek financial advice in one form or another.
What has changed, however, is their expectation of how the relationship with advisers should work in the first place. They expect transparency and explanations over instructions and occasional formal reviews. They expect advisers not just to focus on portfolio performance, but also to understand the broader context of their lives and interests.
This means a human-centric shift in the wealth management landscape. To stay relevant in the coming decades, advisory firms will need to do more than simply digitise their existing service models and client relationships. They need to figure out how to build conversations with a generation that adheres to entirely different communication habits.
Practical implication
One practical implication follows naturally from this: if relationship continuity matters, succession planning should begin long before succession itself happens.
Families should not wait until the very last moment to introduce their inheritors to trusted advisers. Those conversations need to happen years earlier, while there is still time to develop familiarity and confidence. Advisers can gradually become part of broader family financial discussions and conversations around long-term planning and life goals of the younger generation.
Trust grows through repeated interactions, after all – and the advisers who recognise this and start working on it now will be far better off in terms of securing client loyalty.
Alex Tsepaev is chief strategy officer at B2PRIME Group, a global financial services provider for institutional and professional clients
