The Great Wealth Transfer is not a future event for financial advisors to prepare for someday; it is already affecting your clients. With approximately $124 trillion changing hands globally, and nearly 60% of families anticipating a transfer within the next decade, the timeline is compressed and the stakes are high. New research based on surveys of thousands of families and hundreds of advisors across the U.S., Canada and the UK exposes a critical disconnect between what clients need and what most advisory practices currently deliver.
The findings challenge assumptions advisors commonly hold. 97% of advisors are aware of the wealth transfer wave, yet 73% are not highly concerned about its near-term implications, and 56% say they feel only somewhat or minimally prepared. Clients, meanwhile, are arriving informed and with clear expectations: they want education and guidance, help navigating family conversations, and a long-term partner, not just a portfolio manager. Only 4% of advisory practices currently list client education as an explicit service offering, signaling a gap that is costing advisors the trust, loyalty and assets of the next generation.
This research gives financial advisors and wealth managers a clear-eyed picture of the behavioral, emotional and logistical barriers that prevent families from completing wealth transfers successfully, and a practical framework for addressing them. Advisors who adapt their model now, integrating digital estate planning tools and family facilitation capabilities, are already building the intergenerational loyalty that compounds across decades. Those who don't risk losing assets at the exact moment client relationships matter most.