Intergenerational wealth transfer has always been among the hardest challenges in wealth management. Getting it right starts with visibility; you can't educate heirs about wealth you can't clearly show them. The increasing international mobility of both wealth owners and their families means transfers now span multiple jurisdictions, currencies, and legal systems simultaneously. As complexity multiplies, the foundational requirement of unified visibility becomes more critical.
As record numbers of wealth owners move and invest internationally, wealthy families face a critical infrastructure question: Should we replicate our wealth management systems in new countries? Local expertise will always be essential, but the definition of "local" can be expected to evolve over time. Consolidated data infrastructure is key to avoiding unnecessary operational barriers as global footprints and portfolios expand.
How do you run an effective family office when the family's patriarch is in Geneva and his adult children live in London and New York? According to Campden Wealth research, for more than half of family offices this kind of question isn't hypothetical: They serve at least one family member residing outside the family office's primary jurisdiction. The coordination challenge this creates isn't just logistical. It's structural, and it demands infrastructure built for distributed operations from the start.
In 2025, an estimated 142,000 millionaires will relocate internationally, according to Henley & Partners' latest private wealth migration report. The UK alone faces a net outflow of 16,500 wealthy individuals — the largest exodus any country has experienced since tracking began. Dubai, Switzerland, and Singapore welcome thousands more each year. The Great Wealth Migration, as some call it, is well underway. The result is greater physical mobility without greater asset consolidation. Technology to consolidate the data around diverse assets can bridge the gap.
Trade disputes, sanctions and capital controls can reorder markets in a single news cycle. When they do, risk management stops being abstract. It becomes concrete and personal: where an asset is custodied, which passport a principal travels on, the jurisdiction an entity sits in, and whether the documents you need to act are ready. If wealth is spread across banks, vaults, partnerships and family members in multiple countries, exposure is spread too.
The political climate for sustainable finance has cooled in the United States. Donald Trump’s return to the White House has weakened support for environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. Fund flows show that enthusiasm has faded among some institutional investors. However, the picture looks significantly different from the viewpoint of family offices. These private vehicles, which manage wealth for ultra-wealthy families, continue to persist in sustainable investing.
Family offices are rapidly expanding their service offerings, with family engagement and education emerging as the most frequently added service since 2023. Behind this trend lies a complex reality: successful family engagement requires moving beyond traditional educational approaches to embrace active participation, address learning needs that extend beyond finance, and navigate the challenges of globally dispersed families.
Family offices often recruit talent from investment banks, private equity, and wealth management firms. Yet in family office settings these professionals may find themselves struggling with challenges less common in other areas of the finance industry: managing family dynamics, bridging knowledge gaps between generations, and balancing active business interests with investment portfolios. Advanced digital wealth platforms are emerging as a solution to help family office professionals succeed in this complex environment.

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