The largest wealth transfer in modern history is underway. Over the next 20 years, about $83.5 trillion in family wealth is expected to pass from baby boomers and older entrepreneurs to their children and grandchildren.
UBS says the wealth transfer among billionaire families is expected to total about $6.9 trillion between the 2020s and 2040s.
For many wealthy families, the first generation typically built wealth in areas they knew well and held in concentrated form, such as the family business, real estate, or local blue-chip stocks. By contrast, the next generation is more likely to have an international education, greater mobility, and a willingness to explore a wider range of investments.
Elizabeth Hart, CEO and founder of Legacy Wealth Advisors, said: “The first generation are the builders,” and their wealth is often closely tied to a single type of asset, such as a family-run business or local blue-chip stocks.
Hart added that younger heirs, by contrast, are more inclined to view wealth through a “global lens,” and are more open to diversifying across different asset classes and markets.
This shift in mindset could pull part of inherited wealth away from traditional family capital “safe havens,” especially real estate. Hart noted that Asian families have historically “almost exclusively invested in property,” but second- and third-generation heirs are increasingly seeking diversification into other assets and regions.
A survey by Natixis Investment Managers found that millennials in Asia-Pacific are more willing than older investors to allocate to private assets: 53% said they were interested. At the same time, they are also more likely to discuss cryptocurrencies with advisers, with 62% saying they do so, and 44% planning to increase or start crypto investments in the next year.
On risk appetite, Natixis also found clear generational differences: in Asia-Pacific, 78% of millennials want the chance to outperform the market, compared with 38% of baby boomers willing to take risk.
Money Is No Longer Just a Goal: It Is More Like a Tool for Achieving Goals
Tobias Prestel, founder of Prestel & Partner, said more and more young wealth holders see money as “a tool to achieve goals,” rather than as an end in itself.
Prestel said: “For most older people, money is one thing, and more money is better; for most young people, money is just a tool. They care more about how the tool is used than about admiring the treasure chest.”
This shift is also changing spending habits. Some young heirs are no longer prioritizing traditional status-symbol collections, and instead value experiences, liquidity, and an international lifestyle. Prestel said younger wealthy people are less likely to collect cars and more likely to own residential assets around the world, combining travel with global real estate allocation.
Interest in sustainable and impact investing is also rising. UBS says nearly half of next-generation investors already allocate to or want to learn more about impact and sustainable investing.
Wealth succession is also being reshaped. UBS found that next-generation family members increasingly see inheritance as the transfer of responsibility, rather than a “financial windfall” they will eventually receive. One respondent told UBS: “My brother and I do not see inheritance as something we are going to receive, but as a responsibility to do the work as well as our father did.”
However, the transition is not without risk.
Advisers say the scale of the handover itself is unlikely to stall the overall wealth transfer, but the biggest risks to “keeping” wealth often come from within the family.
Hart of Legacy Wealth Advisors said: “The cracks are not because of a lack of money, but because of a lack of communication.”
Many first-generation wealth creators are still reluctant to give up control, especially in Asia, where family wealth is often closely tied to a patriarch or matriarch at the center of the family. Meanwhile, heirs are pushing for greater transparency, succession planning, and formal governance structures around family assets.
Hart added: “Even with a succession plan, the biggest destroyer of wealth is still family disputes.”
As wealth passes from one generation of founders to the next, advisers say successful succession increasingly depends on preparing heirs for both asset stewardship and the transfer of responsibility, not just the asset structure itself.
