UBS estimates that billionaires aged 70 and above will transfer US$6.3 trillion to the next generation over the next 15 years, says Young Jin Yee, co-head of UBS Global Wealth Management Asia Pacific and head of UBS Singapore. Photo: UBS
Amid this, growing concern exists that families may lose everything. Data from US consultancy The Williams Group shows that around 70% of families lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% by the third. A 2024 Deloitte Private survey highlights the issue further, revealing that nearly one-third of respondents believe the next generation is either unprepared for family office succession or unqualified to take over. As a result, 31% emphasise the need for mentoring or training, while 22% stress the importance of succession planning.
As a central hub for business families safeguarding their legacies, private banks in Singapore have introduced specialised programmes to prepare the next generation for inheritance. This challenge becomes increasingly complex as families expand, often spanning third or even four generations.
See also: How AI and innovation are redefining wealth management for UHNWIs
According to Katherine Cox, global head of long-term asset owners at Schroders, and Charlotte Filsell, head of family office
services, the most effective way for the next generation to learn is by shadowing an experienced mentor. Tasks such as attending family investment committee meetings or liaising with external tax, legal and financial advisors provide valuable insights into the responsibilities held by the family’s leaders.
“Seeing the senior member in action will also provide a valuable perspective on how to handle issues like resolving conflicts between family members and providing proper direction to advisors from various professional disciplines,” said Cox and Filsell in a report dated March 17. “Those conversations will also help mentors better understand their protégé’s strengths and weaknesses [and] can be used to establish a plan of development for the younger family members so they can build skills they might currently lack.”
When’s the right time?
See also: The future of wealth: empowering women’s financial rise
Private banks in this country do not offer a one-size-fits-all approach to successful wealth transition. Instead, they provide financial literacy programmes for schoolchildren and leadership and networking platforms for young adults.
Starting early is crucial to equipping the next generation with essential knowledge on investment, tax and regulatory matters. As Chew Mun Yew, head of UOB Private Bank, says, this approach will “better prepare” them mentally for taking the reins.
Starting early is key to equipping the next generation with knowledge on investment, tax, and regulation. As Chew Mun Yew, head of UOB Private Bank, says, this approach better prepares them to take the reins. Photo: UOB
Based on her conversations with UBS’s next-generation clients, Young says that the next generation feels a “strong need to be included as early as possible in crucial conversations with the older generation about their expectations surrounding wealth transition.”
Basics, investing skills and community
Bank of Singapore (BoS) offers various programmes for different skill levels and stages of life. Its Investments Foundation Academy, for those aged 16 to 30, covers a wide range of subjects, from finance and investment essentials to leadership, communication and cross-cultural fluency. The bank also has its NextGen Programme, which focuses on education, investments and community.
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“We prioritise meaningful engagement with the younger family members of our clients, supporting clients from the younger (20s to 30s) age group to those who are more mature (30s to 40s). The programmes are designed to address each group’s needs at that stage of life, including education, networking, tailored investment products and portfolio consolidation to capture wallet share,” says Teh Kihui, the bank’s head of strategy.
“We prioritise meaningful engagement with the younger family members of our clients, supporting clients from the younger (20s to 30s) age group to those who are more mature (30s to 40s)," says Bank of Singapore's head of strategy, Teh Kihui. Photo: Bank of Singapore
The bank’s latest initiative, the Future Wealth Executive Programme, is run in partnership with Singapore Management University and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. The programme offers networking opportunities for next-generation high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and covers topics such as wealth and business succession planning, family offices, entrepreneurship and private equity. Participants in the Tsinghua segment, held in China, also gained insights into the country’s political and macroeconomic landscape.
Education, networking and exclusivity
Like BoS, Citi Private Bank’s Citi Latitude programme is centred around three pillars — education, networking and experiences. It is designed to “create introductions, inspire and motivate the next generation of leaders to help them make a positive impact in their communities, business and personal lives,” says Juan Carlos Madrigal, who was speaking to The Edge Singapore as global marketing head of Citi Latitude at Citi Private Bank in November 2024. “[It also] provides a gateway to Citi’s private banking services and enables emerging leaders to form enduring friendships and business relationships with their peers and leading professionals.”
Citi Private Bank’s Citi Latitude programme focuses on education, networking and experiences to inspire and motivate future leaders, says Juan Carlos Madrigal. Photo: Citi
Under the education pillar, “heirs and heiresses” take part in programmes in partnership with prestigious institutions, including Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management and Singularity University, a Silicon Valley organisation offering executive education programmes.
The programmes are divided into several categories based on individual interests. The Frontiers Conference is open to people aged 21 to 40 who are keen on innovation, entrepreneurship, social enterprise and exponential technologies.
Those who plan to lead their family businesses can enrol in the Empowering Leaders Programme with Cambridge. Aimed at individuals in their 30s, 40s and 50s, the programme offers highly interactive classroom sessions led by renowned experts in business transformation, entrepreneurship and leadership.
The Future-ready Families programme, open to all ages, helps aspiring HNWIs navigate the challenges and opportunities of leading family enterprises. Participants have gathered in cities such as Singapore, London, Miami,
São Paulo, Geneva and Hong Kong, where they meet over dinner to discuss topics including art, entrepreneurship, technology, philanthropy and sustainability.
Creating holistic wealth frameworks
DBS Private Bank prefers a holistic approach that integrates financial, human and social capital. Nurturing human capital ensures the longevity of financial wealth, says Lee Woon Shiu, managing director and group head of wealth planning, family office and insurance solutions at DBS.
DBS Private Bank favours a holistic approach integrating financial, human, and social capital. Lee Woon Shiu, managing director and group head of wealth planning, family office and insurance solutions at DBS, says nurturing human capital ensures the longevity of financial wealth. Photo: DBS
The bank’s next-generation programme, The Future Leaders, is held once a year in Singapore. Ivy League professors and industry experts impart insights on current topics.
Thematic segments will cover basics such as general leadership and resilience development, private equity investments and asset allocation. They will also cover climate change, AI and philanthropy. In 2024, the bank discussed VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity).
“It’s an uncertain world, it’s a complex world, it’s an ambiguous world. So, how do you deal with this heightened volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the context of the next generation? What are the skill sets you develop? What are the hard skill sets? What are the soft skill sets?” says Lee.
The bank’s programme participants come from different backgrounds, but they are between 25 and 35 years old. “We used to have the programme run for a younger age. I believe we started at the age of 20 or 22. That’s when we found that, at 20 and 22, your worldview and what you can do… is much more limited than what you would be able to do as a leader of your family by the time you reach the age of, say, 30 to 35,” says Lee. “In terms of the tangible outcome, you probably won’t have reached the sort of results we saw once we moved the age category upwards to about 35.”
At 25 to 35, most of these next-generation HNWIs would have already known the basics such as investing in shares and funds. “It’s not about literacy anymore because they are high net worth and they are at the age category (say 30 to 35) where they know these already. What they need is to know how to approach some of these asset classes and investments in some of these asset classes, or even diversification with new lenses,” Lee adds.
The programmes are conducted in person, as Lee believes online programmes may not be as effective due to distractions such as mobile phones. They usually last five days and four nights, allowing participants time to engage with one another.
On the final day, parents are invited to join the programme and watch their children present their projects and more. He adds: “There was something really, really quite fulfilling because then you could see that the parents are so proud of the kids, and the overall bonding between the first and second gen was really evident during that program as well.”
Shaping future wealth
Launched in 2024, OCBC’s GENesis programme targets the children of its premier private clients in Singapore and Malaysia. The programme enhances financial literacy and fosters networking among participants. Its curriculum covers investment basics, legacy planning and personal profiling assessments, equipping participants to navigate the complexities of family businesses and global markets.
“It is important that this new generation of high-net-worth customers is aware of market sentiments and familiar with tools to manage their future wealth,” says Susan Tan, head of segment, global consumer financial services at OCBC.
Tan speaking with participants during last year's programme. Photo: OCBC
At the same time, Standard Chartered Bank runs the Young Entrepreneur Programme (YEP) for the next generation of its HNW clients under the bank’s priority private segment. The four-day programme is in partnership with Insead and SC Ventures, the bank’s innovation and fintech investment unit, which focuses on building early entrepreneurial skills. Participants engage in activities from human-centred design and business model development to pitching business ideas to a panel of experts from Standard Chartered, SC Ventures and Insead.
UOB Private Bank’s next-generation programme focuses on entrepreneurship, digital innovation and technology. Now in its sixth edition, the programme equips future wealth custodians with essential skills in business succession, family governance, entrepreneurship and wealth planning. Aimed at individuals aged 18 to 35, it combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience, including internship opportunities with partners like UOB’s FinLab. The programme also incorporates emerging topics such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, reflecting the next generation’s priorities.
The bank’s internships, which offer these participants the chance to flesh out their interests, range from next-generation participants working with different technology providers to digitising the content and media marketing of the businesses under UOB’s FinLab. Those who are keen on other aspects of the bank, such as private banking, may choose to take on an internship with UOB Private Bank.
Overall, the bank supports a long-term approach, says Chew. “With a long-term perspective, these next-gens will likely be able to avoid being swayed by short-term market fluctuations and emotional decision-making, which often leads to undesirable outcomes.”
He adds: “Risk-adjusted strategy is also a key educational point for the younger successors as it helps them personalise their investments according to their varying risk tolerance, helping them balance the potential for growth with the need for protection against significant losses.”
Leadership and legacy stewardship
UBS focuses on preparing the next generation of HNW families through its flagship programmes, Leadership Excellence and Development Series (LEADS) and Global Rising Investors. Both programmes target different age groups to ensure relevance and maximise impact.
LEADS is a programme for adults aged 18 to 25, focused on helping families thrive across generations. It provides essential financial knowledge, business expertise and insights into current market trends. The Global Rising Investors Programme is an annual affair that lasts six days. It is for next-generation HNW families aged 20 to 35 who want to take on more financial responsibility within their families. The programme, which features UBS experts and guest speakers, offers a “holistic learning journey” in finance, wealth management and personal development. It also includes
networking activities.
Looking ahead, UBS’s Young identifies several key areas of interest, including impact investing, philanthropy and tokenised financial assets across all classes. For Cox and Filsell of Schroders, a family legacy is shaped through storytelling, with shared anecdotes that reveal the family’s values, wealth mindset and mission. More importantly, older family members have to be ready for the handover, they add. “That process may entail a gradual transition of responsibilities to younger family members who have demonstrated they are ready and capable of taking on certain tasks.”
