Something fundamental is happening in asset management. It’s not a trend and can’t be summed up with a few new buzzwords. It reflects a structural shift from advice models built primarily around products, performance reporting and periodic engagement, to advice that is continuous, contextual and directly related to how customers actually live their lives.
Women and next-generation investors are at the center of this shift. They are inheriting assets on an unprecedented scale, building wealth through entrepreneurship and equity compensation, and engaging with financial advisors earlier and with clearer expectations than previous generations. They are not looking for a modernized version of traditional advice. They are looking for advice that feels relevant and transparent and fits in with the way they define value, risk and success.
That reality became clear during the investigation Asset management with a differencea book I co-wrote with Nick Rice. From conversations with more than 80 industry leaders around the world and a review of more than 100 global research reports, one theme emerged consistently: the demographic profile of wealth is changing faster than consulting models evolve to meet it.
For asset managers, the implication is simple. Technical excellence remains fundamental, but its relevance now depends on how effectively that expertise is applied to real customer decisions, starting with women and emerging investors.
Women investors: redefining the advisory relationship
Women are quickly becoming one of the most influential forces in wealth management, not just because they control more wealth, but because they are changing the way wealth is valued and how advice is given. As women control an increasing share of wealth, predictions in the United States alone show that women will be in control $34 trillion in investable assets by 2030 Many of them challenge long-standing assumptions about risk, return and what meaningful advice looks like.
“Many women think about portfolios differently, and they’re not looking for a light touch,” Margaret Franklin, CFA, CEO of CFA Institute, told us during our research. “They want to understand how these things work at a deep level. They’re taking a much more ‘total portfolio’ or ‘balanced scorecard’ approach – and that will really challenge advisors.”
For many women investors, success goes beyond returns and also includes long-term security, resilience, family priorities, philanthropy and legacy.
What asset managers need to know
- Women are not looking for simplification; they seek understanding.
- Traditional risk-return conversations need to expand to include outcomes, trade-offs and long-term effects.
- A “total portfolio” mentality requires integrating investments with planning, tax strategy, governance and purpose.
What asset managers should do
- Redesign discovery to uncover priorities early. Go beyond standard fact-finding and explicitly explore how customers define security, independence, flexibility, and legacy, and document these priorities as planning constraints, not caveats.
- Reframe portfolio discussions around results, not just allocations. Explain how investment choices support specific life goals over time, including downside protection, liquidity and optionality, not just expected returns.
- Make education a visible and ongoing part of the relationship. Use scenario modeling, decision frameworks and plain language explanations to help customers understand Why strategies are recommended and how they evolve as circumstances change.
- By default, treat women as primary decision makers. Address women directly in meetings, ensure equal access to information and planning tools, and design strategies that reflect longevity, career progression, and independence rather than taking on shared or secondary roles.
Next Generation Investors: Where Values and Wealth Intersect
Next-generation investors, primarily millennials and Generation Z, are reshaping the advisory landscape not only because of the scale of wealth coming into their hands, but also because of how they choose to handle it. In the next two decades it will More than $80 trillion is expected to be transferred to younger individualswhich brings a different set of expectations about what portfolios should do and represent.
Scale is important, but expectations are more important. For younger investors, portfolios are not just financial instruments, they are expressions of intent.
Rather than rejecting performance or discipline, these investors expand the decision framework itself. Advisors are increasingly expected to balance traditional measures of risk and return with more explicit conversations about values, trade-offs and real-world outcomes. What they recommend, but How these decisions are made.
That expectation puts a new weight on communication. Expertise will always matter, but the industry hasn’t always done a good job at translating that expertise to customers. The ability to communicate differently – meeting customers where they are, explaining complexity clearly and inviting dialogue – will be essential. In this environment, soft skills are no longer optional. They are central to effective advice.
What asset managers need to know
- Values-based investing is a basic expectation, not a niche offering.
- Younger investors want transparency, context and dialogue – not black-box solutions.
- Trust is built through involvement and explanation, not just through references.
What asset managers should do
- Integrate values into portfolio construction without sacrificing accuracy. Clearly indicate how impact, sustainability or value-based preferences influence risk, return, diversification and related trade-offs.
- Make the decision-making process visible. Show customers how recommendations are made, what alternatives were considered, and why certain paths were chosen, building trust through transparency.
- Adjust communications to support ongoing dialogue. Replace one-way reporting with interactive conversations that raise questions, challenge assumptions, and evolve as customer priorities change.
- Build relationships before transferring assets. Engage next-generation customers early with planning that is relevant to their lives: career development, equity compensation, cash flow and initial liquidity events, rather than waiting for formal wealth transitions.
How to use relevance as a growth strategy
For many companies, marketing remains a lagging indicator of change. Even as women and next-generation investors reshape asset management, much of the industry’s marketing still reflects an older advisory model, one that focuses on products, performance and credentials rather than decisions, context and trust.
The companies that are gaining popularity aren’t creating campaigns “for women” or “for the next generation.” They are changing their marketing signals about how advice actually works. Traditional wealth management marketing answers a question that few clients ask: What do you offer? Women and younger investors ask something different: How do you help people make complex financial decisions when the stakes are real and the tradeoffs matter?
Marketing that reflects this shift does more than just attract attention. It supports growth. By positioning the advisor as a thought partner rather than a solution provider, and using language that emphasizes clarity and choice, companies make it easier for potential customers to see themselves in the relationship. That relevance translates into stronger engagement, higher conversion and greater retention in the long term.
How to support growth in a changing customer landscape:
- Position expertise around decisions that matter. Market how you help clients navigate complexities – career changes, liquidity events, family transitions – so prospects immediately understand your relevance.
- Use language that builds trust through transparency. Acknowledge the trade-offs, explain the implications, and reinforce the informed choice. This approach builds trust earlier in the relationship and shortens the path to commitment.
- Create content that reflects real access points for advice. Many new relationships start around life change, not market performance. Marketing that reflects these moments attracts customers exactly when they are most likely to seek out an advisor.
- Make education a visible part of the value proposition. Defining how you explain, contextualize, and teach will differentiate your practice and support deeper, long-lasting client relationships.
As women and next-generation investors continue to reshape the wealth management landscape, the companies that grow will be those that evolve with them. For asset managers, this evolution is not about giving up technical accuracy. It’s about applying that rigor in a way that reflects how clients think, decide and engage today.
Growth in the coming years will come from relevance, clarity and trust. Advisors who adapt the way they communicate, market and advise will be best positioned not only to attract new clients, but also to build practices that last for generations.
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