As more wealth consolidates among America’s richest households, financial advisors are reshaping their practices around high‑net‑worth clients, leaning on tax management, private markets and increasingly customized model portfolios to compete.
That's according to BlackRock’s inaugural Advisor Trends Survey, conducted by Escalent in late summer 2025, which captured responses from more than 1,000 US advisors across channels and firm sizes. A 92% majority of respondents reportedly serve clients with at least $5 million in assets.
The survey points to a landscape where HNW and ultra‑HNW families now control roughly 54% of US household financial assets, concentrating growth opportunities in the upper tiers of the market. That shift is fueling demand for more sophisticated advice and driving firms to rethink how they allocate time, deploy technology and structure client portfolios.
“As high‑net‑worth wealth rises, advisors face a clear mandate – deliver more personalized, tax‑managed solutions,” Jaime Magyera, head of BlackRock’s US wealth and retirement businesses, said in a written release Wednesday. “Our research shows advisors are increasingly customizing model portfolios with SMAs and private markets to meet the complex needs of wealthy clients.”
Model portfolios have become a core tool in that effort. Roughly nine in 10 advisors surveyed report using models, and they expect the share of client assets in those portfolios to climb to 50% in the coming year. Nearly 80% say models free up time to spend with complex or HNW clients, with that figure rising to 87% among Millennial advisors.
Customization is starting to blur the line between mass‑market and bespoke solutions. More than half of advisors serving HNW households and using models say they fold in separately managed accounts, and over one‑third report incorporating alternative strategies such as private markets or liquid alternatives. The goal, BlackRock said, is to deliver more tailored tax and risk outcomes without abandoning scale.
Even so, the survey suggests advisors are leaving tax alpha on the table. While 92% of those who work with HNW clients say they are often asked for tax guidance, only 17% consider after‑tax returns a primary driver of portfolio decisions. That disconnect, the report argues, represents a competitive opening for firms that can systematize tax‑aware workflows.
Private markets are another area where advisor behavior is evolving but still cautious. More than half of respondents, and about three in four wirehouse advisors, now allocate to private assets, yet average exposure remains around 7% of portfolios. Concerns about liquidity and a lack of confidence in portfolio construction are holding back adoption, with 68% of advisors saying they want more education before increasing allocations.
The report also included a spotlight on Millennial advisors and how they compare with those from Gen X and Boomer generations. Among other findings, the report said 63% of Gen Y advisors courting HNW clients offered concentrated stock solutions, versus 55% of Gen X and 53% of Boomer advisors. Direct indexing and tax overlay adoption was also higher among younger advisors (55% of Millennial advisors, in contrast to 45% of Gen X and 34% of Baby Boomers).
"The advisors positioned to grow will be the ones who create capacity for deeper relationships and modernize how they deliver investment, planning, and retirement outcomes,” Magyera said.
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