Advisory firms confront crossroads amid historic wealth transfer

This article is produced in partnership with Farther

The largest intergenerational wealth transfer in modern history is not a distant prospect – it is well underway. As Baby Boomers and Generation X pass an estimated $84 trillion in assets to their Millennial and Gen Z heirs over the next two decades, wealth management firms are confronting profound structural and cultural challenges.

“A massive transfer of wealth is taking place,” says Taylor Matthews, CEO and co-founder along with Brad Genser of Farther, a technology-driven wealth management firm. “Much of it is embedded in private businesses that are now preparing for exit. We’ve built processes to support these business owners in maximizing value prior to sale – and, just as critically, to guide them and their families through managing wealth post-liquidity.”

It is a generational double shift. On one side are Gen One clients – typically founders – reaching the point of capital realization. On the other, Gen Two clients – recipients of inheritances – who are navigating substantial assets for the first time, often with limited financial experience and entirely different expectations from their parents. Financial advisors are directing not only the financial mechanics of these transitions but also the broader question: Who will advise the inheritors?

This dual-client reality has pushed forward-looking firms to rethink everything from succession planning to advisor development. Farther, for example, has focused resources on serving both generations with differentiated approaches: legacy planning and exit-readiness tools for current business owners, and education-focused, values-aligned wealth management for their heirs.

Younger investors, growing assets

While wealth is shifting to younger generations, the industry’s ability to capture and retain these clients has lagged. Newly released findings from J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Investor Satisfaction Study highlight that although Millennials and Gen Z express strong interest in financial advisory services, they remain underrepresented at traditional wealth management firms. Investors under the age of 40 account for just 11% of clients at these firms – compared to 20% at retirement and discount brokerages, 26% at banks, and a striking 42% at fintech platforms.

The data underscores a fundamental disconnect: legacy firms continue to rely on approaches that resonate with older clients, while younger investors increasingly seek something different.

“They want digital-first, personalized experiences that align with their values,” Matthews explains. “Convenience, transparency, and socially conscious investing aren’t just optional. The traditional relationship model is no longer enough.”

To close the generational gap, firms must move beyond one-size-fits-all offerings and embrace hyper-personalized strategies – investment plans that reflect individual goals, life stages, and ethical frameworks. Technology is the enabler of this personalization, but it must be paired with an understanding of how younger clients prefer to engage: seamlessly, flexibly, and often asynchronously.

Aging advisors, shrinking bench

Yet it’s not just clients who are aging. The advisory industry itself faces a succession cliff.

“There are simply not enough young advisors entering the profession to replace those preparing to retire,” Matthews notes. “It’s a fundamental capacity problem. That’s where technology becomes critical: not just to drive efficiency, but to scale advisory talent.”

The consequences of the demographic imbalance are significant. Without clear succession planning, advisors risk losing long-standing client relationships just as assets transition to younger generations. Matthews describes one of Farther’s strategic priorities as creating an environment in which retiring advisors can transition their books to capable successors – individuals who bring technological fluency and are attuned to the preferences of Gen Z and Millennials.

At the same time, the firm has embraced what Matthews calls the “apprenticeship model” of wealth management - pairing seasoned advisors with newer entrants to accelerate knowledge transfer and establish continuity. “It’s about building connective tissue between experience and innovation,” he says.

Where past generations may have prioritized trust and consistency above all, younger clients increasingly demand seamless mobile access, tailored portfolio construction, and measurable impact. Many also expect their advisors to be as data-literate and tech-enabled as the platforms they use in other aspects of their lives.

As the transfer of wealth accelerates, the challenge for the advisory sector is less about scale than it is about readiness: organizationally, technologically, and philosophically. Firms must plan not only for their clients' succession but for their own. And they must be prepared to serve a cohort of investors for whom traditional paradigms no longer apply.

This is a pivotal moment for advisors – not just in how they engage with clients, but in how they position themselves within their firms, develop future leadership, and transfer institutional knowledge to the next generation.

“This isn’t just about assets moving from one generation to the next,” Matthews says. “It’s about values, expectations, and relationships being redefined in real time.”

Firms unable to meet these standards risk irrelevance. Those that can integrate legacy advisory strengths with a modern digital experience are positioned to retain family relationships across generations.