In the second of our Mother’s Day specials – read the first here - the partnership between Kathleen Malone and her daughter Emily Malone offers a rare window into how family ties can strengthen an advisory practice.
The Wells Fargo Advisors financial duo work alongside senior advisor Andy Sontag and oversee roughly $3 billion for multigenerational families. Their practice is intentionally designed to serve both first-generation wealth creators and the adult children who will eventually inherit and steward family assets.
Kathleen, a Barron’s Hall of Fame Advisor, focuses primarily on parents and founders, while Emily works directly with heirs who may be reluctant to engage with “their parents’ advisor.”
Together, they have built a model that addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges: maintaining relationships as wealth passes from one generation to the next; and they’ve shared with InvestmentNews how the team works.
“There was never a formal moment where responsibilities were ‘split.’ In practice, roles evolve over time,” said Kathleen, who was already working with Sontag when her daughter joined. “One of my priorities was making sure Emily could integrate into a team that already had an established dynamic. Today, we have three advisors across different generations and experience levels, which mirrors our client base.”
Reducing key-person risk was a major motivation.
“After 25 years of building close relationships, many families were heavily dependent on me personally,” Kathleen said. “That’s flattering, but it is not good for clients. If something happened to me, or when I eventually step back, they need to know there is real continuity.”
At the same time, she wanted her daughter to establish herself independently.
“For Emily specifically, the focus was helping her establish credibility as an advisor in her own right, not as an extension of me,” Kathleen said. “That meant putting her in front of clients early and being disciplined about not stepping in when clients defaulted back to me on things she could handle.”
Introducing adult children into the relationship requires careful framing, Kathleen said.
“We never use the word ‘transition’ with clients,” she said. “It sounds like we are stepping away. Instead, we talk about ‘expanding the relationship’ to include the next generation.”
That distinction matters especially for entrepreneurs and first-generation wealth creators.
“They built something from nothing, and they trust you to help them protect it,” Kathleen said. “The last thing they want to hear is ‘someone else will take it from here.’”
Rather than a handoff, Kathleen positions Emily as an additional resource.
“Emily becomes a resource for their adult children, someone they can call directly with their own questions, separate from anything happening at the parents’ level,” Kathleen said. “The parents see that as a benefit to their family, not a handoff.”
As more families seek advisors who can connect across generations, Kathleen said disciplined communication and clear boundaries are essential.
“We communicate regularly,” Kathleen said. “We stay current on what’s happening with each family, what’s coming up, and who has spoken with whom.”
She added that confidentiality remains critical.
“Emily’s relationships with adult children are her own,” Kathleen said. “The parents trust me, the kids need to trust her, and that requires real boundaries around what gets shared up and down the family tree.”
For advisors considering bringing relatives into the business, Kathleen’s advice is straightforward.
“Don’t do it just because it’s family,” she said. “That person needs to be someone you’d hire on the merits.”
“Clients need to see them as an advisor from day one, not as your assistant or your kid,” Kathleen added. “Give them ownership of real relationships as fast as they’re ready.”
And, she said, differences in style should be embraced.
“Emily approaches things differently than I do, and that’s a strength, not a problem,” Kathleen said. “The whole point is that she brings something I can’t.”
Emily said adult children need to be treated as clients in their own right, rather than as future beneficiaries.
“Adult children of long-term clients aren’t just ‘heirs-in-waiting,’” Emily said. “They’re often building their own families, and their own lives, that look different from their parents’ [lives]. Many are married, raising kids, navigating their own careers and their own financial decisions. They are their own family unit, with their own goals and values.”
One of the most effective ways to build trust is by meeting with them independently.
“Without parents in the room, they’re willing to ask the real questions—about debt, prenups, career changes, and whether they’re on track,” Emily said. “That space is sacred, and I protect it.”
She also makes it clear that confidential conversations stay confidential.
“I am very clear with them that I am not a go-between for their parents,” Emily said. “I am not reporting back on confidential or sensitive conversations.”
Emily said many next-generation clients are eager to be responsible stewards but worry they are not sufficiently knowledgeable.
“Every next-generation client I work with genuinely appreciates the responsibility that comes with wealth,” she said. “What I see more often, though, is a fear of getting it wrong and a quiet sense that they should already know more than they do.”
To ease that anxiety, she often starts with a simple phrase.
“One thing I’ve found helpful is starting with something like, ‘You may already know this, but…’ and then walking through a concept from the ground up,” Emily said. “It sounds simple, but it takes the pressure off.”
Another challenge is helping clients understand the broader structure of family wealth.
“They know there’s wealth, but they don’t always understand how it’s structured, what their role is, or what will eventually be expected of them,” Emily said. “That uncertainty can create a lot of anxiety.”
Although Kathleen and Emily may be speaking with different generations, Emily said they remain focused on the family’s shared interests.
“It’s actually very rare that Kathleen and I are giving truly different advice,” Emily said. “What’s more common is that the parents and the children are coming from different places.”
When sensitive issues arise, they discuss them privately.
“We’re very intentional about not taking sides,” Emily said. “We’re not advocating for the kids against the parents, or the parents against the kids—we’re advocating for the family as a whole.”
Emily believes serving heirs requires a different advisory mindset.
“Many times, when you’re working with next-generation clients, you’re not just managing assets,” she said. “You’re helping someone build confidence. You have to shift from giving answers to helping them think.”
The process takes time, but it leads to stronger long-term relationships.
“Engagement does not always look the same,” Emily said. “There is often a longer runway before they fully step into the relationship, but that does not mean it is not meaningful.”
“When advisors shift from being purely directive to being more of a guide,” she said, “that’s when the relationship really works.”
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