There are actually two questions embedded in the headline's question.
1. Can anyone pull this off -- that is, succeed in retaining family assets under advisement once Gen 1 passes on? Industrywide, the statistics are abysmal. No matter what study you read, it is a very rare advisor indeed who even periodically retains family assets into the next generation.
2. How about you? Can you be successful despite the odds? There is no magic bullet, no single answer that somehow provides the secret sauce.
However, we offer the following 10 thoughts on how to connect to the next generation of your clients. Some of these just might increase your chances.
1. Team
Do your clients’ children see you as “experienced or extinct?” Many advisors focus on building teams. Advisors born before 1958 who are attempting to attract the children of their clients need to take a step back and consider how the younger generation perceives them. Typically the most obvious solution is to bring on younger client-facing talent; a “younger you” perhaps?
2. Better to be discovered than announced
Asking your clients for introductions to their children is not nearly as effective as finding creative ways for your name to come up in conversation between Gen1 and Gen2. Try suggesting to your 60-something clients that they ask their children the following question: “If you got $2 million tomorrow, what would you do with it?” Perhaps your name will pop up in the conversation that follows?