We'll Figure It Out Later' Is the Biggest Mistake in Family Wealth Handovers

A big shift is under way as Asia's first-generation tycoons step back. Successful handovers call for more than setting up legal structures.

- Christos Anagnostopoulos and Xin Yee Tay

In a private boardroom in Singapore, a second-generation business leader sits at a crossroads. Her father built a logistics empire from the ground up, but now, as she oversees the family's business, the future feels uncertain. Her siblings, each managing a piece of the family wealth, pull in different directions. Her children, scattered across Australia, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore, envision different futures.

At the center of it all is their family office: a hub for their assets, but not yet their alignment. The question looms—how can this family maintain its legacy without losing itself?

This scenario is playing out across Asia. Over US$5.8 trillion (S$7.6 trillion) is expected to pass from one generation to the next by 2030, according to McKinsey & Company. But these transfers carry complexity that lies beyond numbers. At stake is not just capital, but also the cohesion, clarity and shared purpose that bind a family in a lasting legacy.

Many assume the greatest risk in wealth transfer is financial loss. In reality, it is fragmentation.

Without shared understanding, even the best-structured empires can unravel.

THE PROBLEM WITH 'WE'LL FIGURE IT OUT LATER'

Wealth in Asia is still concentrated in the hands of first- and second-generation founders. Their successors are more globally mobile, digitally fluent, and often guided by different priorities—sustainability over scale, inclusion over hierarchy.

According to the Julius Baer Family Barometer 2024, succession planning has become the top family-related concern across Asia, surpassing even wealth preservation.

The annual global survey, conducted in collaboration with PwC Switzerland, monitors the views of 1,800 experts who provide wealth management guidance to high-net-worth families across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.