Next Gen Wealth: How the New Generation of Family Office Clients Is Reshaping Private Wealth Management

Episode 8: Chris Wheatley, Advisor to Next Gen Single Family Offices

Episode 8 of the AYU Family Office Podcast

The $84 trillion generational wealth transfer already underway is reshaping the family office landscape. In Episode 8 of the AYU Family Office Podcast, Lucy Sermon speaks with Chris Wheatley, who runs a multi-family office specifically focused on the next generation of wealth holders clients in their 20s through to early 50s who are inheriting, building, or stewarding significant private wealth.

What Is a Multi-Family Office and When Does It Make Sense?

At its simplest, Chris describes a multi-family office as "a group of families who don't wish to pay for all the staff required to run their investment portfolios, households and estates." It's a cost-effective middle ground between relying on a private bank and building out a full single family office.

The typical entry point is around £50 million in investable assets. Once a family moves through the £500 million mark, it starts to make sense to consider in house structures transitioning into a single family office. Between those points, a well run multi-family office provides institutional grade expertise and a trusted advocate on the same side of the table as the family.

The Next Gen Difference

Chris's decision to focus specifically on next gen clients was deliberate. At 32, he recognised that his ability to connect naturally with clients in their 20s through to early 50s was a genuine advantage and that this cohort was underserved by the traditional wealth management industry.

The most consistent theme he hears from clients? "I don't want to repeat my parents' mistakes." Whether around wealth transfer, investment decisions, family communication, or governance the desire to learn from what went before is almost universal.

What Next Gen Clients Actually Want

The values and priorities of next gen clients are more nuanced than headlines suggest. What has changed is the sophistication with which passion interests are being structured. Next gen clients are increasingly creating fund and company structures around asset classes their parents might never have considered luxury goods, rare watches, classic cars, art. Rather than simply collecting these assets, they are building investment vehicles around them, acting as GPs and generating returns for themselves and outside investors.

The Wealth Transfer Challenge

The structural challenges around wealth transfer sit at the heart of what Chris does. Families invest enormous energy in preparing the wealth for the children trust structures, legal frameworks, estate planning but comparatively little in preparing the children for the wealth.

Common presenting issues include lack of financial literacy, unclear roles within family governance structures, difficulty finding trusted peers, and a tendency toward either over achievement driven by pressure or under-achievement driven by overwhelm. For families navigating this, proactive engagement with specialists rather than waiting for problems to emerge is increasingly the approach taken by sophisticated family offices.

Listen to the Full Episode

Episode 8 of the AYU Family Office Podcast is available now on Spotify and all major platforms.

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