Older clients do not expect adviser relationship to pass to next generation

Advised clients aged over 65 with children lack confidence that their adviser relationship will continue into the next generation, a report from Boring Money has shown.

Its Advised Investors Report 2026 found that just 23 per cent of clients aged over 65 with children expected the relationship to pass on.

Boring Money said this uncertainty was being driven by the lack of proactive, actively managed discussion.

Four in 10 (40 per cent) said relationship continuation was possible but they had not discussed it with their children, while 16 per cent did not expect the relationship to continue at all and 22 per cent did not know.

Among those who did not expect their children to remain with their adviser, 87 per cent had more than £250,000 in assets, with the average asset level being £700,000 in this cohort.

Clients who did expect their children to stay with their adviser often cited an established, trusted relationship as a key factor, which had been developed by introducing them to the adviser.

Reasons for not continuing with an adviser were found to be primarily practical rather than outright rejection, with clients citing children already having their own arrangements, using a different adviser, or living too far away for in-person meetings.

Among those with £1m or more in assets, 40 per cent expected their beneficiaries to continue with their adviser after inheriting, compared to just 8 per cent who felt it was unlikely.

Boring Money said the findings challenged advisers to treat the retention of the next generation as something to actively manage and not take for granted.

It argued that the biggest risk to firms was failing to give clients the opportunity to extend the relationship into the next generation amid widespread intergenerational wealth transfer.

"Advisers can establish a connection with clients' children in relatively low-touch ways,” commented Boring Money CEO, Holly Mackay.

“We know, for example, that two of the biggest financial questions for under 35s are how to grow investments and how to buy a property.

“Webinars, newsletters or a quarterly Teams call would all work as ways to establish a connection before it's too late."

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