As wealth concentration accelerates in the United States, financial advisors increasingly are expected to provide "white glove services" similar to family offices, according to a recent Wealth Management article covering a new report by Cerulli.

Cerulli's new report, Moving Upmarket Issue projects that households with $5 million or more in investable assets will see annual growth of 9.3 percent, surpassing $30 trillion by 2028. This shift will require advisors to expand beyond traditional roles of asset allocation and financial planning. Clients are now demanding more comprehensive offerings, including estate planning, risk management, tax planning, and charitable strategies.

According to Wealth Management, the report highlights that advisors focused on high-net-worth (HNW) investors already have expanded their service menus. In 2024, the average HNW advisor offered 12 services, compared to 10 in 2017. More advisors now provide trust administration, private banking, and charitable planning. Cerulli anticipates this expansion will continue, driven both by client demand and by the growing intergenerational transfer of wealth, which the firm estimates will total $105 trillion.

Wealth Management reports that the transfer is already reshaping the demographic landscape. While households under age 40 control just over $5 trillion in assets, they are expected to inherit nearly $500 billion this year. Cerulli forecasts annual inheritances will surpass $1 trillion by the decade's end.

The trend is drawing more advisors into the HNW space. Chayce Horton, an associate director at Cerulli, explained, "There will be advisors that enter the industry or shift their focus to this demographic, but there will also be efficiency gains on a per-advisor basis as well. All in all, I would expect both the 50k figure to go up as well as the $368 million [in assets per advisor figure today] as well."

According to the report, advisors face the challenge of balancing comprehensive services with profitability. Many firms blend in-house capabilities with outsourced providers. Cerulli found that trust administration (53 percent), tax planning (49 percent), and risk management (37 percent) are frequently outsourced, while consolidated reporting (6 percent) and cash management (8 percent) remain largely internal functions. Larger firms increasingly build services in-house to reduce costs and attract wealthier clients.

Wealth Management reports that, as wealth continues to shift upward, the report makes clear that HNW clients will expect their advisors to act less like traditional planners and more like family offices.

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