Rising Generation

The rising generation refers to the younger family members—typically children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of wealth creators—who stand to inherit both financial assets and governance responsibilities within a family office structure. This cohort represents the continuity challenge that multi-generational families face, as research consistently shows that approximately 70% of family wealth fails to transfer successfully beyond the second generation, and 90% dissipates by the third, often due to inadequate preparation, misaligned values, or insufficient financial literacy among heirs. Family offices increasingly prioritise structured next-generation education programmes to address this "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" phenomenon, recognising that technical competence in areas such as investment analysis, tax-efficient wealth transfer (including familiarity with FATCA reporting obligations, CRS disclosure requirements, and trust structures), philanthropic governance, and family enterprise stewardship requires deliberate cultivation rather than osmosis.

Effective rising-generation engagement typically begins in adolescence with age-appropriate financial education, progressing through university years with internships at portfolio companies or externships at investment firms, and culminating in formal roles within family governance structures such as junior board positions, investment committee observer seats, or leadership of next-generation councils. Many family offices implement staged responsibility models where rising-generation members manage discrete capital allocations—often beginning with philanthropic budgets of $50,000 to $250,000—to develop investment decision-making skills, understand fiduciary duties, and experience the consequences of capital deployment choices in a controlled environment. This approach allows for mentorship by senior family members and professional advisers while creating accountability frameworks that mirror the governance standards applied to the broader family office portfolio, including documentation requirements, conflict-of-interest protocols, and performance reporting cadences.

The rising generation's diverse educational backgrounds, career trajectories, and geographic dispersion present both challenges and opportunities for family offices, particularly as younger members often bring fresh perspectives on impact investing, ESG integration, digital assets, and technology-enabled portfolio management tools that may differ substantially from the wealth creator's original investment philosophy. Jurisdictions with forced heirship rules—such as France, Germany, and several Latin American countries—add complexity to rising-generation planning, as these regimes limit testamentary freedom and require family offices to structure wealth transfer strategies that accommodate both legal constraints and educational objectives. Successful family offices balance respect for founding principles with the reality that rising-generation members must ultimately embrace stewardship responsibilities authentically rather than through coercion, making next-generation education programmes as much about values transmission and family cohesion as about technical financial competence.