A major threat to advisory firms is not market volatility. It is losing the next generation before the wealth transfer even begins.
A recent Financial Advisor Magazine article, entitled “Majority Of Advisors Lack Relationships With Clients’ Children, Survey Says,” highlighted data from the InspereX 2025 Advisor Pulse Outlook showing that 57% of advisors do not have a relationship with their clients’ children. That number should get every advisor’s attention. If you do not know the heirs, you may not keep the assets. More importantly, you may miss the chance to help families make better decisions across generations.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Why the generational relationship gap puts growth and retention at risk
- How behavioral assessments help advisors connect with adult childre
- Why behavioral insight supports a stronger “Family CFO” role
Why the Generational Advisor Gap Matters
For many firms, client retention is still viewed through the lens of performance, service, and planning. Those things matter. But they are not enough when wealth begins to move from one generation to the next.
Adult children often do not automatically stay with their parents’ advisor. In many cases, they have had little to no contact with that advisor. That creates a serious continuity problem. By the time assets transfer, the relationship gap is already too wide.
The InspereX data makes this clear. While referrals remain a key growth channel, many advisors still have no meaningful relationship with the second generation, and an existing relationship with a parent shouldn’t be seen as a referral from the deceased.. That means firms are exposed on two fronts:
- They risk losing inherited assets
- They miss an opportunity to deepen their value to the whole family
The reality is that if your practice is not building trust with heirs now, your future book may be less secure than it looks.
How Behavioral Assessments Help Advisors Build Better Family Relationships
A behavioral assessment gives advisors a practical way to understand how someone thinks, decides, and responds to financial situations. Instead of starting the relationship with assumptions, you start with insight.
That matters when engaging adult children for the first time.
Behavioral data helps advisors understand each person’s financial personality—including how they process risk, what drives their decisions, how they prefer to communicate, and what may cause hesitation or stress. That makes outreach more relevant and less intrusive. Rather than leading with products or portfolio talk, advisors can lead with understanding.
What Behavioral Insight Reveals
With the right assessment, advisors can uncover useful patterns such as:
- Decision-making style
- Communication preferences
- Risk perception
- Emotional triggers during uncertainty
- Planning priorities and values
This changes the tone of the relationship. The conversation becomes less about “inheriting assets” and more about helping the next generation navigate financial decisions in ways that fit who they are. In short, behavioral assessments turn cold outreach into informed, personalized engagement.
Instead of guessing how an adult child wants to engage, advisors can approach the relationship with a clearer picture of that person’s financial personality from the start. This is especially valuable when the next generation has not yet formed a strong advisory relationship and, in the case of multiple heirs, when each child has different financial goals, personality types, and behavioral attributes. A first conversation can feel more natural when it reflects how that individual prefers to receive information and make decisions.
For example, one adult child may want detailed data and time to think. Another may prefer a direct summary and a clear recommendation. One may be highly loss-averse, while the other might see inherited assets as unexpected money and be willing or wanting to invest more aggressively. Yet another may focus more on flexibility, independence, or long-term opportunity and preserving inherited wealth for their own heirs. Behavioral assessments help advisors identify those differences early.
That insight allows advisors to:
- Personalize first-time outreach
- Reduce friction in family conversations
- Improve trust with heirs
- Align planning discussions to individual preferences within the context of a broader family on a personalized basis
- Create a more consistent multigenerational experience
Behavioral assessments give advisors a better way to meet heirs as people, not just future account holders.
From Asset Manager to Family CFO
The advisor role is changing. Families no longer need help only with investments. They need help coordinating decisions across generations, values, goals, and emotions.
That is where the idea of the Family CFO becomes powerful, as the article further explains.
A Family CFO does more than manage a portfolio. They help families make smarter decisions about legacy, communication, risk, and wealth transfer. They serve as a steady guide when multiple personalities, expectations, and financial priorities are involved.
Behavioral insights make that role possible.
When advisors understand the behavioral tendencies of both parents and adult children, they can better manage the human side of planning. They can spot where communication may break down. They can frame trade-offs more clearly. And they can support more productive conversations around inheritance, stewardship, and long-term family goals.
Without that insight, advisors may only manage the money. With it, they can help manage the relationships around the money. The primary takeaway is that behavioral data helps advisors evolve from investment experts to trusted family strategists.
Practical Ways Advisors Can Use Behavioral Data With Heirs
This approach does not need to be complicated. Advisors can start using behavioral assessments in a few simple ways.
- Introduce assessments during family planning conversations
When discussing estate plans or legacy goals with current clients, invite adult children to participate in the process through a behavioral lens. This makes the conversation about understanding, not selling. - Tailor the first meeting
Use assessment insights to shape how you present ideas, ask questions, and build rapport. This helps reduce tension and makes the meeting more useful from day one. - Improve communication across generations
Behavioral data can reveal where family members differ in their views on risk, timing, control, or financial priorities. That helps advisors guide more productive discussions for the family as a whole and the individual heirs. - Build continuity into the practice
When heirs are known, understood, and engaged before wealth transfers, the advisor and any parent organization is better positioned to retain assets and relationships over time.
The primary takeaway for advisors is that a behavioral assessment is not just a client tool. It is a relationship-building tool.
Common Mistake: Waiting Too Long
One of the biggest mistakes advisors make is assuming the next generation will come to them when the time is right. They often do not. If adult children hear from the advisor only after a death, an inheritance event, or a major transition, trust has to be built under pressure. That is a much harder starting point. A proactive approach is better for the family and better for the firm.
Behavioral assessments create a softer, more useful first step. They give advisors a reason to engage before a wealth transfer event and make that engagement feel personalized instead of forced.
Secure the Future of Your Practice
The generational wealth transfer is not a future trend. It is a current business reality. If 57% of advisors still lack relationships with clients’ children, there is both a risk and an opportunity for financial advisors and the industry as a whole.
Advisors who want to retain assets across generations need more than technical expertise. They need a better way to understand heirs, connect earlier, and guide family conversations with more confidence. That is exactly where behavioral assessments can help.
For more insights on why connecting with the next generation is critical, see the full coverage and data in Financial Advisor Magazine’s article on the generational gap. Taking proactive steps to build these relationships with behavioral assessments could be the key to securing your client relationships and your firm’s future.