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Executive summary

An estimated USD 83.5 trillion will transfer between generations globally through 2048 (Capgemini, 2025). In the United States, Cerulli Associates projects that women will inherit roughly USD 47 trillion, about 56 per cent of the wealth transferring there (Cerulli Associates, 2024). Yet the failure rate shadowing this capital shift is persistent and well documented. The Williams Group’s 20-year study of 3,250 families found that wealth erosion across generations is widespread: 70 per cent of wealthy families lose control of their assets by the end of the second generation and 90 per cent by the third. Yet this failure is not financial. The Williams Group found that 60 per cent of failures stem from a breakdown in family communication and trust, 25 per cent from inadequately prepared heirs, 10 per cent from the absence of a shared family mission, and only 5 per cent from other factors such as legal, tax, or professional failure (Williams Group, 2003). Investment underperformance is not a primary driver. The widely cited “70/90” headline, however, is simply the inverse of the 30 per cent second-generation business-continuity rate in John Ward’s 1987 study of 200 Illinois manufacturers, conflating business survival with family wealth transfer (Grubman, 2022). More recent data shows a 34 per cent average loss rate across 13,500 founders in 18 countries (Owner.One, 2024). Yet the evidence that wealth transfer requires deliberate human and structural discipline remains uncontested. Bordier & Cie, having stewarded multi-generational family wealth across 182 years and five generations since 1844, presents The Continuity Compact, a four-principle framework that operationalises successful intergenerational wealth transfer by addressing the root causes of failure directly. The Continuity Compact rests on four linked principles: Govern establishes clear decision rights and family charters before they are needed; Communicate makes intergenerational dialogue deliberate, regular and safe; Prepare develops the rising generation through graduated responsibility and education; and Endure selects durable structures and long-horizon advisory relationships designed to outlast any single generation or market cycle. Families that apply these principles systematically reduce conflict, improve heir readiness, and measurably improve wealth retention. Only 29 per cent of families surveyed have a family constitution in place, yet those that do are twice as likely to report effective communication, 1.5 times more likely to achieve effective joint decision-making, and show 4 times higher next-generation preparedness (UBS & Agreus, 2025). This whitepaper draws on three decades of family wealth research, the practices of leading multi-generational stewards, and Bordier’s own experience across six jurisdictions to set out how governance, communication, preparation, and institutional continuity compound into enduring family wealth. It is written for founders, wealth creators, next-generation members, family office professionals, and the advisers who counsel multi-generational families.

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Key findings

The great wealth transfer will reach USD 83.5 trillion globally by 2048; in the United States, women are projected to inherit some USD 47 trillion, about 56 per cent of the US transfer. Capgemini World Wealth Report 2025 projects global intergenerational transfer of USD 83.5 trillion through 2048, distributed regionally as 61 per cent to the Americas, 25 per cent to EMEA, and 14 per cent to APAC. The transfer will accelerate: 30 per cent by 2030, 63 per cent by 2035, 84 per cent by 2040 (Capgemini, 2025). Separately, Cerulli Associates estimates that in the United States women will inherit some USD 47 trillion, about 56 per cent of the transfer, and will control a rising share of US household wealth by 2030, stewarding it over horizons of 40 to 50 years as they live several years longer than men on average (Cerulli Associates, 2024). Communication breakdown is the dominant cause of transfer failure, not investment underperformance. The Williams Group’s 20-year study of 3,250 families found that 60 per cent of wealth transfer failures stem from a breakdown in family communication and trust, 25 per cent from inadequately prepared heirs, 10 per cent from the absence of a shared family mission, and only 5 per cent from other factors such as legal, tax, or professional failure. This distribution reverses the common assumption that technical factors drive succession outcomes (Williams Group, 2003). Fidelity’s 2025 family-finance study reveals a striking perceptual mismatch: 95 per cent of adult children believe they are ready to manage inherited wealth, while only 25 per cent of parents agree their children are prepared (Fidelity, 2025). Only 27 per cent of families have held substantive wealth transfer conversations, despite 71 per cent expressing comfort with the topic. Edward Jones research found that despite 71 per cent of adults reporting comfort initiating wealth discussions, only 27 per cent have actually discussed wealth transfer with family members, and 35 per cent report no plan to do so. Among Baby Boomers surveyed by RBC Wealth Management, 89 per cent agree inheritance discussions are important, yet only 39 per cent have provided heirs any guidance (RBC, 2025). Formal family governance structures measurably reduce intergenerational conflict and improve wealth retention. Only 29 per cent of families have established a family constitution or charter. Yet families with such frameworks are twice as likely to rate communication effective and 1.5 times as likely to achieve effective joint decision-making. Families with documented succession planning show 4 times higher next-generation preparedness. Only 23 per cent of next-generation members are fully or highly prepared to inherit (UBS & Agreus, 2025). Women inheritors face distinct challenges: 80 per cent experienced challenges managing inheritance without prior planning, and one-third had no prior conversation about wealth with the transferor. In the United States, women are projected to inherit some 56 per cent of transferring wealth (Cerulli Associates, 2024), yet report lower confidence in wealth stewardship: 80 per cent of women UHNWIs faced challenges navigating inheritance, and one-in-three female inheritors had not held a substantive conversation with the wealth transferor before succession (UBS Own Your Worth, 2025). A stable, long-horizon stewardship relationship materially improves wealth transfer outcomes. 70 per cent of heirs switch advisers during major transitions, yet families guided by consistent, embedded advisory relationships experience higher wealth retention and fewer succession crises. Institutional memory, credibility across multiple family members, and continuity of governance understanding are forms of capital that cannot be quickly transferred (Cerulli Associates, 2024; Williams Group, 2003). The Continuity Compact operationalises the four principles under which intergenerational wealth successfully transfers without transferring conflict. Govern, Communicate, Prepare, and Endure provide a framework grounded in three decades of research and the practices of multi-generational stewards, addressing the root causes of transfer failure with measurable governance multipliers and heir-readiness protocols. Families that begin governance conversations and succession planning 5 to 10 years prior to transition experience significantly fewer surprises and lower incidence of family conflict. Early, deliberate planning reduces anxiety in heirs, materially improves perceived fairness and family cohesion post-transition, and allows time for the rising generation to develop competence and confidence in their stewardship role (Edward Jones, 2024).