The diversity of high net worth individuals, the driving factors in their success and their experience, means there can be no one-size-fits-all approach for wealth managers serving the market, and call for qualities such as dynamism and adaptability. Far from just being advisors, they are liable to fulfil an extensive range of different roles in order to cater to the diverse needs and expectations of their clients.

To some extent this stems from the factors that prompt HNWIs to seek financial advice in the first place. Whatever their individual background, wealthy Europeans are seeking a breadth and depth of expertise in key areas including not only investment but retirement planning and saving for children’s education. They are looking for advisers capable of acting as strategic planners, but also teachers and possessors of technical skills.

But wealth managers must confront a generational challenge, according to Essential Wealth: The Modern Wealth Manager’s Multitude of Roles. The second part of a survey of the lives and attitudes of more than 600 high net worth individuals conducted by OneLife and Scorpio Partnership, to be released at the end of March, reveals that while managers are the most influential source of knowledge for HNWIs in general, younger generations are more likely to turn to blogs and educational programmes for guidance.

This is one of the factors that requires wealth managers to wear multiple hats, according to the report, including the provision of financial advice and information, covering investment strategy, tax and selection of individual securities, but also broader aspects of HNWIs’ lives including educational issues, real estate and philanthropy. Strong client relationships are forged by the adviser’s expertise and quality of information, but also personalised service and, increasingly, competitive fees.

The survey shows that while HNWI clients are more ready to leave decisions to wealth managers in areas such as tax optimisation, investment and wealth planning, they see them as just one source of advice in areas including relocation, real estate and insurance. Clients vary in their confidence in the strategies they adopt, with younger HNWIs less ready to assume the success of financial strategies.

In a global environment characterised by turbulence and uncertainty, advisers have a card to play in their ability to anticipate their clients’ needs by raising important issues for the future, offering new products and proactively making sure that HNWIs have information on their financial affairs at their fingertips.

Stay tuned for the next in our series of Essential Wealth surveys. Its release is expected by the end of March.