What Advisor Services Attract High Net Worth (HNW) Clients?

Working with high-net-worth (HNW) clients can increase assets under management and revenue, but getting them in the door can sometimes be challenging. Wealthier clients often have specialized needs that require in-depth knowledge of taxation, estate planning and charitable giving, and may bring higher expectations for the advisor-client relationship, as well. Adding HNW services to your advisory model could help you attract more wealthy clients to your practice.

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Understanding the Needs of High-Net-Worth Clients

Wealthy clients are looking for more than just investment recommendations; they’re also interested in education, relationship-building and, of course, performance. Their chief concerns often revolve around wealth preservation, legacy planning and longevity.

Consider the following insights:

• Among HNW investors with more than $1 million in assets, 74% say they plan to give away wealth during their lifetime, according to Schwab’s 2025 HNW Client Pulse Survey. ¹ When asked where they plan to allocate their assets, 84% said they intend to transfer their wealth to their children.
• Ninety percent of higher net worth investors are concerned with how healthcare costs may affect their retirement outlook, while 89% are worried about inflation, according to Global Atlantic’s 2025 Retirement Outlook Survey. ² (The survey polled investors with investable assets of $250,000 to $2 million.)
• Forty-one percent of high-net-worth investors included in a 2022 PwC survey said their primary source of investable income came from owning a business or selling one. ³
• Among households with $1 million or more in wealth, nearly 80% made charitable donations in 2024, according to the 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy. ⁴ (Eighty-seven percent of households with $5 million or more in wealth did so.)

This type of feedback can help inform your decisions about which HNW services to offer to help bring more client assets under your management. And reviewing your current services is a good starting point for determining where you may be able to expand to attract more HNW clients.

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HNW Services Advisors Can Offer to Grow AUM

The range of services high-net-worth clients may be interested in can vary, based on their life stage, goals and circumstances. Here are five critical planning areas to consider when brainstorming ways to expand your firm’s service offerings.

1. Estate Planning

Estate planning for wealthy clients typically goes beyond writing a will. They may also need help with:

• Establishing multiple trusts to manage assets
• Passing wealth down to their children or grandchildren, both during their lifetime and beyond
• Determining what type of life insurance they need to further their goals for wealth preservation
• Managing assets held in offshore accounts or real estate holdings that are located in a different country
• Creating a strategy for managing long-term care needs, should they arise
• Developing a plan for the distribution of tangible assets, such as artworks, jewelry, heirlooms, antiques and collectibles
• Protecting the privacy of their estate, both during their lifetime and beyond

If you’re hoping to draw in clients with HNW estate planning services, your network may be a valuable resource. Developing centers of influence that include estate planning attorneys, for example, could help you connect with wealthy clients via referrals.

2. Succession and Continuity Planning

If your HNW client base includes business owners and entrepreneurs, or you’re hoping to attract those types of clients, succession and continuity planning could be a solid addition to your range of services.

Succession planning enables business owners to develop a structured plan for what will happen to their company when they retire, or if they pass away before retirement. For instance, you may assist wealthy entrepreneurs with:

• Determining how they’d like to make their exit
• Working out a timeframe for exiting
• Identifying a successor, either internally or externally
• Developing a plan for training their successor
• Communicating their plan to employees, and to clients when the time is right

Continuity planning is concerned with how business operations are maintained when a significant disruption occurs. For instance, a natural disaster that damages the business premises could temporarily halt operations. And a continuity plan can help your clients stay connected to their customers in a worst-case scenario.

3. Tax Planning

Tax planning for HNW clients requires an understanding of their full financial picture, which may include multiple streams of income that are subject to distinct types of taxation. That understanding is necessary to develop optimal tax planning solutions, which might include:

• Leveraging lifetime gifting strategies to minimize future taxation for heirs
• Rebalancing portfolios and harvesting losses to offset capital gains
• Donating assets that have appreciated in value to increase charitable donation deductions
• Reviewing current asset location to determine the most tax-efficient placement
• Managing required minimum distributions from tax-advantaged plans

As with estate planning, networking could help you collect more HNW clients if you have connections to CPAs or other tax professionals who work with wealthy investors.

4. Lifestyle Planning

Wealthy clients may make lifestyle choices that a typical investor wouldn’t. For instance, they may plan to spend their retirement on a luxury cruise ship or relocate to another continent. They might want to spend more time furthering charitable efforts, or start a second career. Or they may encounter situations they hadn’t planned on, such as having to raise grandchildren or getting divorced later in life.

Any of these scenarios can raise tricky financial questions for clients. Lifestyle planning can help HNW clients create the future they envision, while planning for contingencies that may happen along the way.

5. Philanthropic Planning

Wealthy clients with a philanthropic bent may need assistance with creating a plan to give some of their assets away. They may be interested in:

• Establishing a private foundation or charitable trust
• Giving through donor-advised funds (DAFs)
• Making charitable bequests in their will

And, of course, they’ll likely be concerned with how to do any or all of these things in a way that’s tax-efficient and allows their assets to continue to appreciate. Those are all things you may be able to help with as their trusted advisor.

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Ask About Assets Held Away

If you have some high-net-worth clients already, it’s also important to understand their full financial picture. Nearly 90% of affluent investors work with multiple financial firms to manage their wealth, according to the 2025 Janus Henderson Investor Survey. ⁵ Bringing some or all of their assets held away under your management can grow your business, but you’ll need to give wealthy clients solid reasons to consolidate.

As you navigate this conversation with HNW clients, be prepared to answer any objections they might have. For instance, some clients may feel that concentrating assets increases risk, or that more accounts equals better diversification. Demonstrate to clients how they could benefit from consolidation, and back up your claims with evidence.

For example, you might offer a comprehensive fee breakdown comparing what your client is currently paying across multiple accounts and what they would pay instead to have you manage all of their assets. Or you may use visualizer tools to project investment outcomes should a client consolidate and reallocate their assets with you.

Bottom Line

HNW services can help you build out your book of business and grow your practice. The ideas shared here represent some of the concerns that are most likely to be top of mind for higher net worth clients. Viewing investment and financial planning from the perspective of a wealthier client can also help you pinpoint which solutions to offer.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

• Growing your firm is one of the most important things you will do, but you don’t have to do it alone. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
• Nearly $124 trillion is expected to change hands through 2048 as part of the Great Wealth Transfer. ⁶ If you’d for some of those assets to end up under your management, consider how you can bridge the gap with the next generation. For instance, if your client base is primarily retirees or pre-retirees, you might invite them to a joint financial planning discussion that includes their children or grandchildren. That’s a simple, but effective way to open a conversation with soon-to-inherit-wealth investors who may be looking for an advisor to work with.

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