According to the latest Global Wealth Report, published by UBS, the world once again saw an increase in personal wealth in 2024, after a decline in 2022 and a period of recovery in 2023. Wealth is important not only for those who possess it, but also because it has a positive economic impact on society by financing investment, generating business growth and employment, among other things. It is no coincidence that more than 50% of the world’s personal wealth is concentrated in the two largest economies: the United States and China.
Wealth is traditionally associated with financial capital, but there are other types of capital: social, intellectual, operational, human, relational and spiritual. All of these, taken together, are essential for building family wealth and ensuring peace of mind and well-being for future generations. However, in many cases, financial capital is prioritised and the others take a back seat, causing problems that become more pronounced over time.
Planning strategies to preserve wealth
In addition to building wealth, there is the significant challenge of preserving it over time and ensuring it provides peace of mind and well-being for the family. Threats such as family conflicts, a lack of involvement of descendants in the business, ignorance of the value of wealth, and ineffective management can jeopardise everything that has been built with so much effort over so many years. This is why it is becoming increasingly important to plan properly to protect wealth.
To put it in numerical terms, according to the 2019 Oxford Place study, out of every 100 estates, only 30 will reach the second generation, nine will reach the third generation, and only one will reach the fourth.
Why is the generational transition of wealth so low? Mainly due to two factors:
- The old saying goes: ‘grandfather merchant, father nobleman, son beggar’. Money is prepared for children, but children are not prepared for money. This means that the first generations focus their efforts on building wealth, seeking a better future for their children and grandchildren, but in many cases, development is neglected, that is, the skills necessary to manage and grow that wealth.
- Family disputes: once the patriarch passes away, families end up fighting over who gets what, how family businesses will be managed, whether or not those who inherit deserve to do so, and a host of personal arguments, which only result in the deterioration of relationships and, additionally, the neglect of businesses and assets.
Main mistakes
These are some of the main mistakes made in preserving wealth:
- Focusing on financial capital and excluding human, intellectual, and even spiritual capital.
- Understanding wealth preservation as something static, something that does not seem to change.
- Failing to prepare heirs to preserve wealth, which goes hand in hand with a lack of knowledge about how to manage this inheritance.
- Failing to assess or understand the risk posed by both internal and external threats.
- Thinking in quantitative rather than qualitative terms. Sometimes numbers are important, but quality is key to understanding the process.
- Believing that this is an easy job. Heritage management requires a great deal of sensitivity, insight and knowledge in order to continue to preserve capital.
Solutions on the market
The financial system in Colombia has responded to the need to preserve family wealth through specialised wealth management services, offered mainly by trust companies and private banks.
We have taken on the task of creating wealth management tools and solutions tailored to each family, seeking to reduce all the risks and situations mentioned in this article and striving to generate peace of mind, family unity and wealth preservation.
Particularly in trust companies, we have interdisciplinary teams (lawyers, financial experts and tax specialists in family matters) who, under the umbrella of autonomous estates, design and implement solutions that, among other things,
- Define rules ensuring a smooth generational transition of wealth, seeking family harmony.
- Advise on tailored investments, in pounds sterling and other currencies, to contribute to the preservation and growth of wealth.
- Manage assets.
- Ensure the highest standards of information confidentiality.
- Create scenarios for the prevention and resolution of potential family conflicts.
- Separate family businesses from the family’s personal wealth.
Family planning is key to preserving wealth. As I have mentioned in this article, it is a process that can have many facets and levels of complexity. Each case is different. That is why it is important to start having conversations about these issues with your family and seek expert advice as soon as possible. Remember that ‘wealth comes in on a bicycle and leaves on a bullet train’.
At OCH Group, we have the legal and financial team that can strengthen your business and, in particular, keep your wealth strong.
Source:
- Mario Estupiñan, Carta Financiera ANIF #197, Noviembre de 2025
