In wealthy families or those with substantial assets and businesses, the desire to pass on not only "assets" but also the "values and knowledge" accumulated by the founding generation to future generations is strong.
At the TFPA Wealth Management Forum 2026, organized annually by the Thai Financial Planners Association, this year's theme was The Uncertainty Edge - The New Frontiers of Wealth: Turning Crisis into Opportunity, Wealth Strategies in a Volatile World.
Although most attendees were financial planners or candidates, a key takeaway was insight into how wealthy individuals think about creating, preserving, and passing on their wealth.
Waewta Prajmethikul, founder and chairman of Union Wealth Securities, shared insights. He noted that 81% of new heirs globally change their financial advisors within the first year of inheritance, not just in Thailand.
"In the next 20 years, the world will face technology disruption, technology transfer, and wealth transfer. There will be many self-made new rich globally. The question is: if you are a founder but haven't structured your assets and ownership, problems arise when generations one and two lack systems. Who then will create the structure to pass on accumulated wealth and values?"
. . . Siriporn Suwankan, Chief Investment Officer at K WEALTH, Kasikornbank, shared from her experience that categorizing people by life context rather than generation helps understand how they invest and manage assets.
She identified three groups:
Siriporn recounted seeing portfolios where the problem was not unwillingness to pass on wealth but a lack of understanding and communication of what was built, including assets, management principles, and the hardships behind the success.
Consequently, heirs receiving the wealth neither understand it fully nor feel ownership, lacking stories or roots.
Waewta pointed out a critical issue in some wealthy families: the absence of a single main decision-maker. Many have small family Investment Committees.
"The father says, 'I built it but I am not the user.' Children educated abroad return with new ideas; the youngest focuses on AI and sustainability. The problem is the four at the same table want different things: the father wants to preserve the system, children want expansion, grandchildren want to overhaul it."
This explains why financial advice and planning must be tailored to each group's needs while maintaining family unity.
The saying "Generation 1 builds, Generation 2 preserves, Generation 3 destroys" is not fate but a matter of choice.
Siriporn said wealth cannot grow if the first generation fails to organize what they created. A clear system and passing on values together are essential because when heirs see the wealth not as a "gift" but as a "responsibility," they are more likely to protect and honestly continue it.
Both Siriporn and Waewta concluded with the same message: "Financial planners are Life Partners."
Waewta explained that before COVID, financial planning was a "nice to have"; post-COVID, it became a "must have," with many business families seeking clear frameworks and transparency.
Thus, financial planners must develop Financial Planning Concepts as vital energy because although everyone looks at their phones, what they view and understand differs.
Importantly, planners must avoid bias, as clients today are well-informed about financial products and returns, often researching via ChatGPT or the internet themselves.
What planners offer is guidance on the journey, appropriate products suited to liquidity and longevity, and acting as translators facilitating multi-generational dialogue without conflict.
Therefore, financial planning transcends money; it is about passing on inheritance, values, mindsets, and beliefs across family generations.
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