The Institute’s forthcoming New York gathering will focus on putting better family wealth advice into practice, building on recent resources and the legacy of its late founder, Steve Prostano.

The UHNW Institute will bring the practical delivery of integrated family wealth advice into focus at its sixth annual Symposium in New York on November 16 to 17, following a series of publications examining how advisors and firms can better serve wealthy families.

Taking place at PwC, 300 Madison Avenue, the event's theme is From Aspiration to Execution: Elevating UHNW Client Service. It will explore how the client, firm, advisor, services and process work together in meeting the complex needs of ultra-high net worth families.

“Families need more than excellent advice from individual experts. The challenge is bringing it all together. The UHNW Institute is uniquely positioned to help make that happen by connecting professionals from different disciplines, developing practical tools and setting standards for integrated advice. That’s what this year’s Symposium is all about,” Tom McCullough said.

The gathering comes as the independent nonprofit sector develops a more connected set of frameworks for the profession. Its recent article, Setting Standards of Excellence in UHNW Advice, examines how shared tools and language can help practitioners identify families’ needs, collaborate across disciplines and establish clearer expectations of excellent advice. It also outlines the Institute’s evolving role in advancing professional standards across the UHNW field.

“The Institute, as a non-profit educational think tank, pulls together a wide range of leading practitioners who collaborate to produce and present groundbreaking material that can’t be found anywhere else,” Wally Head said.

Connecting expertise around the family
One foundation of that work is the updated Ten Domains of Family Wealth framework. The revision separates Financial Management and Investment Advisory into distinct domains, recognizing the different expertise involved in overseeing a family’s financial affairs and managing its investments.

The updated model also positions Family-Advisory Relationships as a capability connecting the domains, emphasizing the communication and relationships through which specialist expertise reaches the family. The changes reflect an underlying principle: increasingly complex family circumstances require both deeper specialization and stronger integration.

Table Stakes 2.0, authored by Tom McCullough, addresses the service model needed to deliver that approach. It places the client at the center, supported by four elements: the firm, the advisor, the services, and the process. The framework considers how these components can support advice organized around a coherent understanding of the family. Those same elements underpin the forthcoming Symposium’s focus on execution.

Responding to change
Other recent resources examine how families’ needs emerge and how advisory teams can respond.

The Catalysts Framework identifies four categories of forces that can prompt families to reconsider their arrangements: external and environmental developments; family changes; advisory issues; and wealth events. These range from regulatory developments and cybersecurity concerns to succession, advisor retirement and a business sale.

The framework explores how such changes can expose needs across several areas of family wealth simultaneously, requiring decisions about investments, governance, estate planning and family relationships to be considered together.

The Institute’s AIM Framework provides a process for taking that work forward. It describes three recurring phases: assessment and goal setting; strategic design and implementation; and monitoring, administration and adjustment.

It also addresses the responsibilities shared by families and their advisors, providing a way to clarify the stage a project has reached, what needs to happen next and who is responsible. A significant change in circumstances may require the process to begin again.

A further paper, Integration Isn’t a Checklist: The Next Evolution of Integrated Wealth Management, co-authored by Richard Joyner and McCullough, examines the judgment involved in bringing specialist advice together.

The authors argue that assembling expertise does not, by itself, deliver integration. Their paper considers how advisors weigh competing priorities and connect technical recommendations to a family’s circumstances, alongside the implications for firms’ culture, shared responsibility, economics and development of future advisors.

Remembering Steve Prostano
This year’s Symposium also carries particular significance following the passing of Institute founder Stephen “Steve” Prostano (pictured below), whose vision helped shape its approach to family wealth.

Steve Prostano

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Prostano served in leadership roles including chief executive of Silver Bridge and president of Atlantic Trust. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Family Wealth Report.

In its tribute to Prostano, the Institute recalled his conviction that serving wealthy families required an understanding of their lives beyond investment performance, encompassing family relationships, governance, health, philanthropy and the preparation of future generations.

He brought together professionals across disciplines, including competitors, to improve how families were served. The Institute’s tribute recalls his description of the organization as a “do tank,” reflecting his belief that ideas should translate into practical outcomes. It has said the November gathering will include recognition of his leadership.

The Symposium’s emphasis on implementation, alongside the Institute’s continuing development of advisory resources, carries that purpose forward: helping practitioners turn a broader understanding of family wealth into the everyday work of advising families.

Learn more about the UHNW Institute and explore the 2026 Symposium program, including session topics, speakers and event highlights.