A framework that the think tank has developed to capture the expertise that UHNW families has been updated.

The UHNW Institute has updated its Ten Domains of Family Wealth framework to reflect how the needs of wealthy families, and the services supporting them, have evolved since the model was introduced in 2020.

The framework was created to provide a family-centric view of the expertise required by ultra-high net worth families. Rather than starting with the services offered by individual firms, it examines the full range of financial and non-financial needs that may arise across a family’s lifetime and through successive generations.

Although the foundations of the model remain intact, the Institute has made several structural and naming changes intended to make it clearer and more useful to families, advisors and firms.

The revised framework and supporting documents can be found on the UHNW Institute’s Ten Domains website.The video podcast discussing the changes can be viewed here.

Separating financial management and investment advisory
The most significant change is the division of the former Financial and Investment Management domain into two distinct areas: Financial Management and Investment Advisory.

Investment Advisory focuses on decisions concerning investment objectives, asset allocation, portfolio construction, manager selection, risk and performance. Financial Management covers the broader organization and stewardship of family capital, including cash flow, liquidity, taxation, budgeting, financial planning and the coordination of assets and obligations across different entities and generations.

The distinction recognizes that investment decisions are only one component of managing a family’s financial life.

“I’m excited to see Financial Management become its own domain. Investments tend to dominate the conversation, but financial management is really the bridge between a family’s balance sheet and real life – making sure their capital is organized and available to support their goals, opportunities and lifestyle,” Bradley Jesson, Financial Management Domain chair at the UHNW Institute and partner at Corient, said.

Ten areas of expertise and the “How”
The revised framework now comprises ten content domains divided between two broad clusters: Wealth Creation and Stewardship covers Financial Management, Investment Advisory, Estate and Legal, Philanthropy and Impact, and Risk Management; and 
Cultivation of Family Capital encompasses Governance and Decision Making, Leadership and Transition Planning, Family Learning and Development, Family Dynamics, and Health and Well-Being.

At the center is Family-Advisory Relationships, or FAR. While the ten content domains describe the areas of knowledge and expertise families may need – the “what” – FAR represents the “how”: the communication, trust, collaboration and integration through which advice is delivered.

“The most important thing about the Ten Domains is not whether there are ten boxes on a diagram. It is that the profession has a common language for understanding the interconnected needs of families,” Tom McCullough, managing director of thought leadership and strategy at the UHNW Institute and partner at Corient, said.

“The changes strengthen that language, particularly by distinguishing Financial Management from Investment Advisory and by recognizing Family-Advisory Relationships as the ‘how’ that connects the ten content domains.”

The Institute says that no individual advisor is expected to be an expert across all ten areas. Advisors should, however, be sufficiently conversant with the wider framework to recognize needs outside their own specialism and help families connect with appropriate expertise.

FAR also acknowledges that families typically work with numerous specialists and advisory teams. Effective service therefore depends not only on technical knowledge, but also on the ability to communicate clearly, coordinate different disciplines and keep the family’s needs at the center of the process.

A framework designed to evolve
In a new podcast discussing the changes, host Russ Haworth is joined by McCullough and family wealth consultant Jim Grubman, who helped develop the original model. They explain how the framework has been used by families, advisory firms and educational organizations, and why it needed to continue adapting.

“The Ten Domains were never intended to be static,” McCullough said. “They were designed to provide a family-centric view of the full range of needs that families of significant wealth face, and our responsibility is to keep refining the model as the field evolves and we learn from its use in practice.”

Other changes include simplifying several domain names. Learning, Development and the Rising Generation, for example, has become Family Learning and Development, recognizing that education and development are lifelong requirements rather than matters solely for younger family members.