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The Firm Of The Future: The UHNW Institute Puts the Toolkit in Action
Editorial Staff
4 December 2025
The UHNW Institute recently hosted its annual Symposium, a two-day event held from November 17 to 18, uniting thought leaders and family office executives. The event’s overarching theme – The Toolkit in Action – highlighted how the Institute’s expanding suite of frameworks and tools work in practice to craft stronger outcomes for ultra-high net worth families. A fuller account of the symposium will be issued by the Institute in January. Day 1: Foundational topics and deep exploration Day 2: Integrated wealth application and real-world models The afternoon sessions featured panels examining advisory models and integrated advice. The first panel reviewed findings from a comprehensive research project on how leading family offices and advisory firms deliver integrated advice. The final panel of the day focused entirely on the real-world decisions that shape integrated advisory models. The discussion explored the ways in which firms encourage collaboration both internally and externally, who determines the “right” margins for an integrated business, and why investing in human capital is essential to sustaining growth and quality of service.
The initial day was dedicated to training and exploration. The morning began with a behind-the-scenes tour of the New York Public Library’s Stephen A Schwarzman Building, where attendees explored rare materials, historic reading rooms, and the legacy of the nation’s largest public library system. The afternoon moved on to focused, small-group training sessions. These included a private clinic on the policies and procedures all single-family offices should have, and a timely session on how AI is changing UHNW advisory. Additionally, participants explored their understanding of the Institute’s foundational “Ten Domains” framework and the expanded “Assessment – Implementation – Monitoring” .
Day Two, hosted at PwC’s Madison Avenue headquarters, shifted the focus to the real-world application of integrated family wealth management. The morning sessions featured a discussion with rising-generation leaders. This was followed by the introduction of the soon-to-launch Family Needs Assessment, a diagnostic tool grounded in the Ten Domains of Family Wealth™. A subsequent session showcased four of the Institute’s core tools – the Wealthesaurus™, Ten Domains of Family Wealth™, AIM Framework™, and the Advisory Business Model Survey – using a family case study to demonstrate how these resources clarify needs, guide strategy, and improve client outcomes.