Ultra-High-Net-Worth Wealth Management Guide

An honest framework for the decisions at hand. Not tax or investment advice — your specifics matter.

What 'UHNW' actually means operationally

• $30M+ investable is the common threshold. Below $30M, the complexity generally doesn't justify a multi-family office structure.
• At $30M+, estate/gift tax planning is the single highest-ROI activity — the 40% federal transfer tax rate means structure-level decisions move $5-50M of heir wealth.
• Service scope expands: not just investments, but direct private investments, concentrated stock programs, multi-generational governance, philanthropy coordination, bookkeeping, bill-pay, real estate + aviation + art.

The fee structure menu

• Wirehouse AUM (0.5-1%): lots of bundled services but conflict-heavy. Captive product, transfer-pricing advisors, rotating teams.
• Fee-only RIA AUM (0.25-0.6%): best fit for $5-30M. Direct indexing, coordinated tax, typically 2-3 specialist advisors per client.
• MFO flat fee ($100-500K+): fit for $30-100M. Investment committee + estate attorney + accounting in one structure.
• SFO (1-5%+ of assets early): fit for $250M+. Staff of 5-20 serves one family.

Estate planning is the dominant lever at UHNW

• Federal estate + gift exemption: ~$13.6M/person (2024), halving to ~$7M in 2026 absent legislation.
• Use-it-or-lose-it gifting window: aggressive gifting before 2026 sunset can lock in $13.6M exemption.
• Grantor trust structures (GRATs, IDGTs, SLATs) move growth outside the estate. Common at $20M+.
• Dynasty trusts in favorable states (SD, NV, DE, AK) can compound generation-skipping-tax-exempt for 365+ years.

Concentrated stock — still a UHNW problem

• RSU-heavy tech executives and founders often reach UHNW with 50-80% in one ticker.
• Exchange funds (7-year lockup), 10b5-1 programs, single-stock variable prepaid forwards, CRUTs — specialist territory.
• A wirehouse will pitch you an exchange fund; a UHNW specialist will model all four options against your tax profile and estate goals.

Privates, alternatives, direct deals

• At UHNW, allocation to private markets (PE, VC, private credit, real assets) typically hits 15-40%.
• Access quality matters more than allocation %: getting into top-decile GPs vs mediocre fund-of-funds drives 5-10% return differential.
• Direct deals (club deals, co-invests) require specialist underwriting — not what most fee-only RIAs offer.
• MFO/SFO access to top managers is often the real value proposition.

Governance: the generational question

• By third generation, 70% of wealthy families see major wealth dissipation — the 'shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves' pattern.
• Family governance (mission, constitution, next-gen education, family meetings) is the intervention. Most RIAs skip this; MFOs/SFOs specialize in it.
• The earlier the better — once conflict emerges, governance rarely works retroactively.