This is the sixth edition of the Julius Baer Family Barometer (available to download here), and the first carried out with EY Switzerland. The report looks at how ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families approach exiting their business, from preparing the transaction to organising their lives after the sale.
The findings come down to a paradox. The family business remains these families’ main source of wealth, yet very few of them are ready when it changes hands.
A wealth transfer on an unprecedented scale
The issue goes well beyond the very wealthy. According to UBS’s Global Wealth Report 2025, some €74trn (more than USD 83trn) will change hands worldwide over the next 20 to 25 years.
Most of this will pass from one generation to the next: around €65trn (close to USD 74trn). The United States will account for the largest volumes, ahead of Brazil and mainland China.
Preparedness remains the exception
Set against these sums, families are poorly prepared. According to Julius Baer, only 2.3% of UHNW business-owning families are considered fully prepared for a sale or succession.
More than half (56.3%) are only partially prepared, and 29.5% are not prepared at all. For the Zurich-based bank, the main issue is neither financial nor technical. What is most often missing is consensus within the family.
Family cohesion: the main barrier to an exit
Four in five respondents (80%) cite family disagreement over the sale as an obstacle to preparation. Tax considerations come a distant second (55.4%), ahead of governance and legal-structure issues.
The report also identifies where these tensions come from. Emotional attachment to the business is the leading cause of disagreement (60.6%), followed by differing visions of its future and gaps in expectations on valuation.
The next generation still kept at arm’s length
Successors are rarely involved in decisions. Only 22.6% of next-generation family members are deemed ready and fully equipped to take over the family business.
When a sale is being considered, 45.6% of families consult the next generation without giving it a vote. Barely 18.5% involve it in discussions on an equal footing.
After the exit: from operating capital to liquid wealth
The preparation continues after the deal is signed. For 79.4% of respondents, the overriding priority at that stage is to preserve the family’s shared wealth. Next come clarifying roles within the family and finding a new purpose in life.
A sale means a different way of managing wealth, moving from a concentrated operating asset to liquid, diversified wealth. Wealth planning, including succession, is the area where families most often seek support. Investment vehicles and single family offices are among the solutions most often considered.
Priorities vary by region. In Europe and Latin America, wealth preservation dominates. In Asia and the Middle East, families focus more on growth and long-term development.
Geopolitical diversification and real estate in the trade-offs
More broadly, succession planning remains the top priority for UHNW families worldwide, as it was in the previous edition. It is followed by building a family legacy and by individual and collective development projects.
On the investment side, geopolitical diversification comes first, ahead of inflation protection and real-estate investment. Taxation, the transfer of wealth between generations and political stability remain their main concerns.
Analysis – A mirror for family-owned hospitality
Analysis – Taken together, the two studies reveal a mismatch. The wealth to be passed on has never been greater, yet successors are rarely judged ready and heirs are seldom involved in decisions. There is no guarantee they will share their elders’ attachment to the business. This could lead to more sales of family businesses in the years ahead, and with them more real-estate disposals.
Analysis – Neither study focuses specifically on hospitality, but their conclusions bear directly on a sector where family groups play a major role. At Hoteles Globales, succession had been planned well in advance: the second and third generations were already in post at the time of the death of its founder, José Luis Carrillo. This is precisely the scenario the barometer describes as the exception.
Analysis – The other lesson concerns what happens after a sale. If family offices and investment vehicles are the natural destination for the capital released, luxury hospitality stands a good chance of benefiting. The very wealthy already treat it as an asset class in its own right, and industrial families readily acquire landmark properties, as the Saadé family’s acquisition of Le Petit Nice shows, as reported in our 360° of 13 November 2026.
Methodology
The Family Barometer is based on a survey of more than 700 finance professionals: experts from Julius Baer and EY, as well as independent practitioners. All advise UHNW clients across several regions, in client relationship management, tax, law, family office, wealth planning, investment and advisory services.
Switzerland’s leading wealth management group, Julius Baer managed around €595bn (CHF 547bn) in assets at the end of June 2026. The group operates in around 25 countries and from 60 locations.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Julius Baer x EY – Family Barometer 2026
Only 2.3% of UHNW business-owning families are fully prepared for a sale or succession
80% cite lack of family consensus as the main obstacle, ahead of tax (55.4%)
Only 22.6% of the next generation are deemed ready to take over the family business
79.4% rank preserving shared family wealth as the top post-exit priority
Context: UBS expects over USD 83trn of wealth to change hands globally within 20-25 years
