A number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) have not made retirement or succession plans, despite being confident that their personal wealth will increase, a study has found.

Quintet and BlackRock’s research of HNWIs in the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands revealed that a third of HNWIs were yet to make a financial plan for retirement.

Meanwhile, of those who have started a retirement plan, half said that they do not have a fully formed plan in place.

The study found that multigenerational HNWIs who had inherited wealth were more likely to have at least started planning for retirement than first-generation HNWIs.

Furthermore, while 80% of respondents planned to pass their wealth down to their children, only 34% had a full succession plan in place.

The average age at which HNWIs felt it was appropriate for their children to start discussing their wealth was 24, although in the UK it was found to be slightly younger at 22.

However, these conversations tended to happen prior to this at age 21, with multigenerational HNWIs tending to discuss their wealth with their children at a younger age than first generation HNWIs.

While many HNWIs did not have plans for their retirement and succession, 78% forecast that their personal wealth would rise over the next five years.

Multigenerational HNWIs were more likely to predict their wealth to increase than first generation HNWIs, and women were nearly twice as likely to think their wealth will reduce over the next five years than men.

Of the respondents expecting their wealth to increase, the primary drivers were expected to be positive performance of investments and their ability to manage their wealth successfully.

Confidence in these areas was higher amongst HNWIs in the UK than their continental counterparts, and amongst men.

The study also looked at HNWIs’ investment strategies, with more than half of respondents that were focused on growing their wealth being invested in equities and/or real estate to support this goal.

On the other hand, those seeking to preserve their wealth were less likely to hold these types on investments.

The survey was conducted among 595 HNWIs prior to the Autumn Budget in the UK.

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