Only 2.3 percent of ultra-high net worth families are fully prepared for a business sale or transfer, according to the Julius Baer Family Barometer 2026. Despite succession planning ranking as the top priority across global regions, deep-seated family misalignment remains the primary obstacle to a successful transition.
The report, developed by Julius Baer and EY Switzerland, surveyed over 700 financial professionals to gauge how elite families manage transitions. While family-owned enterprises serve as the bedrock of their wealth, the data reveals a stark disconnect between intention and execution. More than half of families are only partially prepared for ownership changes, with nearly 30 percent admitting they are not ready to transfer control at all.
Family discord often stalls these processes. Eighty percent of respondents identified a lack of consensus as the chief barrier to readiness, outpacing technical concerns like tax implications. Emotional attachment to the business remains a major factor in global misalignment, though in Asia, the friction is more often driven by differing valuation expectations and disagreements over the future direction of the firm.
Preparing the next generation also remains a point of failure. Only 22.6 percent of heirs are deemed fully equipped to take the helm. Current practices show that while many families consult their successors, few offer them an equal vote in exit decisions, effectively sidelining the very individuals expected to preserve the family legacy. As these families navigate an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape, the focus is shifting toward long-term wealth preservation and diversification, yet the internal hurdle of family alignment remains the most critical challenge to overcome.
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