Gareth Wilson

Expert on global wealth trends, likely affiliated with Capgemini's financial services division.

Claims

As speaker

Mentioned in

Key positions and views

The period between 2024-2025 marked an exceptionally strong rebound in wealth creation for HNWIs, the fastest in five years, primarily driven by the US market.

Traditional wealth management firms are facing a significant competitive threat, losing $1.5 trillion in assets as clients increasingly diversify their relationships across multiple providers, including family offices and robo-advisors.

High-net-worth individuals are actively reallocating their portfolios, increasing their exposure to equities and fixed income while drawing down cash reserves, indicating a renewed appetite for market participation.

AI is a critical tool for the future of wealth management, but its primary role should be to automate operational tasks (which consume ~40% of a relationship manager's time) to enhance, not replace, the essential human element of client relationships and judgment.

The concentration of wealth is extreme, with the top 1% of HNWIs (those with over $30M) controlling approximately 35% of the group's total assets, making them a disproportionately influential segment of the market.

Podcast consensus on Wilson

Points of consensus

▶Gareth Wilson consistently reports that the period between 2024 and 2025 saw significant growth in the high-net-worth individual (HNWI) population and their absolute wealth, marking the fastest rate in the last five years.Jun 2026

▶He repeatedly highlights a major shift in HNWI investment portfolios between 2024 and 2025, characterized by an increased allocation to equities (+3%) and fixed income (+2%) at the expense of cash (-2%).Jun 2026

▶Wilson consistently points to a structural challenge for traditional wealth management firms, citing the flow of approximately $1.5 trillion in new assets to competitors like family offices and robo-advisors.Jun 2026

▶He emphasizes the concentration of wealth, stating that ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) represent just 1% of the HNWI population but control about 35% of the total wealth.Jun 2026

Points of debate

▶Wilson presents a geographic divergence in wealth creation, highlighting the US as the fastest-growing region for HNWIs (approx. 10% growth) while noting that the Middle East experienced a decrease in both its HNWI population and their total wealth.Jun 2026

▶He outlines a tension in the wealth management industry between technological advancement and client service, advocating for AI to automate operational tasks while stressing that the human element and relationship manager judgment remain key.Jun 2026

▶Wilson's analysis shows a paradox where HNWIs are growing wealthier, yet their satisfaction with traditional managers is questionable, evidenced by 42% needing to repeat their objectives and a dramatic drop in single-firm relationships (from 39% in 2019 to 19% in 2025).

▶He describes a mixed portfolio adjustment among HNWIs, who are increasing exposure to riskier assets like equities while simultaneously increasing their allocation to traditionally safer fixed income, suggesting a complex reaction to market conditions.Jun 2026

Key themes

▶Global Wealth Expansion and DivergenceJun 2026

Wilson details a period of rapid wealth creation between 2024 and 2025, with the global HNWI population growing by 2 million to approximately 25 million. This growth was not uniform, with the US leading at a 10% growth rate, Asia Pacific also growing strongly, while the Middle East experienced a decline.

Investors should note the geographic concentration of new wealth creation, particularly in the US tech sector, which may signal where future investment opportunities and capital flows will be most significant.

▶HNWI Portfolio RebalancingJun 2026

Wilson identifies a clear trend in HNWI asset allocation, moving away from cash and into riskier assets. Specifically, portfolios saw an approximate 3 percentage point increase in equities and a 2 point increase in fixed income, while cash holdings decreased by 2 points and alternative investments saw a slight decline.

This shift indicates a renewed appetite for risk and a search for yield among the wealthy, likely driven by changing interest rate environments and market optimism, which could signal broader market trends.

▶The Disruption of Traditional Wealth ManagementJun 2026

Wilson argues that the traditional wealth management model is under pressure, evidenced by $1.5 trillion in assets flowing to competitors and a sharp decline in clients using a single wealth manager (from 39% in 2019 to 19% in 2025). Client dissatisfaction is also a factor, with 42% of HNWIs needing to repeat their objectives to their managers.

The data suggests a permanent shift towards a multi-manager, service-oriented model, forcing traditional firms to innovate or risk continued asset erosion to more nimble or specialized competitors like family offices.

▶The Role of AI and the Human Element in FinanceJun 2026

Wilson posits that AI should be leveraged to automate the significant operational and administrative burden on relationship managers, which constitutes about 40% of their work. This would free them up to focus on high-value, human-centric tasks like building client relationships and providing personalized judgment, which he believes will remain essential.

For the financial services industry, the key to successful AI implementation is not replacing human advisors but augmenting them, focusing technology on efficiency gains to enhance, rather than diminish, the quality of human interaction.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Not enough data for timeline

Changes over time

2019

Wilson uses this year as a benchmark, noting that approximately 39% of high-net-worth individuals had a relationship with a single wealth management firm, a figure that would later decline dramatically.

2024-2025

Wilson reports this period saw the fastest growth in HNWI wealth in the last 5 years. The global HNWI population grew by 2 million, reaching a total of approximately 25 million.

2025

Presents findings from the Capgemini World Wealth Report, highlighting that single-firm relationships for HNWIs have fallen to 19%. He also details portfolio shifts, with HNWIs increasing equity and fixed income allocations while reducing cash.

Future

Wilson predicts that upcoming IPOs from companies like Anthropic and SpaceX will be major wealth creation events. He anticipates that the newly wealthy from these events will demand a high degree of personalization, empathy, and sophisticated services from wealth managers.

Suggested prompts

How does the decline in single-manager relationships correlate with the $1.5 trillion asset flow to non-traditional competitors? &nearr;What specific factors contributed to the divergence in HNWI growth between the US and the Middle East between 2024 and 2025? &nearr;To what extent can AI automation realistically address the client dissatisfaction issues highlighted by the Capgemini survey? &nearr;What are the implications for public markets of HNWIs increasing allocations to both equities and fixed income simultaneously? &nearr;

Key concepts

High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) 20 ep Wealth Management 15 ep Asset Allocation 7 ep Capgemini World Wealth Report 5 ep Regional Wealth Trends 5 ep Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) 3 ep AI in Finance 3 ep Family Offices 3 ep

Notable quotes

“5 years ago, 6 years ago in 2019, something like 40%, 39% of all individuals had a relationship with one wealth management organization. When we look at that figure now in 2025, That's reduced to 19%.”

Gareth Wilson · The Rich Are Getting Richer: What Do They Want From Wealth Managers? | Merryn Talks Money

“That's meaning assets are flowing away from the traditional wealth management firms to the competition. And again, in our report, we quantify that as something like $1.5 trillion.”

Gareth Wilson · The Rich Are Getting Richer: What Do They Want From Wealth Managers? | Merryn Talks Money

“it's something like 1% of those total high-net-worth population, and they own something like 35% of that total wealth.”

Gareth Wilson · The Rich Are Getting Richer: What Do They Want From Wealth Managers? | Merryn Talks Money

“their absolute wealth is growing as well, Merryn, and it's growing at the fastest level when we compare 2024 to 2025 for the last 5 years.”

Gareth Wilson · The Rich Are Getting Richer: What Do They Want From Wealth Managers? | Merryn Talks Money

Report last updated: Jun 10, 2026

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