Tom King, Singapore country manager at ClearView, publisher for this website, recently joined young adults from the UHNW population in the region for a Next Generation course run by UBS.

Set back from the hustle and heat of thriving Singapore, sheltered by landscaped gardens and a majestic avenue of “heritage trees”, sits the imposing Command House.

The stunning colonial period building was once home to Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the official residence of the Speaker of the Singapore Parliament, Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng and a venue for state functions by former Singapore President, Ong Teng Cheong.

The historical dwelling is now writing another chapter as it helps to shape the future of this part of Asia. At least once a year, the sumptuously modern premises play host to the next generation of the region’s most significant ultra high net worth families. I took a tour of the impressive faculty recently and sat in on some classes. The young adults from around the region included successors from Malaysia, Indonesia, China and local Singaporeans.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of UBS’s Next Generation programmes in Asia. These are a series of courses designed to help their clients with succession management planning - preparing their younger generation for responsible ownership and continued long term management of the family wealth.  

Over a three- to four-day period, the offspring are given access to a cornucopia of financial acumen in a relaxed and collegiate setting. UBS roll out top names to lecture and educate the second and third generations; the common theme being to safeguard that the discipline and responsibility of wealth preservation is understood.

In many cases the upcoming generations are educated for long periods in the US or Europe. They are often then expected to return home to lead family businesses that typically have a strong Asian culture. In addition, having generally been educated abroad, the younger generation can frequently find themselves challenging the family dynamics and corporate hierarchy.

Lecture

I sat in on a lecture given by Kelvin Tay, the regional chief investment officer, southern APac for UBS. In an engaging articulate and sometimes humorous presentation, he took the audience back several thousand years. He then methodically brought us through to the current day via the Roman and British Empires, the Silk Road and the rise and fall of Chinese dynasties. The philosophies of Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes and Ben Bernanke were also given a thorough going over.

The affable CIO made salient points as he went through depressions, peaks and troughs, of not only individuals but whole cultures. On reflection his words of course, were unambiguously meant to instil and drive home a valuable lesson to the second and third generations: nothing lasts forever. 

Unlike their parents or grandparents who built the family riches, today’s inheritors of that wealth have to cope with not only the overbearing tension of the expectant family, but an increasingly regulated market. This is something the original generations did not have to contend with.

And with in excess of 90 per cent of wealth creation in the Asian region coming from entrepreneurs, there is no guarantee that the progenies will wish to continue in the same line of business as their driven and successful parents. Without doubt, the business world in which the first generation built their wealth does not exist today.

Clearly not every individual will make the step up and with seamless zeal take over a thriving business, even if they have been at the shoulder of the proprietor all of their life. Young business leaders need preparation and education to enter the family business. Handling the responsibility of significant wealth needs a combination of financial and wealth management skills combined with life skills that younger generations have not yet accrued.

Therefore the soft skills required to carry on a substantial contemporary business are also catered for and honed by experts in seminars on presentations, branding, personal development and communications, by both in house and external professionals.

One thing I noted during the visit was that the proportion of female to male students was around 60 to 40 per cent. Perhaps a change in the gender of business patriarchs is on the way in Asia. I also learned later that two participants of the Next Generation wealth courses from previous years had married each other, truly a case of good wealth planning.