Global financial wealth surged to a record $305 trillion in 2024, propelled by an 8.1% rise in financial assets amid strong equity market performance. Yet beneath this headline growth, the industry’s underlying engine, namely organic expansion, needs renewed strategic focus.
- New proprietary analysis by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals that just 28% of wealth manager asset growth over the past decade came from existing advisors, falling to 22% in mature markets. Instead, firms leaned heavily on external levers such as M&A, market performance, and advisor recruitment—all of which can no longer be relied on to increase revenue. These are among the key findings of BCG’s Global Wealth Report 2025: Rethinking the Rules for Growth:
- Asia-Pacific is poised to lead wealth creation, with projected financial wealth growth of 9% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2029—outpacing North America (4%) and Western Europe (5%).
- Cross-border wealth surged by 8.7%, reaching $14.4 trillion in 2024. This is an acceleration over the prior four-year average annual growth of 6.3%, given increasing demand for geographic diversification and safe havens. Singapore (11.9% growth) and the UAE (11.1%) emerged as standout booking centers, with Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore expected to absorb two-thirds of all new cross-border wealth by 2029.
- Wealth management assets under management (AuM) expanded by 13% in 2024, significantly faster than overall financial wealth (8.1%), yet revenue growth lagged at 7.1%, as many firms saw falling margins on the back of a changing rate environment.
- Universal banks outpaced pure-plays in organic growth, generating 32% of their AuM growth from existing advisors—double that of pure-play firms (15%) benefitting from structural advantages in lead generation.
- Firms are starting to deploy GenAI for prospecting, with some early movers reporting fivefold increases in lead generation and a doubling of conversion rates. Meanwhile, those integrating data-driven client retention systems saw up to 15% increases in product revenue and 20–30% boosts in productivity.
The report identifies four high-impact levers for firms looking to elevate their organic growth engines:
- Brand Differentiation: Building trust and relevance through clear identity and messaging while strengthening digital marketing
- GenAI-Driven Client Acquisition: Using agentic AI to identify high-potential prospects, build comprehensive profiles, and enable highly personal outreaches
- Data-Driven Recommendation Systems: By integrating data across all business lines, wealth managers can build a comprehensive view full of signals about what a client might need next.
- Next-Gen Client Engagement: Personalizing the client journey for younger investors with digital-native expectations