Bluerating | Agosto 2025
89% of financial advisors believe their children should be free to choose their own path, although 66% would appreciate having their children by their side to ensure the continuity of their business, a figure that rises to 75% for professionals with above-average portfolios.
Less than 10% of financial advisors with working-age children have involved them in their business.
When families pass on the profession of financial advisor to their children, there are five factors that can influence the decision to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
The first factor is the success of the parents’ business: financial advisory can be a lucrative profession, which could attract the sons and daughters of advisors who see the material benefits.
However, the success of the parent’s business can generate two opposing effects.
The first is the emulative effect, whereby the son or daughter strives to equal or surpass their parents in merit and achievement, seeking to imitate their works, achievements, and abilities.
The second effect, diametrically opposed, is that of emancipation, or the desire to free oneself from the success of the paternal or maternal activity and find one’s own place.
It all depends on the personality and character of the son or daughter.
The second factor is related to their parents’ interest in their profession: children can be influenced by their parents’ positive example, family conversations, and exposure to the financial world.
A successful financial advisor can boast a vast network of contacts, which could be an opportunity to begin their career with an internship or traineeship in one of the many financial advisory firms.
The third factor that can influence the choice to follow in their father’s or mother’s footsteps is related to education and academic background.
The greater the interest in their parents’ profession, the more their children feel involved and committed to adequately training. This is an individual drive, and the parent’s role can only be that of facilitator.
The fourth factor that determines the success of children of financial advisors who want to follow in their parents’ footsteps is their ability to gain acceptance from clients.
As in almost all professions, the client-financial advisor relationship is individual and personal, and this does not guarantee that a client can trust the son or daughter of their trusted professional.
The fifth factor that facilitates the child’s involvement in the parent’s work is linked to the role of the principal, namely, the existence of a consolidated and effective internal practice designed to welcome the children of their consultants, while also ensuring continuity of the business and a gradual generational turnover.
In any case, the best gift a parent can give their child is to allow them to build their own life and pursue their own interests.
The temptation to influence their children’s choices by encouraging the family continuity of their business is strong, but the greatest happiness for a parent is seeing their children happy and fulfilled in their independent choices.
Nicola Ronchetti