The 4 Metrics Great Wealth Firms Track

Most wealth management firms track the same things:
AUM. Revenue per advisor. Client retention. Growth rate.

Those metrics matter. But they don’t tell you whether a firm will survive generational transfer, compound trust across decades, or command a premium valuation when it matters.

Most firms track performance.
The best firms track continuity.

Below are four legacy metrics we believe will increasingly separate firms that struggle through transition from firms that grow stronger because of it.

1. Multi-Generational Relationship Rate

What it measures
The percentage of client relationships where the firm actively serves multiple generations of the same family — not just households that have children, but families where parents and adult children both view the firm as their advisor.

Why it matters
If you're not retaining clients through generational transfer, your business is not as valuable as it looks.
Most advisors lose the majority of assets when wealth moves to the next generation. Industry data consistently shows that the average firm retains only a small fraction of assets at transfer. The best family offices retain the opposite — often north of 90%.

That gap isn’t driven by performance. It’s driven by relationships.

Why this shows up in enterprise value
Firms with high multi-generational relationship rates materially reduce transfer risk — one of the biggest drivers of long-term valuation and deal structure.

Why most firms don’t track it
Because it exposes how many “long-term” relationships are actually single-generation relationships in disguise.

2. Referral Velocity per Advisor

What it measures
The average number of qualified client referrals generated per advisor, per year.

Why it matters
At the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth level, referrals are the growth engine. Trust travels through people.
Most advisors retain their clients. That’s table stakes.
Far fewer generate consistent inbound referrals.

Referral velocity distinguishes advisors who manage relationships from advisors who create advocates. Those advisors are enterprise assets. Losing them is a real business risk.

Why this shows up in enterprise value
Referral velocity reveals where organic growth actually comes from — and which advisors materially drive firm-level expansion.

Why most firms don’t track it
Because referrals feel informal. But informal growth is still growth — and often the most valuable kind.

3. Next-Generation Outreach Rate

What it measures
The percentage of client relationships where the firm has proactively reached out to heirs or rising-generation family members.

Why it matters
You can’t control whether the next generation keeps the assets.
You can control whether you show up.

This is a behavioral metric. It measures intent, not outcome.
Firms that never reach out to the rising generation are implicitly betting against retention — whether they realize it or not.

The best firms treat next-generation outreach as a leading indicator, not a last-minute rescue attempt.

Why this shows up in enterprise value
Firms that can demonstrate consistent next-generation outreach show acquirers and successors that continuity is intentional — not accidental.

Why most firms don’t track it
Because it’s easier to defer the conversation than to measure the behavior.

4. Annual Family Meeting Rate

What it measures
The percentage of client families that hold at least one intentional family meeting per year.

Why it matters
Jay Hughes has said that there isn’t a single successful multi-generational family that doesn’t make use of family meetings.
These meetings are not about investments. They’re about communication, expectations, Values, and shared understanding. They reduce surprises. They surface issues early. They build continuity.

Advisors don’t need to run these meetings. Families should.
But advisors play a critical role in helping families get started — and stay consistent.

Why this shows up in enterprise value
Firms that support regular family meetings build relationship infrastructure that survives beyond any single advisor or generation.

Why most firms don’t track it
Because it doesn’t fit neatly into traditional performance reporting — even though clients value it deeply.

What These Metrics Have in Common

None of these metrics show up on standard dashboards.
They are not backward-looking.
They are not purely financial.
And they cannot be manufactured quickly.

They measure behaviors and relationships that compound quietly over time — the same things acquirers, successors, and partners increasingly care about.

If you’re not retaining clients through transfer, your business will struggle to command a premium valuation.
If you can prove that you do, you can make a very different case.

A Simple Question for Firm Leaders
If you were in a diligence meeting tomorrow, which of these could you confidently defend?

The next generation of great wealth firms will measure what others ignore.