People, by nature, are highly adaptable. Our views, values and motivators may evolve not only as we grow and change, but as the world around us develops. For trustees, the challenge of keeping abreast of individual and family objectives is essential, particularly as wealth is passed from one generation to the next.

Having recently read an article about “redefining wealth in family businesses”, I found validation of my thoughts about the importance of considering how families are changing faster than ever.

When Saffery Champness was founded in 1855, average life expectancy was 40 years for men and 42 years for women. Today, average life expectancy in the UK is 80 years old. When considering high-net-worth individuals, this increases to 83.5 years for men and 86.4 years for women. The significant increase in life expectancy has resulted in wealth generators and inheritors who are not only living longer, but who are continuing to work longer and keep a vested interest in the assets of their wealth structures far beyond a traditional retirement age.

While people are living longer, the parameters which define each generation – namely technology and ideologies - are becoming increasingly narrowed. The exponential progress of technology, brought about by the rapid advancement in processing powers and capabilities, has resulted in generational brackets becoming smaller.

Modern trustees are therefore faced with seeing three active generations of adult beneficiaries who are active in the work force or family business, with a fourth not far behind. (I noticed this again when explaining the Bob Dylan “times they are a-changin’” reference for this article.)

A settlor of a trust from the W or “Boomer” generation (born between 1946 and 1964), currently has three generations of adults succeeding them; Gen X (1965-1982), Millennials (1981-1996) and Gen Z (1997-2012). This Settlor in this scenario may have been brought up in a world where transistor radios were considered the height of technology and toasters were first becoming accessible to households.

By stark comparison, Generation Alpha – the youngest living generation, born from 2013 onwards – are growing up in a world where virtual reality is becoming commonplace and where artificial intelligence (AI) is so advanced that conversations about the prospect of sentient technology are no longer confined to the pages of science-fiction novels, rather they are taking place in the mainstream media.

The potential exists for AI to take over from humans in more and more ways and this likely to cause people to increasingly focus on tasks and roles requiring emotional intelligence because AI is expected to struggle with such roles for some time to come. Should this happen, the implications of this and other AI related change in the future seem enormous.

Alongside advancements in technology and the implications of those changes, an increased awareness and concern arising from issues and debates relating to climate change, sustainability, good governance and wealth distribution has created a shift where the next generations in some families may be socially conscious in a different way; many families increasingly evaluate successful investment by factors other than financial returns or asset protection

In my view, we are in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime, massive cultural change. We can see what is on the horizon based on significant changes that have happened in recent years, and the potential for generational friction has never been more prevalent. As responsible trustees, it is important for us to understand the impact this may have on the family office, whether that be a diversification of trust assets, the prioritisation of actively managed philanthropy or varying degrees of appetite for emerging asset classes.