Over the coming decade, women are expected to inherit and control a record share of global wealth. While this shift is often hailed as a milestone for gender equality, Silvia Bastante de Unverhau – global philanthropy expert and Senior Advisor at LGT – argues that the story behind the headlines is more nuanced, presenting challenges for the wealth management industry that must be tackled.

An estimated $124tn is expected to change hands under the so-called ‘great wealth transfer’, with women set to inherit nearly 70% of that amount. Combined with rising educational attainment, stronger diversity and inclusion efforts, and ongoing progress in closing the gender pay gap, this moment signals a transformative rise in global female affluence.

Yet even as women prepare to inherit unprecedented wealth, the financial industry remains centred around the habits of male investors. The question now is not whether women are ready – but whether the wealth management industry is prepared to meet the needs, expectations, and ambitions of this new generation of high-net-worth women.

An Industry Behind the Curve

While it is important to avoid overgeneralising, there is growing recognition that women and men often approach wealth, investment, and philanthropy in distinct ways. Historically, wealth and the industries that manage it have been dominated by men, and that legacy is still evident today: LGT’s recent Wealth for Impact study found that female wealth holders continue to frequently encounter sexism in their interactions with wealth managers and advisers, ranging from subtle bias to patronisation to outright exclusion.

Furthermore, much of the wealth now moving into the hands of women is inherited rather than self-generated. This dynamic means that many HNW women also feel compelled to preserve and steward wealth for future generations, rather than invest or donate it. This sense of obligation can lead to more conservative financial behaviour, with an emphasis on safeguarding legacy over impact-driven investing.

Changing Hands, Changing Habits

However, despite these obstacles, women are already playing an active role in the future of wealth and philanthropy. In many regions, particularly North America, research has shown that women are already the primary or joint financial decision-maker in HNW households, and women also influence or make 85% of their family’s philanthropy-related decisions.

Women aren’t simply following in the footsteps of their male predecessors. The Women’s Philanthropy Institute has found that there are key differences in the way that women give their wealth, including that:

• Single women are more likely to engage in philanthropy than single men, and married women frequently guide their spouses into philanthropic activity  
• Women tend to support a broader range of causes, whereas men concentrate on significant donations to select institutions
• Philanthropy driven by women is often closely tied to personal experience or directed towards social change – particularly in areas related to the empowerment of women and girls, racial imbalance, and education

Collaborative and long-term engagement also feature prominently in women’s philanthropic strategies. One respondent to LGT’s Wealth for Impact report explained the value of philanthropic networks, which enable women to learn from and connect with each other, empowering them to become more involved in their wealth management and impact by leading by example.

This collaboration also often means that women’s wealth can have a greater impact, over a longer scale. Consider efforts to protect endangered species, like the black rhino. While direct interventions, such as establishing a sanctuary, is an effective way to support endangered species, these efforts often address symptoms rather than root causes. Far more effective, but less instantaneous, forms of philanthropy occur at a systems change level: funding education, driving behavioural change, and supporting local economic development to tackle the conditions that drive demand in the first place.

Solving the Problem

To ensure the industry is not only able, but capable, of meeting these changes, wealth management must go beyond token gestures. Systems established for men should not be presented as the default for female investors. If women give differently, then their wealth managers must adapt their strategies to engage them in new meaningful ways.

After all, women are not simply “joining” the investment space; they are reshaping it. They are asking harder questions about sustainability, demanding transparency, and expanding the definition of risk to include factors like climate, inequality, and long-term governance. The rise of female wealth holders offers the private banking industry a rare opportunity to redefine leadership and renew its commitment to inclusivity. But that opportunity will only be realised if we move beyond acknowledging the trend and start actively shaping the systems around it.

The future of wealth may be female – but it must also be fair, informed, and purposeful.

Silvia Bastante de Unverhau is global philanthropy expert and Senior Advisor at LGT