Wealth Firms Moving Upmarket Face a Build-or-Buy Test

Wealth management firms chasing wealthier clients need to offer more services, but the ones that matter most are also the hardest and most expensive to deliver. Firms that make smart choices about which services to build, buy or outsource will increasingly stand out as margin pressure builds, according to the latest Cerulli Edge-U.S. Advisor Edition.

Wealth has become more concentrated in the U.S. over the past decade, raising demand for more sophisticated wealth and investment management. High-net-worth households, those with more than $5 million in financial assets, held an estimated 57% of total U.S. household financial wealth at the end of 2025, up from 43% in 2019.

To capture that opportunity, firms aiming to outpace peers have shifted their focus to wealthier clients. That shift requires them to rethink their traditional service model.

“The services most likely to make the biggest difference also are operationally the most burdensome to deliver and, as a result, are the costliest to take to market,” said Chayce Horton, associate director at Cerulli.

High-net-worth practices outsource three to four services on average. Tax planning leads at 55%, followed by trust services at 40%, risk and insurance at 39%, and estate planning at 37%.

Cerulli advises firms moving upmarket not to assume a broader service menu must be built and owned in-house. Horton said scale largely determines where firms should draw that line.

“Large enterprises can support a deeper internal resource pool, mid-enterprise firms tend to formalize integrations or acquire capabilities outright, and firms below that tier are best served holding to a core specialty and partnering or finding value in the marketplace,” Horton said.