Julius Baer's Family Barometer 2026 finds that advisers rate only 2.3% of business-owning ultra-wealthy families as fully prepared for a sale or transfer, and in Asia the main sticking points are valuation and strategy more than emotion.

TL;DR

  • Advisers surveyed by Julius Baer and EY Switzerland rate 2.3% of business-owning families fully prepared for a sale or transfer, 56.3% somewhat prepared and 29.5% not ready.
  • In Asia, the top sources of family misalignment over an exit are differing valuation expectations (61.5%) and disagreement about the business's future (58.0%), while emotional attachment is cited by 44.8% against 60% globally, according to WealthBriefing's report.
  • The survey asked more than 700 advisers, not the families themselves, and we have not been able to open Julius Baer's own report, so the figures below come from trade coverage.

What is the Julius Baer Family Barometer 2026?

Julius Baer is a Swiss private bank. Its Family Barometer 2026, produced with EY Switzerland, surveyed more than 700 professionals who advise families with at least CHF 50 million in total assets, including client advisers, tax advisers, lawyers and family office staff, according to private banking magazin. Some 1,789 professionals were contacted, and 58.5% of respondents advise clients based in Europe. The report does not state how many respondents serve Asian clients in the coverage we reviewed. Because the results are adviser assessments, they may differ from the families' own views.

How prepared are business-owning families to sell or transfer?

Across the whole sample, 2.3% of business-owning families are rated fully prepared, 12% largely prepared, 56.3% partially prepared and 29.5% not at all prepared. On succession, 22.6% of the next generation are seen as ready and qualified to take over, 65.9% as not yet ready and 11.6% as having no interest. Asian Private Banker, citing the same report, says 88.1% of advisers rated their Asian clients as only somewhat ready or not ready at all, though that article is largely behind a paywall.

What stops families from selling or transferring?

The most common obstacle is family disagreement, cited by 80.0% of respondents, followed by tax considerations (55.4%), weak decision-making structures (49.1%), disputes over sale price (47.4%) and an unsuitable tax and legal structure (46.7%). Respondents could give several answers.

What is different about Asia?

WealthBriefing reports that succession planning is the top family priority in all four regions covered, and that building family legacy ranks second in Asia. It also reports that valuation expectations and the business's future outweigh emotional attachment as sources of misalignment in Asia. Jimmy Lee, Region Head Asia at Julius Baer, is quoted as saying the most prepared families in Asia are those that make succession a shared strategic priority. Both WealthBriefing and private banking magazin say Asia and the Middle East place more weight on long-term growth after an exit than Europe or Latin America, where preserving wealth comes first.

What do families plan to do after a sale?

Private banking magazin lists the post-sale priorities and structures respondents named: preserving joint family wealth (79.4%), a joint investment vehicle such as a private fund (72.4%), a single family office (69.5%) and trust structures for individual members (65.0%). The report cannot show what any individual family will do.

Why it matters for Asian family offices

For family offices, the numbers point to a practical question: are valuation expectations and the future direction of the business agreed inside the family before a buyer appears? That is an editorial reading, not a finding of the survey. For related reading, see our piece on five succession planning questions Asian families should ask (https://www.asiafamilyofficehub.com/five-succession-planning-questions-asian-families-should-ask-what-withers-lawyers-say-and-what-the-data-adds/) and our coverage of the US$1.3 trillion wealth transfer and Asian business-owning families (https://www.asiafamilyofficehub.com/us-1-3-trillion-wealth-transfer-what-l-e-k-s-study-means-for-asian-business-owning-families/).

Frequently Asked Questions

How many wealthy business families are fully prepared to sell?

Only 2.3% are rated fully prepared by the advisers surveyed, with 56.3% partially prepared and 29.5% not at all, per the Julius Baer Family Barometer 2026 as reported by private banking magazin.

What are the main sources of family disagreement in Asia?

Differing valuation expectations (61.5%) and disagreement about the business's future (58.0%) lead, ahead of emotional attachment (44.8%), according to WealthBriefing.

Does the survey cover Asian families directly?

No. It surveys advisers, not families, and the Asian sample size is not given in the coverage we reviewed.

Sources and Method

This is an original rewrite based on WealthBriefing, 21 October 2026, by Amanda Cheesley (https://www.wealthbriefing.com/html/article.php/succession-planning-priority-for-uhnw-families--julius-baer-barometer), private banking magazin, 20 October 2026 (https://www.private-banking-magazin.de/family-barometer-2026-unternehmerfamilien-verkauf-einigkeit/) and Asian Private Banker, 20 October 2026 (https://asianprivatebanker.com/private-banking-wealth-management/julius-baer-asian-families-face-a-second-succession-test/). Julius Baer's primary report was not accessible to us, so all figures are second-hand and should be checked against it. This is not financial, legal or tax advice.