A decade is a long time in any industry, particularly one as dynamic as financial services. But the next 10 years are likley to be even more disruptive then most, thanks to the introduction of new technologies, evolving RIA and financial advisor business models, and the ongoing wealth transfer between the Baby Boomers and their younger beneficiaries.
How advisors navigate this period could determine whether your firm grows into this new market reality, or slowly fades away.
I’ve spent the last decade studying how the most successful advisory businesses operate, scale, and break. I’ve worked alongside RIAs, independent firms, hybrid models, and more across market cycles, regulatory shifts, and technology waves.
In short, I’ve seen some things. And I have an idea of what might be coming next.
But don’t just take my word for it. Think about how these 20 predictions might apply to your firm. Not all of them will matter equally. For most advisory businesses, three to five of these shifts will drive the majority of the upside—or risk. The goal isn’t to do everything; it’s to triage and focus.
And don’t forget to take action. Don’t get to 2035 wishing you had moved sooner. No one had perfect information when markets seized up in 2020, but the most successful advisors acted decisively anyway. They simplified, clarified their value, and invested while others hesitated. Bring your partners and senior leaders into the conversation, align on what matters most, and then do something
The future won’t be evenly distributed, and it will arrive faster than most advisors expect.
1) Advice gets unbundled (and rebundled differently)
For decades, the AUM fee bundled everything: portfolio management, planning, meetings, and hand-holding. By 2035, that bundle looks increasingly outdated. Clients are becoming more aware of what they’re actually paying for—and what technology can now do cheaply or automatically.
The new bundle centers on decision-making, not asset allocation. Ongoing advice increasingly looks like a subscription for planning, tax strategy, life transitions, and accountability, with investment management priced separately or embedded at a lower cost. The advisors who win are the ones who can clearly explain and prove why their ongoing guidance is worth paying for.
2) Hybrid human + AI becomes the default operating model
AI doesn’t replace advisors—it quietly absorbs the least human parts of the job. Research summaries, plan drafts, meeting agendas, follow-ups, CRM updates, and proposal generation increasingly happen in the background.
This frees advisors to focus on what clients actually value: judgment under uncertainty, emotional regulation during volatility, and nuanced tradeoffs between competing goals. By 2035, “AI-assisted” won’t be a differentiator—it will simply be how competent firms operate.
3) Planning-first beats portfolio-first
Markets are unpredictable; lives are not random. As clients live through career changes, caregiving, entrepreneurship, and longer retirements, portfolios matter less than decisions around spending, saving, and risk capacity.
Leading firms flip the traditional script. They start with goals, constraints, and tradeoffs, then design portfolios to serve those realities. Investments become a means, not the message—and firms that still lead with performance charts struggle to stay relevant.
4) Tax becomes the center of gravity
Taxes are one of the few areas where advisors can reliably add value year after year. By 2035, clients will increasingly expect proactive tax strategy, not reactive filing or last-minute advice.
Firms respond by building deeper tax fluency, whether through in-house CPAs or tightly integrated partnerships. Asset location, Roth strategies, charitable planning, equity compensation, and business structuring move from “advanced planning” to core service.
5) Direct indexing goes mainstream for taxable clients
Once a niche tool for UHNW investors, direct indexing becomes accessible to a much broader audience as platforms mature and costs fall. Personalized portfolios, tailored exclusions, and continuous tax-loss harvesting become common.
As a result, generic ETFs lose some differentiation in taxable accounts. The advisor’s value shifts to portfolio design decisions—what to tilt, what to exclude, and how to align investments with a client’s broader tax picture.
6) Alternatives get normalized, but with stricter guardrails
Private credit, private equity, and real assets become more visible in client portfolios, especially as public markets feel increasingly correlated. Advisors use alternatives to address income needs, inflation protection, and diversification.
At the same time, scrutiny increases. Liquidity risk, fee drag, and transparency are no longer glossed over. Firms that treat alternatives as a disciplined allocation—not a sales product—build trust and durability.
7) Private markets become easier to access via New platforms
Technology reduces friction in private investing. Evergreen funds, fractional ownership, improved reporting, and standardized onboarding make private markets easier to explain and implement.
This accessibility raises the bar for advisors. The challenge is no longer access; it’s due diligence, portfolio fit, and governance. Selection skill matters more than ever.
8) Outcome-based portfolios proliferate
Clients don’t think in terms of volatility or Sharpe ratios. They think in terms of income, downside protection, purchasing power, and lifestyle stability.
By 2035, portfolios are increasingly labeled and designed around outcomes: “retirement income,” “near-term liquidity,” or “legacy growth.” This framing improves client understanding—and reduces panic when markets inevitably misbehave.
9) Advice turns into real-time nudges
Annual review meetings feel archaic in a world of continuous data. Advisors increasingly deliver value through timely prompts: increase savings, rebalance risk, exercise options, harvest losses, update beneficiaries.
These nudges transform advice from episodic to ongoing. Clients feel supported between meetings, not just during them, and advisors become part of daily financial life.
10) Behavioral alpha becomes a measurable KPI
One of the advisor’s biggest contributions is preventing bad decisions. Historically, that value has been hard to quantify.
By 2035, firms will increasingly measure and communicate behavioral impact: avoided panic selling, disciplined rebalancing, and improved savings rates. Behavioral alpha becomes part of the firm’s performance story, and a powerful retention tool.
11) Client experience gets product-managed
The best advisory firms start to look more like well-run software companies. They map client journeys, track friction points, and iterate constantly.
Onboarding, reporting, communication cadence, and digital tools are intentionally designed, not accidental. Experience becomes a competitive moat, not a soft afterthought.
12) Compliance becomes more automated—and more data-driven
Regulation doesn’t disappear, but the way firms handle it changes dramatically. AI-driven surveillance, documentation, and suitability checks reduce manual work and human error.
This lowers operational risk and frees compliance teams to focus on policy, training, and judgment calls. Firms that embrace automation gain both efficiency and peace of mind.
13) Fee transparency increases, forcing clearer value props
Clients increasingly compare fees across advisors, fintechs, and hybrid platforms. Opaque pricing becomes a liability.
Winning firms articulate their value in plain language: what clients get, why it matters, and how it improves outcomes. Pricing becomes a strategic decision, not an inherited convention.
14) The middle market becomes the biggest battleground
Technology lowers the cost of delivering high-quality planning, pulling sophisticated advice down-market. Mass affluent clients gain access to services once reserved for the wealthy.
This intensifies competition. Firms that rely on “good enough” advice without differentiation get squeezed from both sides, by automation below and specialists above.
15) Workplace and wealth management converge
For many clients, their biggest financial decisions happen at work: retirement plans, stock compensation, and benefits selection. Advisors increasingly meet clients at these moments.
The line between workplace advice and personal wealth management blurs. Firms that integrate both contexts gain earlier relationships and deeper insight.
16) Advice-as-a-benefit partnerships expand
Employers, banks, and fintech platforms embed access to advice as a feature, not a referral. Advisory firms partner to deliver human judgment at scale.
Distribution shifts from cold prospecting to embedded presence. Advisors who can integrate cleanly—and deliver consistently—benefit from steady demand.
17) Specialization accelerates
Generalist advisors struggle to stand out in a crowded market. Specialists don’t.
By 2035, more firms will anchor their identity around specific client types or life events. Niche expertise drives referrals, pricing power, and trust, especially in complex situations.
18) M&A continues, but integration becomes the differentiator
Consolidation doesn’t slow, but easy roll-ups disappear. The challenge becomes unifying systems, cultures, and client experiences.
Firms that integrate well scale profitably. Those that don’t accumulate complexity, not value.
19) Trust shifts from star advisor to institutional team
Clients grow wary of key-person risk. They want continuity, process, and redundancy.
Team-based advice, shared documentation, and institutional memory become selling points. The firm—not the individual—becomes the trusted entity.
20) Winning firms look like wealth operating systems
By 2035, the best firms offer a unified environment for cash management, planning, investing, tax coordination, insurance, and estate workflows.
The experience feels cohesive and calm. Less fragmentation. Fewer logins. More clarity. The advisor becomes the orchestrator of a client’s entire financial life.
What’s Next? Making the Most of These Predictions
Like I said, these predictions are just educated guesses. They might all happen, or maybe none of them will. Only time will tell.
But don’t be complacent. What’s most likely to happen? What would be catastrophic? What’s the best case scenario for your firm?
Focus on strong positioning and execution Rather than big firms dominating, specialist advisors with deep niche expertise are well positioned to thrive in the years ahead, especially as AI commoditizes generalist firms. Clients will value human intuition, creativity, and problem-solving, making advisors with a strong POV and niche authority indispensable.
Be bold. If you dare to make some tough choices now and over the next 10 years, you’ll be ready for what’s next.