Australia’s wealth management industry is entering 2025–2026 with rising asset pools, a richer high‑net‑worth (HNW) segment, robust advice‑practice profitability, and rapid digital and regulatory change reshaping how advice is delivered. Superannuation’s growth, private‑markets demand, and stricter standards for financial advisers and digital‑asset platforms are the dominant forces behind current trends.
Wealth Management Industry- Market growth driven by superannuation and resilient portfolios
Industry‑wide wealth is expanding on the back of strong superannuation returns and resilient investor behaviour.
An industry overview “Australia Wealth Management Market: Industry Trends 2025–2033” reports that the Australian wealth management market grew around 3% through the COVID‑19 period into 2023, supported by equity‑market rebounds, rising asset values and high savings deposits. The same analysis notes that Australia’s superannuation system has reached about USD 3.9 trillion in assets, with median super funds delivering 7.2% annualised returns over the decade to September 2024, creating a deep pool of investable capital for wealth managers.
LGT Wealth Management, drawing on Investment Trends data, highlights this in “Australia’s $4trn wealth surge: Are you one of the 760,000?”. It notes that the number of wealthy investors putting money into private markets has jumped from 146,000 in 2024 to 171,000 in 2025, with HNW allocations to private markets rising from 3% to 7% in just a year, reflecting a shift toward more institutional‑style portfolios.
Trend 1: HNW investors move toward private markets and global diversification
Australia’s high‑net‑worth segment is growing in both size and sophistication.
The LGT Wealth piece reports that HNW investors are increasingly treating private equity and private credit as core holdings, not just satellites. Investment Trends expects about $10.3 billion of HNW investment to flow into private equity and $15.1 billion into private credit over the next 12 months, highlighting the structural shift toward alternatives.
A ResearchAndMarkets summary, “Australia Wealth Management HNW Investment Preferences”, finds that:
- HNW portfolios typically allocate around 13.4% to robo‑advice and digital solutions, underlining growing comfort with hybrid and automated advice.
- Approximately 35% of HNW assets are held internationally, with expectations this overseas allocation will increase, reflecting a clear globalisation of Australian HNW portfolios.
- Expatriates account for about 12% of the local HNW population, representing a lucrative segment due to complex cross‑border service needs.
The report notes that while HNWs are still predominantly older professional males, there is a fast‑growing cohort of female HNWs and entrepreneur‑led fortunes, opening up new client segments for wealth managers who can tailor propositions around business‑exit planning, estate structures and impact or ESG investing.
Trend 2: Digital wealth platforms, robo‑advice and wealthtech innovation
Digital transformation is reshaping how advice is delivered and how clients engage with their wealth.
The 2025–2033 market analysis highlights “major expansion of digital wealth platforms” and new fintech entrants throughout 2024–2025, with digital platforms projected to grow at about 5.1% CAGR from 2024 to 2032. These platforms enable advisers and clients to access portfolios and planning tools from anywhere, improving efficiency and collaboration.
Capgemini’s thematic report, “Top wealth management trends 2025”, identifies technology‑driven personalisation, AI‑powered advice, and seamless omni‑channel experiences as key global trends that are highly relevant for Australia. It notes that wealth managers are investing heavily in client portals, data‑analytics engines and digital onboarding to meet rising expectations for real‑time transparency and tailored insights.
The industry‑trends report also references the rise of robo‑advisory and “wealthtech” solutions. It points out that global robo‑advisers managed about USD 870 billion in 2022 and are projected to manage around USD 1.4 trillion by 2024, with Australian adoption tracking this global growth. One example is Australian‑owned wealthtech HeirWealth, which launched a platform in 2024 to streamline estate planning and intergenerational wealth transfers, targeting complex family‑wealth needs with digital tools.
Trend 3: Advice profession profitability and consolidation
Despite years of regulatory change and adviser‑number decline, financial advice practices are entering 2025 with improved profitability.
IFA’s summary “Profits on the rise for advice practices in 2025”, based on early data from Adviser Ratings’ Australian Financial Advice Landscape 2025, reports that:
- 41% of advice practices achieved revenue growth above 15%, up from 35% last year.
- 51% of practices now have profit margins of 20% or more, up from 47% in 2024.
The article attributes this to a mix of fee restructuring, higher client‑engagement levels, and operational efficiencies (often driven by technology and outsourcing). With fewer advisers serving similar or greater demand, many firms are able to focus on higher‑value clients and comprehensive advice relationships, supporting stronger margins.
At the same time, increased complexity around tax, retirement, super and intergenerational wealth is driving more Australians toward professional advice, reinforcing the trend toward larger, better‑resourced advice practices and continued consolidation.
Trend 4: Regulatory focus on advice quality, professionalism and AI use
The regulatory environment for advice continues to tighten, with ASIC focusing on professional standards, internal dispute resolution and use of technology such as AI.
ASIC’s “Financial advice update – February 2025” outlines priorities including:
- Ongoing work on professional standards and qualification assessment for financial advisers.
- Oversight of the experienced‑provider pathway, allowing long‑serving advisers to meet new standards.
- Reviews of compliance with professional year programs for new entrants.
- Analysis of internal dispute‑resolution data and findings from reportable situations.
- ASIC’s first report on AI adoption by advice licensees, examining how firms are using AI in advice processes and risk‑management.
A later “Financial advice update – August 2025” reiterates ASIC’s expectations that AFS licensees keep the Financial Advisers Register accurate and use a new point‑in‑time dataset to correct errors, including details on advisers relying on the experienced‑provider pathway. A law‑firm note on this update underscores that ASIC is watching adviser registration quality and record‑keeping as proxies for governance standards.
These regulatory updates, along with ASIC’s broader work on digital‑asset platforms and financial‑product design, mean wealth managers must invest in compliance, training and governance, especially as they experiment with AI and new wealthtech tools.
Trend 5: Interplay with superannuation and retirement advice
The massive growth of Australia’s superannuation system is both a driver and a focus area for wealth management.
The wealth‑market trends report notes that superannuation assets have reached USD 3.9 trillion, with median funds achieving about 7.2% annualised returns over 10 years to September 2024, creating substantial opportunities for wealth managers in pre‑retirement and retirement‑income advice. Deutsche Bank’s analysis “Australia’s Superannuation – a rising global powerhouse in pension funds” highlights that this has made the super system one of the world’s largest pension pools.
This scale is driving demand for:
- Comprehensive retirement‑income strategies, including account‑based pensions, annuities and sequencing‑risk management.
- Advice on contribution strategies and tax optimisation, given 2025–26 concessional and non‑concessional caps and transfer‑balance‑cap settings.
- Intergenerational wealth transfer planning, as platforms like HeirWealth target families wanting to manage estates, trusts and beneficiary structures more systematically.
ASIC’s speeches referenced in its advice updates, such as “Better retirement outcomes: A whole‑of‑sector responsibility”, reinforce the regulator’s view that the advice sector plays a critical role in helping Australians convert super balances into sustainable retirement incomes.
Trend 6: ESG, client experience and global wealth themes
Global themes like ESG, client centricity and multi‑asset diversification are increasingly shaping Australian offerings.
The 2025 EY Global Wealth Research Report finds that wealthy investors globally are demanding more personalised, goals‑based advice, higher transparency on fees, and broader access to ESG and impact investments. Australian clients mirror these expectations, and wealth managers are responding by building ESG‑screened portfolios, thematic strategies and impact‑reporting capabilities.
Capgemini’s “Top wealth management trends 2025” report emphasises three themes:
- Data‑driven, hyper‑personalised experiences, using analytics to tailor portfolios, reporting and communications.
- Stronger ESG compliance and disclosure, with regulators and clients expecting evidence‑based sustainability claims.
- A shift toward holistic financial‑wellbeing propositions, integrating banking, lending, insurance and non‑financial services (such as wellness or concierge offerings) for HNW and affluent clients.
These global trends, layered on Australian specifics like super and property, mean local firms must design propositions that are both globally competitive and locally relevant.
Trend 7: Competitive fight for HNWs and emerging segments
Competition for attractive HNW clients is intensifying as banks, independents and global players all target the same segments.
A Money Management article “Wealth managers fight for attractive HNW demographic”, summarising a report titled 10 Wealth Management Trends 2026, notes that HNW clients increasingly seek:
- Direct relationships with senior advisers.
- Curated access to private‑market deals, co‑investments and specialised strategies.
- Integrated family‑office‑style services, including estate planning, philanthropy and business‑succession advice.
The HNW investment‑preferences report similarly highlights growth opportunities in robo‑advisory overlays, commodities, estate and trust management, and identifies expatriates and female HNWs as particularly promising segments. Wealth managers that can combine sophisticated product shelves with genuine relationship depth and cross‑border expertise are expected to outperform in these niches.