Role of wealth advisors in growing high value legacy giving explored in new report
Melanie May | 28 August 2024 | News
The report highlights the importance of the high value legacy giving market and its scope for growth, and explores the role that wealth advisers can play in growing high value legacy giving in the UK.
Understanding the role of wealth advisers in growing legacy giving from Remember A Charity, was developed in partnership with Boon Philanthropy Consulting and with support from Philanthropy Impact. It also covers the benefits for charities of taking a more holistic approach to help high value supporters maximise their philanthropic impact.
Fewer than 1% of charitable estates in recent years have included gifts of over £500,000, but data from Smee & Ford suggests that these donations generate 26% of the sector’s legacy income. Based on the current UK legacy market value, this equates to around £1 billion annually.
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The report emphasises an opportunity for a broader range of wealth advisers to play a more active role. It draws on research gathered through interviews and focus groups with around 40 advisers, including wealth managers, private bankers, tax consultants, philanthropy consultants, and solicitors, and incorporates insights from fundraisers, and case studies of high value legacies.
Commenting on the growth potential for high value legacies, Lucinda Frostick, Director of Remember A Charity, said:
“Even a small increase in high value legacy gifts could significantly enhance UK charities’ long-term funding, making a transformative impact on good causes. And wealth advisers are uniquely positioned to accelerate this growth. By working collaboratively, charities and wealth advisers could unlock invaluable philanthropic potential.”
Five key findings from the report:
- The benefit of values-led conversations: wealth advisers recognise that their clients are increasingly values-led and want to provide a service that reflects this.
- Advisers are well placed to seed the idea of charitable legacies and understand that they have a role in highlighting to clients the opportunities and potential fiscal benefits of legacy giving.
- There’s an appetite for knowledge with advisers expressing an appetite for more knowledge and support in raising legacy conversations with their clients.
- Legacy giving can play a key role in the philanthropic journey: the decision to leave a charitable legacy can be a catalyst for future giving and advisers recognise that discussing the causes that matter most to clients can strengthen the adviser-client relationship.
- The need for a more holistic and collaborative approach with impact a key driver for high net worth individuals who expect choice and agency, and to be well stewarded.
Sianne Haldane, founder of Boon Philanthropy Consulting, said:
“The opportunities that exist around growing high value legacy giving are really exciting. They provide not only transformational possibilities for charities that receive them, but central to these gifts are enhanced relationships with the donors who leave these gifts. For advisers, talking about values and legacy with clients gives them a deeper understanding of their clients’ overall goals…it truly is a win win win for all.”
A summary of the report is available to download from Remember A Charity’s website, with the full report available for member charities and professional advisers along with additional web-based content and assets to help advisers with discussing legacy giving with clients.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.