How to reach high-net-worth investors with content they trust

Wealthy investors are spreading their money across more firms than ever. In Capgemini’s annual survey of high-net-worth individuals, those with at least US$1 million to invest, the share who worked with a single wealth management firm fell from 39% in 2019 to 19% in 2025, while the share working with four to six firms rose from 12% to 25%[1]. And they leave when trust breaks. In McKinsey’s 2026 survey of clients in 15 European countries, 36% of high-net-worth respondents said they might change their primary bank within the next 12 months, “with loss of trust cited as the number one reason clients across segments say they leave their institutions”[2].

So every wealthy client you want is already someone else’s client, and the firms that win a bigger share are the ones the client trusts most. For wealth managers, private banks, fund managers, family office advisers and premium property firms, content is where that trust starts: long before a first meeting, a prospect reads how you think.

Most of the studies in this guide come from firms that sell consulting, technology or banking to the wealth industry, and each defines high net worth its own way, so read their figures as direction rather than precision.

What wealthy investors look for

Reputation, not only returns. Investment performance remains the first reason clients choose a wealth manager, but in EY’s 2025 survey of nearly 3,600 clients across wealth bands, 47% cited brand and reputation, ahead of fee structure at 45% and a personal relationship with an adviser at 37%[3].

More education than they get. The same survey found that “27% of clients would like to know more about alternative investments, but only 15% have been engaged by their advisor”[3]. In Capgemini’s 2025 report, 68% of baby boomers wanted their heirs to receive financial education, and 48% of relationship managers said providing it helps them secure long-term client relationships[4].

Frequent, personal contact. In McKinsey’s survey, 59% of high-net-worth respondents sought financial advice more than once a month, against 29% of affluent clients, and only 36% felt comfortable using fully digital platforms without assistance[2].

A next generation that will judge you online. In Capgemini’s 2025 survey, over 81% of next-generation wealthy respondents said they planned to switch from their parents’ wealth manager within one to two years of inheriting, and 46% complained of a lack of services on their preferred digital channels, which ranked a firm’s website first, then video calls[4]. That is a stated intention, from a sample weighted towards younger respondents, but the direction is clear.

Trusted people, not campaigns. Mahmoud Ewidah, founder of a concierge firm for ultra-wealthy clients, wrote in The Luxury Playbook, a Unita Media title, that “the wealthiest buyers operate through private networks rather than through the channels built to reach them”, and that “the quality of a firm’s information has become a competitive question rather than a technical one”[5].

The method, in seven steps

1. Decide exactly who you are writing for

Wealth is not one audience. A founder after an exit, an heir, a retired executive and a family office face different decisions, and the same article will not serve them all. Define the reader by wealth band, life stage, location and the decision in front of them, and write for that person.

Assume they are international. Knight Frank, an estate agency and property consultancy, counts 713,626 people worth more than US$30 million in 2026, up from 551,435 in 2021[6], and reports that “wealthy families are increasingly establishing multiple bases to access deals, networks, and talent”[7]. Say which countries and rules an article assumes, and do not write as if every reader is taxed where you are.

Assume, too, that most of them are retail clients. Under MiFID II, wealth alone does not make an individual a professional client: one who asks to be treated as one must meet at least two of three tests, of which a financial portfolio above €500,000 is only one, and is still not presumed to have the market knowledge of an institution[8]. Write to the standard the law expects for retail investors.

2. Teach, and source every number

Fill the education gap the surveys describe. Explain how an asset class works, what it costs, where the risks sit and what the tax frameworks look like across jurisdictions. Show your reasoning; do not offer predictions or tips.

Keep it general. ESMA, the EU’s markets regulator, warns that “in certain contexts, providing training or educational content might be regarded as advice or recommendations”, and that disclaimers such as “This is not investment advice” will not protect you in those cases[9]. Explaining how private credit works is education; telling readers to buy a named fund is not.

Source every figure, because wealthy readers check. When relocation marketing claimed an exodus from Dubai to the eastern Mediterranean in 2026, Cyprus Business Review, a Unita Media title, traced one widely shared figure to “a site that sells relocation packages to Bali”, which “gives no source and no method for the number”, then went to the official figures in all three places and found that “not one of them moves the way an exodus would make it move”[10]. An unsourced number in your content invites the same treatment.

3. Put a named expert on every piece

Google treats investing as a subject where mistakes cause harm. Its guidelines for search quality raters give “how to invest money” as an example of a topic where inaccurate content “could significantly impact someone’s health, financial stability, or safety”, and call trust “the most important member of the E-E-A-T family”, alongside experience, expertise and authoritativeness[11]. Its guidance to site owners says its systems “give even more weight” to content that shows these qualities on such topics[12].

Put a real person’s name on every piece, with their role and credentials and a profile page that collects their work. Our guide on how to become the expert your industry’s media quotes covers building that profile.

4. Publish where wealthy readers already read

Advertising rarely reaches this audience, and when it does it is discounted. Editorial settings carry more weight: specialist magazines on wealth and investing, long-form interviews, podcasts, newsletters that readers chose to receive, and private briefings. Your own channels matter too, because the next generation looks at a firm’s website first[4]. Our guide on how to build a website that earns trust at first glance covers what they will look for there.

Premium property follows the same rules. Our guide on how to market Cyprus property to foreign buyers applies them to developers and agencies.

5. Show the people, on camera

Wealthy clients still want people. McKinsey found high-net-worth respondents “prefer making in-person changes with advisors”[2], and Capgemini’s next generation ranked video calls second only to the website[4]. A recorded interview with the people who will manage the money is the closest thing to a first meeting that a prospect can watch before agreeing to one. Our guide on how to turn one executive interview into a month of credible content shows how far one recording can go.

6. Label what is paid, and give risks equal weight

EU rules are explicit for investment firms. MiFID II requires that all information to clients, “including marketing communications”, be “fair, clear and not misleading”, and that “marketing communications shall be clearly identifiable as such”[13].

ESMA’s guidelines for fund marketing go further, and make a sensible benchmark for anyone writing about investments. They count press articles, interviews, webpages, videos and social media posts that name a fund as marketing. They say a video’s disclaimer should be embedded in it, not shown only at the end. Risks must appear in a font “at least equal to the predominant font size” and “not be disclosed in a footnote”, and “marketing communications should not refer to the rewards without referring to the risks”. Every statement should rest on “objective and verifiable sources, which should be quoted”, without wording such as “safe investment”[14]. The guidelines bind fund managers; for banks and advisers marketing their own services, they show what a regulator considers fair.

If you pay anyone to talk about you, say so. ESMA’s advice to creators is to use words such as “Ad”, “Paid partnership” or “Sponsored”[9], and Google’s raters are told that reviews “from an influencer who is paid to promote the product are not as trustworthy due to the conflict of interest”[11]. The rules are tightening. Under the EU’s Retail Investment Strategy, agreed in December 2025, firms will be “fully responsible for marketing communication, including those disseminated via social media, celebrities or other third parties they remunerate or incentivise”[15]. Final votes were expected in the last quarter of 2026, with the new rules applying from around July 2029[16].

7. Keep in touch, especially when markets move

Silence costs more than most firms think. In McKinsey’s survey, 49% of affluent respondents said their primary bank had not contacted them about the geopolitical situation, while just over half said competitor banks had approached them with tailored proposals. “In an environment where loss of trust is the top reason clients leave their firms, silence can be destructive,” McKinsey concluded[2].

Personal attention is still rare. Only 17% of high-net-worth respondents in Capgemini’s 2026 survey said their advice felt “seamless and tailored”, and 42% had to restate their goals and preferences several times to the same firm[1]. Content can carry part of that load: a dated note when markets move, explaining what happened and what it means for different kinds of portfolio, sent before clients have to ask. Our guide on how to turn a regulatory change into a reason clients trust you shows the same approach for rule changes.

A checklist for your next piece

1. Name the reader: wealth band, life stage, location and the decision they face.
2. State which countries and rules the piece assumes.
3. Write to the retail standard, whoever you expect to read it.
4. Teach how something works; leave recommendations for client meetings.
5. Source every figure and link the primary source.
6. Put a named expert’s byline on it, with credentials and a profile page.
7. Place it where wealthy readers already read, and on your own site.
8. Record the people behind the advice on video, and cut short clips from it.
9. Label every paid piece and every paid creator, in words readers understand.
10. Give risks the same prominence as rewards, in the text and on screen.
11. Keep records of what was published, by you and by anyone you pay.
12. Write to clients when markets move, before they have to ask.