Wealth firms have been intensifying their focus on next generation initiatives: for example UBS in Asia hired a chimpanzee expert to give children of private banking clients in Singapore lessons on philanthropy and being involved in various socio-cultural and economic causes. Such schemes are of course also a way of resolving a problem that many wealth managers face with next generation clients: retention.

Merrill Lynch’s Global Investing Programme for the next generation of UHNW clients from Europe, the Middle East and Africa consists of a five-day programme for 50 participants aged from 18 to 24 who come from the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Israel and the Middle East.

During the programme, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management professionals will give presentations on different asset types, discretionary asset management, wealth structuring and alternative investments. This year a day focusing on effective charitable giving will divide the GIP students into teams with specific charitable issues to research. Each team will visit a small charity to see how it operates day-to-day, the aim of which is to give participants a broader understanding of philanthropy, from how to approach charitable giving to how charities operate on the ground and the process of fund raising. At the end of the week, the teams each pitch on behalf of their charity to compete for a financial donation from Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

Another new addition to the programme is a Myers Briggs personality profiling session aiming to help students identify strength areas in problem solving and decision making, build awareness of their communication skills and gain insight of their own management and leadership styles, says Merrill.

The programme, which has run in EMEA since 2007, will be held at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financial Centre in London. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management also run similar programmes in Singapore and Hong Kong. This invitation-only programme aims to help participants to understand the processes and disciplines of successful investing and to make them better informed about managing their wealth in the future.

“Our clients see great value in equipping the next generation of their families with the ability to safe guard and grow their wealth. The Global Investing Programme is specifically designed to give relevant knowledge and responsibility to those who will need it most. The success of the Global Investing Programme highlights the value our clients attach to developing the financial knowledge of their sons and daughters so they are equipped to take responsibility for managing and safeguarding the wealth that will be passed to them,” says David Jervis, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management EMEA.