Family offices are rethinking succession as millennials prioritise impact over wealth preservation

In recent years, a compelling transformation has taken hold in the world of family offices. No longer confined to the traditional objective of safeguarding wealth, millennial heirs are reimagining succession as a platform for social impact, innovation, and the redefinition of legacy itself.

Globally, and increasingly in India, successors are blending financial stewardship with values-led leadership, seeking to ensure that wealth serves not just the family, but the wider community and future generations.

The Indian wealth transfer story

India’s ultra-high-net-worth landscape is undergoing a seismic change. Estimates by HSBC India suggest that nearly $1.3 trillion will pass from one generation to the next over the coming decade. This monumental transfer coincides with an exponential rise in the number of family offices, from just 45 in 2018 to nearly 300 by 2024.

Many of these family offices are moving beyond a narrow focus on portfolio management. They are embracing structured governance through the adoption of trusts, family constitutions, and mentoring frameworks that prepare heirs for leadership. Notably, 44% of Indian family offices now invest with an impact orientation, signalling that legacy is no longer solely about financial performance; it is increasingly tied to societal relevance and long-term sustainability.

Next-gen leaders: Blending legacy and purpose

Tara Singh Vachani, daughter of Analjit Singh, created her own entrepreneurial path by starting Antara Senior Living rather than immediately entering the leadership of the family conglomerate. Combining hospitality, healthcare, and real estate, her initiative offers quality accommodations for elderly people at a time when India needs high-quality senior living options. Anchored in the Max Group's philosophy of service, Antara demonstrates how the next generation can innovate while still adhering to family values.

Nisaba Godrej has been crucial at Godrej Consumer Products in steering the company toward sustainability and inclusivity. Good & Green, among others, have focused on achieving carbon neutrality, advancing gender diversity, and developing sustainable livelihoods. She has demonstrated how legacy companies can evolve to stay relevant in a rapidly changing social and environmental terrain by embedding purpose into the fundamental business strategy.

Through Sharp Ventures, now headed by Rishabh, Marico's creator Harsh Mariwala has created one of the more sophisticated family office models in India. Complemented by social innovation platforms such as the Marico Innovation Foundation and the Mariwala Health Initiative, the family's investments span early-stage startups, private equity, and alternative assets. Merging entrepreneurship with societal problem-solving, these initiatives range from business incubation to mental health advocacy.

Nand Kishore Chaudhary's Jaipur Rugs shows how a business can include social impact at its core. Although not a conventional family office story, it gives successors valuable advice. Through connecting hundreds of rural craftspeople directly with global markets, Jaipur Rugs upholds classic craftsmanship, boosts communities, and shows how values-driven business can promote heritage and modern trade to coexist.

Philanthropy as a central pillar of legacy

India's approach to philanthropy is also being reimagined. Through the Hinduja Foundation, Prakash Hinduja has discussed reshaping traditional giving models to appeal to younger, tech-savvy generations who prefer measurable impact and innovative funding approaches. This is driving a rise in hybrid models combining commercial returns with social results, venture philanthropy, and impact funds.

Here, multifamily offices are playing a pivotal role as they motivate families to embed values directly into estate documents, sometimes linking the distribution of inheritance to commitments to philanthropy, sustainability, or community service. This codification guarantees that money helps to meet a bigger social need rather than just personal ambition.

Lessons from the global stage

This shift is not limited to India. Leaders of the next generation, like Justin Rockefeller, Co-founder of The ImPact, and Jean Case of the Case Foundation, are emblematic of those channelling wealth into impact investing and social innovation globally. These models provide Indian family offices with useful structures to emulate, especially in developing collaborative networks, disseminating best practices, and expanding solutions for systemic change.

Indian family offices, and globally, are at an inflection point. The baton is passing to a generation that regards wealth not as an end in itself but as a means to generate positive, long-lasting transformation. This generational shift is changing the DNA of succession planning by combining traditional stewardship with inventiveness and compassion.

Whether it's through Antara's model of eldercare, Godrej's sustainability pivot, Marico's philanthropic ecosystems, or Jaipur Rugs' empowerment of the community, the message is clear: the next generation is creating legacies that are both resilient and pertinent.

In this changing story, success is also about reviving a goal in addition to letting go of influence or financial redistribution to the next generation. No longer simply conserved, wealth is actively used as a catalyst for effect, so guaranteeing that purpose and riches go together into the future.

Succession, in this evolving narrative, is not only about relinquishing control or wealth transfer to the next generation; it is also about renewing purpose. Wealth is no longer merely preserved; it is actively deployed as a catalyst for impact, ensuring that prosperity and purpose walk hand in hand into the future.

(Vinay Kumar is Director – Estate and Succession Planning at Client Associates.)