Rathbones Group: International Wealth Mobility Raises Challenges for Clients and Drives Change in Global Wealth Management

High net worth individuals, business leaders and professionals may face significant financial losses or even legal action from cross-border regulatory complexities as the increasing speed of wealth mobility around the world places new burdens on how they plan and manage their finances internationally, Camilla Stowell, CEO of Wealth at Rathbones, one of the UK's leading wealth and asset management groups has warned.

Speaking ahead of the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Stowell told CBS that high net worth individuals, families and investors increasingly see the world as borderless, but require specialist international wealth management to keep up with their professional, family and travel ambitions. 

"Wealth is moving faster and further than ever before, said Stowell. "Our advisers bring together a wide range of specialists across complex regulation and rules over many different tax regimes, to help protect people from heavy penalties or even falling foul of the law by accident."

Stowell's remarks come as the world's leaders gather in Davos to discuss how open collaboration can address complex global challenges from economic disruption to sustainability. "Wealth no longer moves in straight lines," she said, "increasingly we're on the front line of helping people as they navigate these paths. It is crucial that these internationally mobile wealthy understand what that means for their money."

Global wealth mobility is intensifying, reshaping where money is registered and testing the ability of managers and regulators to keep pace. The mobility of high net worth individuals (HNWI) is hitting records, with as many as 142,000 millionaires expected to relocate from the UK in 2025, many working in growing sectors such as tech, pharmaceuticals and law. 

This is a particularly pronounced trend in the UK, which saw a net outflow of 16,500 millionaires over in 2025, equating to $91.8bn of investable wealth leaving the country. The United States, United Arab Emirates, and other jurisdictions are seeing corresponding inflows, reflecting a broader shift toward global diversification and mobility.

Conversely, there are an estimated 220,000 US citizens living in the UK, around 25,000 of which hold investible assets of more than £300,000. By 2030 this number is set to rise to as many as 42,000.

This trend will accelerate through generations, as younger professionals are more likely to relocate for lifestyle, tax, or regulatory reasons; while there are opportunities in growth, the movement is creating new challenges for wealth managers, particularly as clients seek to diversify holdings and ensure compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

As one of the UK's leading wealth and asset management groups, Rathbones is well-positioned to address these challenges. The business, which recently completed a merger with Investec Wealth & Investment, manages over £113 billion in client assets and has expanded its capabilities to serve the needs of more international clients. 

Rathbones' approach combines regulatory expertise – serving US clients under both SEC and FCA regimes in the US and UK, respectively, and also clients travelling between the UK and Europe – with a focus on long-term planning and personal service. It is also able to support people from South Africa moving to the UK or US, due to its relationship with Investec. 

For example, Stowell told of a US professional relocating from New York to London with plans for partial residency in Portugal and seeking global diversification alongside clean US tax reporting recently advised by Rathbones' international team. The firm, which has a dual-regulatory model across the Atlantic, can establish a strategy that incorporates US, UK and euro-area exposures and supports the client's international context. 

"The mobility of wealth is fundamentally changing how investors approach portfolio management," Stowell said. "Our role is to help clients move with confidence, ensuring their investments remain aligned with their goals, wherever they are in the world."

Industry observers note that while international wealth management and offshore wealth management offer opportunities for diversification and growth, they also introduce risks. The challenge for global investment management firms is to combine global reach with local expertise, ensuring that clients can adapt to changing circumstances without compromising compliance or performance.Conversely, there are an estimated 220,000 US citizens living in the UK, around 25,000 of which hold investible assets of more than £300,000. By 2030 this number is set to rise to as many as 42,000.

This trend will accelerate through generations, as younger professionals are more likely to relocate for lifestyle, tax, or regulatory reasons; while there are opportunities in growth, the movement is creating new challenges for wealth managers, particularly as clients seek to diversify holdings and ensure compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

As one of the UK's leading wealth and asset management groups, Rathbones is well-positioned to address these challenges. The business, which recently completed a merger with Investec Wealth & Investment, manages over £113 billion in client assets and has expanded its capabilities to serve the needs of more international clients. 

Rathbones' approach combines regulatory expertise – serving US clients under both SEC and FCA regimes in the US and UK, respectively, and also clients travelling between the UK and Europe – with a focus on long-term planning and personal service. It is also able to support people from South Africa moving to the UK or US, due to its relationship with Investec. 

For example, Stowell told of a US professional relocating from New York to London with plans for partial residency in Portugal and seeking global diversification alongside clean US tax reporting recently advised by Rathbones' international team. The firm, which has a dual-regulatory model across the Atlantic, can establish a strategy that incorporates US, UK and euro-area exposures and supports the client's international context. 

"The mobility of wealth is fundamentally changing how investors approach portfolio management," Stowell said. "Our role is to help clients move with confidence, ensuring their investments remain aligned with their goals, wherever they are in the world."

Industry observers note that while international wealth management and offshore wealth management offer opportunities for diversification and growth, they also introduce risks. The challenge for global investment management firms is to combine global reach with local expertise, ensuring that clients can adapt to changing circumstances without compromising compliance or performance.

This advertiser content was paid for and created by Acumen. Neither CBS News nor CBS News Brand Studio, the brand marketing arm of CBS News, were involved in the creation of this content.