Among the points made by Bernstein Private Wealth Management to this news service was that it deliberately "over-communicated" with clients when stocks slid in early April.

Although markets have rebounded somewhat since the slide that was caused by the announcement of sweeping US tariffs on April 2, investors remain on edge. The selloff has prompted thoughts among wealth managers on whether they can take economic and political stability in the US for granted, or assumptions about global trade, for example. In any event, high net worth and ultra-HNW clients have had much to think about. 

We recently spoke to Anne Bucciarelli (pictured below), senior national director of family engagement strategies at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, a firm with $137 billion in AuM as of the first quarter of 2025, on how market moves affect clients’ thoughts on asset allocations, how the firm has communicated with clients, ongoing conversations about transfer of liquid and illiquid wealth, and more.
 

Anne Bucciarelli

Family Wealth Report: What sort of conversations has Bernstein had with clients in the past few weeks following the big fall in the stock market and all the controversies about tariffs, etc? Are clients changing asset allocations? What sort of general advice is the firm giving clients to keep them composed?
Bucciarelli: We have intentionally over-communicated with our clients recently, providing more insights and guidance through various content formats such as videos and calls with our investments team. Our goal is to help clients navigate the current market volatility and address any concerns they may have about how it will impact their portfolio. While it’s natural for clients to feel nervous during times of market volatility, history has shown that consistently timing the market is impossible, returns can come in unpredictable bursts, and volatility can reveal opportunities.

To help protect our client portfolios, diversification is their best protection – we always build allocations to be “all weather.”

We rely on diversification across asset classes, geographies, sectors, themes, public and private markets. In our view, clients should maintain a long-term perspective to navigate market turmoil and capitalize on potential opportunities. Our approach focuses on persistence, perspective and high-quality research which allows us to serve as thoughtful stewards of our client’s wealth. 

FWR: Beyond understanding clients’ goals and personalities, how much time is taken up looking at the different structures and methods (intra-family loans, trusts, etc.) that families can use to reduce frictions and mitigate risks, etc?
Bucciarelli: Once we understand what a client is trying to achieve, we will link those priorities to the tax and estate planning, philanthropic, etc. strategies best aligned to meet the goals of the client. We will look at the strategies already in place (if any) and work closely with the client and their professional team to evaluate the current strategy and any additional strategies that may make sense to put in place. We then stress test the various strategies using our proprietary Wealth Forecasting Model to evaluate the trade-offs with the client. We often provide education around the strategies – both in terms of how they function, as well as communication strategies to other family members – and then work on the implementation and assessment of strategies with the client. Across all of this we are wrapping the appropriate governance structures in place (IPS, family constitution, etc).

FWR: Do you find that with family-owned firms, for example, where there are several heirs with different objectives and situations, that a lot of families take the line of least resistance and sell the business and divide up the value, rather than transfer the business when they think one or more heirs aren’t interested, or competent?
Bucciarelli: It really depends. Some families absolutely will look for an exit strategy, but some make the pivot to hire (or promote from the inside) an external leadership team and at that point the business transitions to an outside professionally-managed enterprise. We work with both scenarios – what is our identity and purpose post-sale? What are we trying to achieve with the wealth, or with the family office? What conversations need to happen with family members? And, if the business continues under external management, what governance structures are we putting in place to ensure that the family member owners and external managers understand the priorities and strategy?

FWR: How do you advise families where, for example, there are personality clashes, or parents don’t think a son/daughter is competent to take a business over, etc., or if there are problems such as with substance abuse, or mental/physical issues?
Bucciarelli: Where there is a conflict or issue present, we work with families to ascertain what is happening, so that we understand the full landscape of the situation. From there, we will work with the families on identifying strategies and developing a roadmap for family members to navigate the situation with a higher success rate. Where appropriate and needed, we will also recommend outside vetted partners who are an extension of our team and experts in their respective fields (for instance substance abuse or mental health) and we serve as the connection point or quarterback linking the strategy and team together.  

FWR: Can you give a few more comments on how Bernstein curates networks and peer-to-peer gatherings for families so that they can get over a sense of isolation? And how serious is this isolation issue? 
Bucciarelli: The isolation issue is quite serious. In fact, almost 75 per cent of the families we interviewed for Wealth Beyond Measure [its research paper launched in 2024] noted that they felt the isolating impact of wealth. Only 5 per cent felt that they had an adequate network of peers. We make an active and conscious effort to provide insights on what other ultra-high net worth clients are doing so that our clients get those additional data points, lessons, and stories that help them navigate their situation. We provide these insights through research like Wealth Beyond Measure, through our curated peer-to-peer experiences and through the insights shared by our global family engagement team.

We highly curate the peer-to-peer experiences – the events are small and intimate, and there is an underlying binding element that connects the attendees together (business owners, family offices, philanthropists, etc.). Furthermore, in structured facilitated conversations held during the experience, we further curate those smaller groups to maximize the peer learnings clients will experience.

FWR: Concluding thoughts?
Bucciarelli: We find that by making a concerted effort to completely understand our clients' goals, what they value and the dynamics of the family relationship, we can better optimize the advice and strategies we recommend for them. Most of the families we work with want to maintain and grow their financial wealth, but they are also intently focused on ensuring that the non-financial wealth of the family (relationships, etc.) flourishes, and is not negatively impacted by their financial wealth.