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More than a third of high-net-worth individuals don't have confidence in their beneficiaries to handle their inheritance responsibly, according to a new study by Barclays Wealth.
The survey canvassed more than 2,000 individuals in 20 countries, each of whom had more than $1.5 million in investable assets, and 200 with more than $15 million.
For the 34% percent who said they are either ambivalent or don't trust their children or stepchildren to protect their inheritance, their views have likely been influenced by the recent upheavals in global markets and economic dislocations that have vanquished a considerable amount of wealth, according to Chris Johnson, director of the Wealth Advisory Group for Barclays Wealth.
"I think that there's been an increase in distrust over the last several years," Johnson said. "I think that the drivers for that are partially social and partially economic."
Johnson suggested that the sour macroeconomic picture and continued market volatility has forced more affluent individuals to reconsider their inheritance plans, a reckoning that for many has brought to the forefront reservations about their children's ability to manage their fortunes that they may have harbored for some time, but that only recently assumed a pressing urgency. Johnson drew a parallel with the studies that have correlated a spike in failed marriages with the mortgage crisis, job loss and other elements of the economic downturn that have brought unwelcome stresses...