Family-owned companies in Asia have new hurdles to overcome given the rapid pace of change in technology and markets. With the significance of family connections and customer loyalty diminishing, executives must acknowledge the pressing need to change their ways of doing business.

A new study by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), assesses the readiness of family businesses across Asia-Pacific to address future challenges to their operations. “Planning for prosperity: assessing family business future-readiness in South and South-east Asia”, sponsored by SAP, is based on the findings of a survey of 300 family business executives across eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The barometer rates business confidence across four categories: people, technology, processes and environment.

Key findings from the research include:

Executives show high confidence in their abilities to meet future challenges, although expert testimony suggests they are more vulnerable than they admit Seven in ten executives admit that their companies will need to change in order to successfully overcome the challenges of the next three years Nearly 100% of executives say their organisations have a clear plan for succession, though experts suggest succession planning may be little more than a notional exercise that will be trumped by tradition and culture

The Economist Intelligence Unit undertook a study of high-net-worth women and men (individuals with US$1 million or more in assets), sponsored by RBC Wealth Management. The survey covered 1,051 individuals (502 women and 549 men) in Canada, the U.S., the UK and Asia (mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore).   While many women still feel some of the familiar gender constraints, particularly as decision makers, the survey suggests that the younger they are and the more wealth they accumulate, the less these apply. The picture that emerges is of high-net-worth women who routinely start and run businesses and who increasingly direct their own wealth-building. The more assets they accumulate, the more they direct their wealth and legacy planning themselves and the more their individual influence will be felt.    What follows are key findings and insights about a growing and very diverse group of women who are fundamentally rethinking the meaning of wealth and giving and who are designing legacies that will affect the world the next generations inherit.    Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.    Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the changing face of wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.  

In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.

Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.

Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary. 

Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.