Utmost on market trends, private assets and the future of insurance-based wealth planning
19 FEB, 2026
Against a backdrop of shifting macroeconomic conditions and evolving investor priorities, 2025 proved to be a year of strong asset gathering in the wealth management industry.
In its latest trading statement, Utmost reported £9.7 billion of inflows, a 43% increase compared to the previous year, bringing total assets under administration to £116.3 billion as at 31 December 2025.
In this context, we speak with Ugo de Grenet, Head of High Net Worth – Continental Europe and LatAm at Utmost, about the drivers behind these results, developments in the high-net-worth segment, and the company’s perspective on the current market environment.
How do you see the current market environment shaping demand for insurance-based wealth solutions?
Demand for insurance-based wealth solutions continues to grow globally as High Net Worth (HNW) clients place increasing emphasis on long-term succession planning, structural resilience and disciplined access to a broader range of investments, including private markets. Fluctuating tax regimes are also reinforcing the benefits of solutions that combine tax efficiency, asset protection and long-term wealth structuring within a single, well-governed wrapper.
At the same time, wealth itself is becoming more mobile. Many HNW individuals now live, work or invest across multiple jurisdictions, with beneficiaries often spread internationally. This growing portability of global wealth is heightening demand for solutions that remain future-proof as circumstances evolve.
For internationally mobile clients, managing complexity has become a central concern. Insurance-based solutions provide a coherent framework through which assets can be held, administered and overseen consistently, even as residency, regulation or family circumstances change.
This ability to support continuity across borders and across generations is becoming a defining feature of modern wealth planning and a key driver of growing demand for insurance-based wealth solutions.
How important is insurer selection for HNWs exploring these products?
Insurer selection is absolutely critical for High Net Worth families when choosing a provider for these types of product. Insurance-based wealth solutions are not designed to be a short-term solution, they are long-duration structures that can underpin succession, estate and cross-border planning for decades.
Exiting a policy early can trigger unintended tax consequences and strategic disruption, so the choice of life company must be made with a genuinely long-term view.
That makes financial strength and strategic commitment the two non-negotiables.
Advisers and clients should focus on whether an insurer has the balance sheet resilience, solvency strength and intent to support policies over 15-20 years or more.
This matters even more as client needs become increasingly complex. International mobility, multi-jurisdictional families, alternative assets and bespoke tax structures all demand deep technical capability and precision. A life company must be able not just to issue a policy, but to support evolving circumstances such as a relocation, a shift in investment strategy or evolving regulatory requirements. Life companies also need to provide accurate administration and ensure compliance across multiple jurisdictions and with international regulators while investment in technology and cyber security is also increasingly pressing.
Crucially, strength must be evidenced, not assumed. Independent ratings, alongside strong solvency and scale, give advisers confidence that they are not taking unrewarded risk. In today’s regulatory environment, that robustness is no longer optional, it is fundamental to delivering reliable long-term outcomes.
Why are insurance-based wealth solutions seeing such growth in demand in Europe?
Across Europe, insurance-based wealth solutions are seeing strong growth in demand as High Net Worth individuals navigate increasing cross-border complexity alongside a more uncertain economic and regulatory environment.
Governments across the continent are looking to repair public finances, finance increased defence spending in an era of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and fund long-term obligations associated with ageing populations.
In an unpredictable tax environment, it is inevitable that HNW families will place greater emphasis on secure long-term planning and asset protection. Insurance-based solutions are therefore seeing increased demand as wealthy families aim to future-proof their succession and estate planning.
The growing burden of reporting obligations, transparency rules and regulatory divergence between jurisdictions in Europe is also adding friction to wealth management. HNW families are looking for structures that simplify administration and provide consistent oversight across borders.
As Europe enters a period of significant generational transfer of wealth, families are prioritising orderly succession, governance and control, particularly as heirs are often resident in different countries with different tax regimes.
Would financial and legal advisors of HNWs recommend insurance-based wealth solutions?
Yes, where appropriate to a client’s circumstances and objectives, we often see that financial and legal advisers frequently recommend insurance-based wealth solutions as part of a broader, integrated wealth planning strategy.
Intermediaries increasingly recognise the value of these solutions in bringing together investment management, tax efficiency, legal structuring and succession planning within a single, coherent framework. As mentioned, these are particularly relevant for High Net Worth individuals with cross-border lives or complex family arrangements.
From an advisory perspective, insurance-based wealth solutions help simplify what would otherwise be fragmented structures, often involving multiple custodians and legal entities. By providing a consolidated and well-governed product, they support clearer oversight and more consistent reporting which help to deliver stronger long-term control for families planning across generations.
Advisers place high value on the flexibility that these solutions enable as client circumstances evolve. Changes in residency, family structure, regulatory regimes or tax environments can be accommodated within an existing framework, reducing the need for repeated restructuring and helping to preserve continuity over time. This adaptability is particularly relevant in an environment of increasing international mobility and regulatory complexity.
Importantly, recommendations are always grounded in suitability and proper advice. Insurance-based wealth solutions are typically considered in close collaboration with a client’s tax and legal advisers, ensuring that structures are aligned with individual objectives, compliant with local regulations and appropriate to both the client’s risk profile and long-term planning needs.
Are you seeing HNWs looking to increase allocations in private markets and how do you manage this?
Yes, private markets are increasingly forming part of the core allocation for HNW clients, driven by the search for higher quality long-term returns and lower volatility.
Whereas insurance policies were previously more focused on liquid, transparent investments, they increasingly contain alternative assets such as private equity, private credit, infrastructure and evergreen fund exposures.
The flip side of this decisive shift in investment strategy is that private assets must be supported by complex operational arrangements.
In practice, the risks associated with these assets often arise less from the investment itself and more from how assets are administered, valued and funded over time. Capital calls, distributions and valuation lags must be managed accurately and consistently to avoid liquidity stress or unintended exposures at policy level.
Evergreen private market funds, for example, offer smoother access and more predictable liquidity than traditional closed-ended vehicles, but they still rely on notice periods, gates and fair-value methodologies that must be actively monitored.
Insurance-based structures provide a purpose-built environment for holding private market assets. They offer strong regulatory oversight and investor protections, tax efficiency and deferral options, segregated custody and policyholder protection alongside operational simplification and cross-border consistency.
