They opened their first ETF portfolio at 25, trade via Neobroker, compare conditions in real time. The generation of founders, company successors and high potentials in management positions is digitally socialized and used to making financial decisions themselves. Why do millennials still need a private bank? Daniel Sauerzapf, Co-Head Wealth Management at Hauck Aufhäuser Lamp, knows the answer: “At a certain point it becomes more complex.”
When digital tools reach their limits
“Many young entrepreneurs use neobrokers for their liquid investments. These are excellent tools for standardized forms of investment,” says Sauerzapf. But when founders have largely tied up their assets in their own start-up or successors take over a medium-sized family business, new questions arise: How do I systematically build assets outside of it? How do I protect my family? How do I structure my tax structure optimally?
Things get particularly complex when exiting. Suddenly entrepreneurs have considerable liquidity, but completely new questions: Do I need a family office? A family company? How do I involve the next generation? “These are not questions that a neobroker can answer,” says Sauerzapf.
The three biggest challenges facing young entrepreneurs
In practice, Sauerzapf encounters three central issues: Firstly, securing the family in the event of an emergency. Many founders and successors do not have a clear separation between operational and private assets. Secondly, tax structuring options, which can amount to significant sums. And thirdly, succession planning, not just in the company, but in terms of assets.
The examples are diverse: A 39-year-old DAX manager has to comply with compliance restrictions, has stock options, and needs tax structuring. A 42-year-old company successor with 30 million euros in company assets is faced with a complex succession situation with shareholder interests, tax structuring and management culture. “With an internal network of specialists, we can support and solve exactly this issue very well,” explains Sauerzapf.
Personal responsibility and sparring
What fundamentally distinguishes the next generation of entrepreneurs from their predecessors: They want to make decisions for themselves. Millennials stand for digitalization, transparency and personal responsibility. Only 20 percent would delegate decisions to an asset manager, the other 80 percent want to make decisions themselves.
“Private banking must offer sparring on an equal footing,” says Sauerzapf. “The customer must understand options, explore strategic alternatives and be able to decide for themselves.” At the same time, ecosystem thinking shapes this target group: community, sparring and networking are in the foreground. It’s no longer just about the classic advisor-customer relationship.
From entrepreneur to investor
The support does not end with the entrepreneurial activity. Many successful founders sell their start-ups, successors sell the family business – and look for a new role as an investor. They remain active in the ecosystem, for example through venture capital, private equity, direct investments in areas they know.
“But that requires a completely different attitude than the operational business,” emphasizes Sauerzapf. Long-term portfolio strategies, diversification, realistic return expectations. Private banking must be able to accompany this step from entrepreneur to investor. This is made possible through access to exclusive investment opportunities, deal flows, valuation expertise and, above all, an honest opinion instead of approval. There is also the structural question: How do I organize these investments? About holding companies? Family foundations? How do I involve the next generation?
Community as added value
The network plays a central role in this. Successful founders and successors want to exchange ideas with like-minded people about investments, strategies and experiences. “This is exactly where our ThinkFWD initiative comes in,” explains Sauerzapf. “We see a bank as a network and have created a lively community in which entrepreneurs, investors and successors regularly exchange ideas.”
It’s about topics such as digitalization, sustainability, new business models. But also about very specific investment opportunities and cooperation opportunities. And what happens as a result often goes far beyond business: new ideas are developed, collaborations emerge, business contacts become real friendships. “That is the real value of such a network,” says Sauerzapf.
Three pieces of advice for founders and successors
What advice does he give to young entrepreneurs? First: Systematically build up assets outside the company early on, not just when you exit. This gives options and security. Second: Use digital tools where they make sense, but seek expertise where things get complex. It’s not about either/or, but about intelligent cooperation.
And third: invest in your own network. “The best insights often come from real conversations with like-minded people,” says Sauerzapf. “That’s exactly why we create spaces like ThinkFWD, our Next Initiative with a series of exclusive formats. Because this exchange is priceless.”
Private banking for founders, successors and high potentials means: digital tools where they make sense. Expertise where things get complex. And community where real connections are made. A generation that wants to decide for itself – but doesn’t have to decide alone.