How Is Global Uncertainty Changing The Priorities Of Internationally Mobile Expats?

What happens when the things you once took for granted become less predictable?

Against a backdrop of global geopolitical uncertainty, many people are questioning how much they can rely on the institutions around them. Studies have found that trust in institutions is declining in most countries worldwide.

For internationally mobile expats, this uncertainty can be particularly significant. Destinations once chosen for their stable governance, strong infrastructure and personal safety can also be affected by wider political, economic and social changes.

For some, this is prompting a different approach. Rather than relying solely on the systems around them, internationally mobile people are taking greater responsibility for their own well-being and making longer-term plans to help protect the lifestyles they have built.

It’s what we call ‘resilience planning’.

Our whitepaper explores the emerging trend of resilience planning among high net worth individuals and high-earning expats

Download our whitepaper

The age of instability

The 2020s have been one of the most turbulent decades in living memory. The events that have shaped this decade have collectively undermined trust in established institutions while also increasing the risk felt by individuals all over the world.

From the global pandemic and climate change, to armed conflict and geopolitical volatility, governments have proven time and time again they are unprepared and unequipped to handle the scale of threats facing humanity.

These risks are amplified for high net worth individuals whose internationally mobile lifestyles leave them more exposed by these global and macroeconomic risks.

Many have found their homes overseas to be suddenly experiencing shocks to their health systems and economies. Many have experienced increased threats to their personal safety. Others have noticed their wealth and income becoming suddenly much more precarious.

A structured response

In the past, high net worth individuals might have looked to their governments for reassurance. But in the age of instability, they have found themselves needing to put their trust elsewhere.

Thus, they have turned their attention inwards. Noticing that their higher capital power grants them access to more premium tools, they have started to spend greater sums on products and services designed to help them protect themselves and their families.

As an international insurance provider, we at William Russell have seen this first hand. But insurance is just one part of a much larger picture.

Resilience planning is not just a list of purchases, but a behavioural shift.

From estate planning to resilience planning

It might be easy to equate resilience planning with traditional estate planning, but the focus of resilience planning is not to protect cash or assets. Rather, it is to help families maintain their lifestyle liquidity. That could mean having access to reliable healthcare services, personal security, or being reassured about the surety of income.

The Rise Of ‘Resilience Planning’

In our exploration of resilience planning, we identified five key themes shaping how high net worth expatriates are adapting to an increasingly uncertain world.

These areas reflect some of the most significant challenges globally mobile individuals and families are navigating today:

• Longevity – protecting long-term health, well-being and quality of life
• Continuity– ensuring loved ones remain financially secure in the event of death, illness or incapacity
• Income– safeguarding the ability to earn and maintain lifestyle ambitions
• Security– protecting families, assets and reputations against evolving threats
• Connectivity – ensuring rapid access to world-class medical care and support, wherever it is needed

Our whitepaper explores each of these areas in more detail, building a picture of the modern wealthy expatriate – and how they are building stability in an increasingly unstable world.

Download our whitepaper

1/ Health is no longer ‘nice to have’ – it’s a lifelong priority

What’s the point in living a long time if you won’t be healthy to enjoy it?

This is the thinking with which many high net worth individuals are approaching their healthcare priorities. In a trend we’ve taken to calling ‘longevity strategy’: HNWIs are making conscious choices around their healthcare that prioritise not just good health in the moment, but improved outcomes over long periods of time.

2/ Estate planning becomes continuity planning

With regulation shifting all the time, how can HNWIs ensure family and heirs get the most from their inheritance? 

For many centuries, high net worth individuals have engaged in estate planning, looking for tax-effective strategies to minimise losses when transferring assets after death. But, at a time where governments are cracking down on wealthy individuals by closing loopholes, lowering thresholds and rewriting laws, HNWIs are finding their fortunes and assets threatened in new and surprising ways. The idea for HNWIs is not to evade the taxman, but to find ways to protect their family’s financial security.

3/ With income at risk, high earners seek surety

Job security is at a historic low. As high-earners confront this reality, they are looking for novel ways to ensure the continuity of their income.

For those whose wealth is dependent on a certain level of income, the disruption wrought by outside circumstances has created enormous tension. With employment more precarious than ever, high earners are seeking ways to protect their internationally mobile and cash-rich lifestyles. This has resulted in marked behaviour changes, for instance towards prioritising cashflow instead of asset building.

4/ Every HNWI is their own VIP

Why should personal security be the exclusive domain of VIPs? As expatriates – especially in less stable countries – look to protect their safety, technology may have the answers. 

Personal security has always been a top priority for high net worth individuals, especially those who were visiting less secure countries. But with increased acts of terrorism and violent crime, the risk has now spread globally – and so has the emphasis on personal security. For many HNWIs, these look like the kind of security services once designated for VIPs, but with a twist: instead of bodyguards in black suits, digital technology is now at the forefront of wealthy families’ protection plans.

5/ As HNWIs go global, connection matters more than ever

HNWIs are moving further and faster than ever, but how can their exclusive services keep up with them?

The freedom to live a truly international lifestyle comes with its limitations. The further and faster high net worth individuals go, the higher the risk they could end up ‘out of range’ of the services they depend on. Thus, there is a growing interest in services that support global connectivity, ensuring frequent flyers can enjoy peace of mind no matter where they are in the world.

“As the world becomes more volatile, we’re seeing high net worth individuals allocating more of their finances towards resilience planning. Their key priorities appear to be to protect their health, safety and personal finances, so that they can get back to enjoying their international lifestyles.”

“These insights are important because high net worth individuals tend to be ahead of global trends. We expect to see these behaviours adopted by a wider cross-section of people in time.”

“Our whitepaper explores resilience planning in more detail and outlines some of the behaviour patterns we’ve seen at William Russell – especially when it comes to choosing international insurance policies.”

William Cooper
Director and Co-Owner at William Russell

A changing relationship between wealth, health and security

Wealth has long provided access to a premium international lifestyle. But as the world becomes less predictable, wealthy expats are increasingly looking beyond their assets and towards the wider factors that support their health, security and quality of life.

This means paying greater attention to what we might call ‘life administration’: planning for the healthcare, income, family, security and connections that help people maintain their lifestyle when circumstances change.

Wealth can provide options, but it cannot remove uncertainty. Building resilience therefore requires a broader approach to planning, with greater consideration given to the things that make long-term stability possible.

For internationally mobile individuals and their families, this shift may require a more introspective approach to planning. But the value can extend well beyond the immediate future: a resilience plan built today could yield results for decades to come.

Explore the rise of resilience planning

Drawing on more than 34 years of experience supporting globally mobile individuals and their families, our whitepaper looks at the growing importance of resilience planning.

It examines the key challenges shaping the lives of high-net-worth internationally mobile individuals, from health and income continuity to personal security and family wealth, and considers how a broader approach to long-term stability is emerging in an increasingly uncertain world.

The Rise Of ‘Resilience Planning’ For High Net Worth Individuals explores why traditional approaches to wealth and lifestyle planning may need to evolve, and what resilience planning could look like in practice.

This whitepaper is free to download. Simply fill in the form below to download your copy.

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