How a Comprehensive Wealth Review Works

Most high-net-worth individuals receive advice on specific financial issues as those issues arise — a pension transfer here, an investment review there. What far fewer have is a comprehensive view of their entire financial position: a structured, joined-up assessment of where they are now and what they need to do to reach where they want to be.

A comprehensive wealth review is the foundation of good financial planning. This guide explains what it covers, why it matters, and how to prepare for one.

What a Wealth Review Covers

A comprehensive wealth review examines every dimension of a client's financial life. For high-net-worth individuals with international connections, the scope is broad.

Assets and liabilities. A complete net worth statement: all investment accounts, pension funds, offshore bonds, ISAs, cash deposits, property holdings, business interests, and valuable personal assets. Set against all liabilities: mortgages, loans, business debts, and contingent liabilities. The net figure gives you your true financial position — not the gross asset figure that is so often cited.

Income and expenditure. Current income from all sources (employment, self-employment, investments, rental, pension), expected future income, and a realistic assessment of expenditure — current and projected in retirement. Many clients have not seriously modelled what they spend and therefore have no basis on which to assess whether they are saving enough or can afford to retire when they want.

Protection cover. Life insurance, critical illness cover, and income protection. Questions to answer: Is the sum assured appropriate for your current liabilities and family commitments? Have policies been written in trust? Are there residency clauses that could void a policy if you live abroad? Is there a gap between when income would stop and when pensions begin?

Pension entitlements. All pension pots, including deferred occupational pensions from previous employment, SIPPs, any defined benefit (final salary) entitlements, and the state pension (an estimate based on National Insurance contribution record). For internationally mobile clients: QROPS considerations, overseas pension schemes, and the interaction of multiple pensions with the Annual Allowance and the Lump Sum Allowance and Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (which replaced the Lifetime Allowance when it was abolished on 6 April 2024).

Investment portfolio. Not just the names of funds held, but a proper analysis: asset allocation, geographic and sector concentration, fee structure, tax efficiency, and alignment with the client's risk tolerance and time horizon. Many portfolios that look diversified at the fund level are in practice highly concentrated in a handful of underlying asset classes.

Property. Principal residence, investment properties, overseas properties. Are they held in the most efficient structure? Are rental properties declared correctly in all relevant jurisdictions? Is the mortgage strategy optimal? What is the IHT position?

Business interests. For business owners: current valuation, ownership structure, Business Property Relief eligibility, key person insurance, shareholder protection, succession planning status.

Currency exposures. Clients with income, assets, and expenditure in multiple currencies carry currency risk that most reviews fail to address. Where are you spending? Where are your assets? Is there a mismatch that could hurt you if exchange rates move?

Legal documents. Will (in which jurisdiction? When was it last updated?), Lasting Power of Attorney or equivalent, any trust deeds, shareholder agreements, prenuptial agreements. Are they current and consistent with your wishes and financial position?

The Key Questions a Wealth Review Answers

A good wealth review is built around the questions that really matter.

• What is my net worth in real terms? Not a vague estimate but a precise, documented figure.
• Am I saving enough? Given my current assets, expected returns, target retirement age, and lifestyle expectations — will my money last?
• Are my investments aligned with my risk tolerance and time horizon? Not the risk questionnaire score, but a genuine assessment of whether the portfolio construction makes sense for your situation.
• Am I tax-efficient? Are you using all available allowances? Is income being taken in the most efficient form? Are any obvious tax planning opportunities being missed?
• Is my family protected? What happens financially if you die? Become seriously ill? Are unable to work?
• Is my estate planned to minimise IHT? And is that plan up to date given recent rule changes, including the April 2025 non-dom reforms?
• Do I have the right currency strategy? Are you exposed to exchange rate risk that could undermine your plans?
• Are my legal documents current and consistent? A will from 2015 may no longer reflect your family situation, asset base, or wishes.

How Frequently Should You Have a Wealth Review?

Full annual review. At minimum, a comprehensive review of your wealth position and financial plan should be conducted once a year. Markets change, tax rules change, family circumstances change, and the strategy that was right last year may need adjustment.

Mini-review after major life events. Any of the following should trigger an immediate review, not a wait until the annual appointment: marriage or divorce, birth of a child or grandchild, serious illness, bereavement, sale of a business, inheritance, change of country of residence, significant change in income, approaching retirement, or a material change in tax legislation affecting your position.

For internationally mobile clients, a change of country of residence is particularly significant — it affects tax residency, pension treatment, the viability of existing investments, protection policy validity, and estate planning jurisdiction.

What a Good Adviser Does

The distinction between a good wealth adviser and a mediocre one is not access to different investment products — it is breadth of perspective and quality of coordination.

A good adviser does not simply review the investment portfolio and send a report. They consider all aspects of your financial position in context, make recommendations across all areas, and ensure those recommendations are consistent with each other. They flag risks you had not considered. They tell you things you might not want to hear — such as that your projected retirement age is not achievable on current savings, or that your IHT position is worse than you realised.

For internationally mobile clients, a good adviser also knows when to bring in other professionals. Tax law in multiple jurisdictions, trust law, succession law, and insurance regulation are all specialist areas. The wealth adviser's role is to coordinate those specialists and ensure they are working from a common understanding of your position — not to replace them.

Crucially, a good adviser is independent and remunerated by fee rather than commission. An adviser who earns from product sales has an inherent conflict of interest that the best-run firms eliminate entirely. Always ask how your adviser is paid.

What to Bring to a Wealth Review

To conduct a thorough first-time wealth review, your adviser will need:

• Your three most recent tax returns (self-assessment or foreign equivalents)
• All pension statements, including deferred benefits from former employers
• Investment and offshore bond statements
• Protection policy schedules — life, critical illness, income protection
• Your current will and any trust deeds
• Lasting Power of Attorney documents (or equivalent in your country of residence)
• Property valuations and mortgage statements
• Business accounts and any shareholder agreements, if applicable
• An estimate of current annual expenditure
• Any previous financial plans or reports from other advisers

Some clients feel uncomfortable sharing this level of detail with any single adviser. The discomfort is understandable but counterproductive — incomplete information leads to incomplete advice, and the omitted area is often precisely where the biggest risk or opportunity lies.

The Output: A Personalised Wealth Plan

A comprehensive wealth review should produce a clear, written wealth plan with:

• Your current net worth statement
• A summary of the key risks and gaps identified
• Specific recommendations across each area — not vague suggestions but concrete actions with priority rankings
• Projected financial trajectory: if you implement the recommendations, what does your financial position look like in 5, 10, and 20 years?
• An action list: who does what, by when

The plan is a living document, not a report that sits in a drawer. At each annual review, progress against the action list should be assessed, the assumptions updated, and the plan revised accordingly.

How Global Investments Can Help

Global Investments specialises in comprehensive financial planning for internationally mobile high-net-worth clients. We take a whole-of-wealth approach — covering investments, tax planning, pensions, estate planning, protection, and legal documents — and coordinate with specialist advisers in the relevant jurisdictions where needed. If you have never had a full wealth review, or if your current arrangements are fragmented across multiple providers, contact us to discuss how we can bring clarity and structure to your financial position.