Fifty-two heirs to lavish fortunes luxuriate in sleek splendor at the Four Seasons.

They sip designer lattes and speak the language of wealth. The talk is of money, noblesse oblige, technology, Formula One. At lunchtime, out comes chilled rosé, with a tasting led by Jon Bon Jovi’s son Jesse.

Welcome to Camp Rich.

Here, not far from Wall Street, Swiss banking giant UBS Group has convened its annual Young Successors Program, or YSP, a three-day workshop for people who were born loaded. Part tutorial and part self-actualization exercise, the event is designed to stamp the UBS brand on the minds of the next generation of the ultra-wealthy, in essence, to hook them while they’re young.

With an average age of 27, attendees at the June YSP and other Next Gen functions hosted by the likes of UBS, Citi Private Bank, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse will one day rank among the world’s most sought-after clients. Or, at least, that’s the hope. In an era of extreme affluence, elite money managers are vying for the hyper-rich as never before.

On one level, these programs – also held in cities such as Zurich, London and Singapore – represent high-end networking opportunities where the young and rich can be young and rich together.

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The gatherings also allow private banks to show off the broad range of services they offer, which is crucial as investing becomes largely commodified – and in any case, isn’t a topic that inspires passion among millennials.

So while one of Citi Private Bank’s Next Gen programs offers a day on financial theory and strategy, it also devotes a day to entrepreneurship and innovation and another to estate planning.

“We want young ones to understand that, as a scion of a wealthy family with a business legacy, you have responsibilities,” said the aptly named Money K., who heads up Citi’s global Next Gen programs from Singapore. “Eventually you will inherit, so how should you think about it, and what are the rules on estate planning in different jurisdictions around the world?”

Fusty these affairs are not. For one cocktail reception, UBS chose a penthouse with a terrace atop the Beekman Hotel, a renovated Gilded Age office building. Brown Brothers Harriman – about as old-school as it gets, with a history going back to 1818 – hosted 40 offspring of its best clients at the chic Soho Grand last year. Morgan Stanley’s private-wealth management business went for a different hipster vibe, taking over the bowling lanes at Lucky Strike in Manhattan for the 100 attendees of its Next Gen program in May.

Since many millennials want to run their own businesses and like to learn from peers, Morgan Stanley included a “Shark Tank”-style session with young social entrepreneurs pitching to a panel of three attendees.

Personal branding also clicks with the younger generation, so Mandell Crawley, head of private wealth management at the bank, headed up a discussion on “Defining Your Narrative.” Breakout talks included creating “a powerful package called ‘you’ ” and “how to communicate like a leader.”

Another popular theme is innovations in philanthropy, and wealth managers are increasingly keen to offer strategic advice. Checkbook charity doesn’t appeal, but impact philanthropy does, because the results can be measured. The poster child for this may be Scott Harrison, 42, founder of Charity: Water, a wildly popular nonprofit creating access to clean water in developing countries, who spoke at the Morgan Stanley event and UBS’ June gathering.

Harrison’s presentation showed photos of the grueling journeys many women and girls take to fill jerry cans with 40 pounds of water that isn’t even fit to drink. Millennials are said to value experiences over things, so UBS had the group walk a mile with a similar can.


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