Asian Americans are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S. by 2050, accounting for about 38% of all U.S. immigrants. Despite the group’s growing wealth, many financial advisors report challenges in working with Asian American clients.
The reason? It’s difficult to build trust.
According to an Urban Institute research, the median net worth of Asian households in the country was $535,400 in 2022 — more than twice that of white families and over eight times that of Black, Hispanic and other racial groups. Despite the large pool of wealth, as of 2024, only 7.6% of wealth advisors are Asian, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The research also found that Asian households had the widest wealth disparity in 2022, with the bottom 10% having $13,040 or less in net worth, while 90% held more than $3 million. Additionally, Asian families tend to carry higher debt-to-income ratios than other racial groups, particularly through mortgages and student loans, which are often viewed as methods to generate wealth.
Jason Co, the principal advisor at CoPlanning Financial, said that many older Asian immigrants in particular see relationships with advisors as “purely transactional” and that many would rather invest their wealth in real estate. When advisors propose a new investment strategy, it’s often looked upon with skepticism.
“When they’re not English-speaking primarily, you have this problem where everybody in your community believes the same thing and new ideas can’t integrate into their culture,” Co said. “They have a high attachment to real estate, so it’s very hard to convince someone to just sell it and put it into the stock market, where they believe the stock market is just a gamble.”
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John Eing, chief strategy officer at Quantum Financial Advisors, added that Asian culture’s sense of secrecy with money, along with lack of familiarity with the stock market, often lead Asian-American investors to manage their wealth independently.
Many Asian-American clients immigrated from their countries during a time when there wasn’t a concept of financial planning. Anh Tran, the managing partner at SageMint Wealth, cited her parents’ experience when they fled Vietnam amidst the Vietnam War.
“People lack trust in the government, especially when you’re coming from a war-orbiting country,” Tran said. “They don’t trust the government, which is what they believe the stock market is investing in. That does make it difficult when you’re trying to explain traditional financial planning concepts to somebody who never grew up learning that.”
Keith Kim, the managing partner at On Generations Financial, added that second-generation Asian Americans might inherit the wealth management strategy of their parents, who typically are reluctant to seek help.
“We think that we can fix everything on our own,” Kim said. “In their mind, money is just so personal, so there’s no sense of reaching out for professional help.”
It all starts with education
Eing said that the general public has a misconception about what financial advisors do, citing that the industry has a marketing problem because many financial advisors’ advertisements fail to clearly convey their responsibility. He recommends advisors solve this by educating potential clients in person.
“A lot of immigrant communities congregate around a community center, whether that’s a church or other organization,” Eing said. “Just [provide] education with real life, tangible examples and [show] people what our work actually looks like.”
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He said that when speaking with clients, advisors should explain the entire process step by step along with the success stories of past clients.
“Once you show it to them, they want it,” Eing said. “It becomes a paradigm shift — it goes from ‘how did my portfolio do today?’ to ‘am I on track to reaching all the outcomes I said I wanted to achieve?'”
Don’t make assumptions
Marguerita Cheng, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, said it’s important to not make assumptions about Asian-American clients since there can be significant differences among the cultures of people coming from many different countries.
“Understand that there’s tremendous language and religious diversity,” Cheng said. “Understand that there’s some people that are part of the clients.”
Cheng also emphasized that not all Asian Americans want to work with each other because they fear that doing business with people in the community might lead to gossip. Instead, it’s important to learn about clients’ decision-making processes and where they get their financial information from. By doing so, advisors can best meet clients’ goals and close the gap of financial misunderstanding.
Patient communication is the key
Food could open the door to trust. Cheng said that advisors can “break bread or have tea” with Asian-American clients as food is an important part of Asian cultures.
“Just really take the time to listen,” Cheng said. “Don’t ask a lot of ‘why’ because it can be very intrusive.”
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Additionally, when advisors are having difficulties pronouncing Asian-American clients’ names, it’s extremely disrespectful to give them nicknames because names carry significant weight in Asian cultures.
“Don’t say ‘what kind of name is that.’ Say ‘can you share with me the correct way to pronounce your name?'” Cheng said. “Even if you got it wrong, the fact that you asked and you’re at least trying means a lot to people.”
Cheng said advisors should acknowledge the collectivist mindset of Asian-American clients, meaning that advisors are also serving people who are not in the room. Typically, Asian-American clients prioritize planning for their family and kids, and advisors should refrain from questioning their priorities.
Tran agreed and said that it’s very important for advisors to understand Asian cultures and language — even just a little — to build better portfolios.
“Asian investors want you to understand their culture — they like their relatability. Asian cultures also have interesting family dynamics that are different from American culture,” Tran said. “Making sure you understand that is important because at the end of the day, people just want to make sure that they are heard and that their goals are understood and their values are incorporated into their plans.”
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Cheng said many Asian Americans don’t feel seen or heard by the U.S. government and financial system, including those who speak English, have wealth and were educated in the country. She recalled an Asian-American client who had lived in the country for decades describing the system as “too transactional and hurried.” As a result, many rely solely on financial education from within their own communities, which may not be the best resource.
“We can’t shame people, so that’s why it’s important to present things and explain,” Cheng said. “We don’t necessarily have to translate the materials, but we just need to make sure that we are using less jargon and being more intentional with how we are explaining things — don’t do things in a hurry.”
