High net worth individuals are large enough to warrant more intense customer service. Family offices serve ultra high net worth investors and offer a total outsourced solution to managing the financial and investment side of an affluent individual or family. High net worth investors sit between institutional and retail investors in terms of needs and service requirements. There is a wide variance in their requirements depending on their circumstances, and also in the amount of their wealth. Tax is an important distinction between retail and institutional investors who are less concerned about post-tax cash flows. Potential considerations include different tax rates on capital gains versus income, jurisdictional differences, inheritance tax, and the timing of investments around tax year dates. Key to developing a strategy for a high net worth client is to establish their investment horizon, what cash needs they have in the future, their personal tolerance for risk and tax considerations they might have. Together these inputs will drive the investment strategy, which will be individually tailored to their circumstances. Private clients differ hugely in these inputs. The manager needs to ensure they understand the client's current situation, their goals, and that an investment policy is put together that is consistent with those goals and perhaps sometimes adjusts the goals.

The high net worth market is split into various tiers as the amount of investible assets will often drive the individual's requirements, both from tax and an investment horizon point of view at the top are the ultra high wealth individuals, and at the bottom are the mass market. The largest investible assets tier is the mass affluent market, which is an increasing focus for asset management firms. Despite being the majority of all households, the mass markets tends to have the smallest total investible assets.