How High-Net-Worth Investors are Approaching Capital Allocation

Summary

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Podcast Summary: How High-Net-Worth Investors are Approaching Capital Allocation

Podcast: Bloomberg Businessweek
Hosts: Carol Massar & Tim Stenovec
Date: March 18, 2026
Guest: Kathleen Paylor, Vice President of Impact Investing and Philanthropy, RSF Regenerative Social Finance

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the seismic shifts in wealth ownership and capital allocation among high-net-worth individuals, particularly women, as part of the generational wealth transfer currently reshaping investment priorities and philanthropy. Hosts Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec welcome Kathleen Paylor to explore how newly empowered investors are demanding more purposeful, impact-driven allocation strategies that benefit not just themselves, but also society and the planet.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Great Wealth Transfer and its Implications

• Massar (01:52): Women in the U.S. are projected to control $34 trillion in assets by 2030, an immense jump from $7.3 trillion a decade prior.
• This is part of an even larger $84 trillion transfer projected by 2045, creating new dynamics for how wealth is invested and passed down.

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Macro Trends Influencing Capital Allocation

• Paylor (03:08): “[In] a few days, US go from geopolitical shock to global energy supply shock… public markets react when headlines… even when those headlines are… fantasy.”
• Investors are increasingly seeking assets less correlated to volatile public markets, such as real assets (e.g., food systems, regenerative agriculture, social enterprises).

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Evolving Asset Classes and Investment Strategies

• Massar (04:05): “How do those assets manifest… are those in the private markets? Are they in the form of venture capital or venture debt investing?”
• Paylor (04:24): Impact options now cross the spectrum: from capital preservation and fixed income (like RSF’s approach) to venture capital/debt and private credit.
• There’s a pronounced shift to “real assets providing long-term regenerative solutions… that aren’t just about what is the money I can make from this?”

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Women and NextGen Investors: Changing Priorities

• Host (05:43): Highlights prominent women like Mackenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates redefining philanthropic and investment impact.
• Paylor (06:24): “They are increasingly looking for… investments to be purpose driven, intentional, responsive to both social and environmental needs... not just saying like what am I going to get out of this, but what is my money doing in the world?”
• References a conversation with an ultra high-net-worth woman:
  • “What if my money could speak? What would it say about what kind of person I am?... I wouldn’t like it… that’s why I want my money to do something different in the world.” (06:44)
• Major life events like divorce or bereavement often prompt women to actively shape their financial legacy—moving away from passive or spouse-driven management.

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Expanding the Definition of Legacy

• Investors, especially women, are looking at legacy far beyond philanthropy—considering the social and environmental outcomes of their entire capital footprint, from investments to donations.

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The Financial Literacy & Advisory Gap

• Host (08:01): Are women coming into wealth ready to invest, or do they need education?
• Paylor (08:25):
  • Most have clarity on purpose: “I want my money to do good things… and I don’t know how to do it. So help me.”
  • Advisors play a crucial role in guiding women through “the impact investing landscape.”
  • “Do I have to take a haircut? No, is the answer. You do not, absolutely do not.”
  • The process is collaborative: “It’s walking side by side on a journey with folks.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Investors increasingly want more assets that are less correlated with public markets...”
  — Kathleen Paylor, 03:28

• “[Women] are not just asking how much money can I make off of this deal? But they're asking what is this money doing? Where are my resources going and what are the implications of that for people and planet, not just for my portfolio.”
  — Kathleen Paylor, 04:55

• “What if my money could speak? What would it say about what kind of person I am?... that’s why I'm here, because I want my money to do something different in the world.”
  — Kathleen Paylor (relaying a client story), 06:44

• “Anyone who is entering this space now knows what they want their money to do in terms of the impact that they want it to have… but they don't know how to get there. And that's the journey that we're taking.”
  — Kathleen Paylor, 09:24

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:52: Introduction to the female-driven wealth transfer
• 03:08: Macro forces and market volatility drive interest in private, real assets
• 04:24: The breadth of impact investing across asset classes
• 05:43: NextGen and women investors’ influence on investment philosophy
• 06:24: Shifting from legacy as philanthropy to holistic impact; memorable “What if my money could speak?” story
• 08:25: The growing role of advisors and collaborative wealth management
• 09:30: Closing thoughts and episode wrap-up

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Tone & Language

The conversation balances hard data (trillions of dollars shifting hands), practical questions about portfolio strategy, and reflective moments about values and legacy. Kathleen Paylor uses accessible language and relatable stories, emphasizing collaboration and empowerment in investment decisions, particularly for women navigating newfound access to wealth.

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This episode offers a thoughtful look at how the next era of high-net-worth investing will be shaped by deeper purpose, broader impact, and greater intentionality—especially as more women become stewards of significant capital.

Transcript

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[Bloomberg Host]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news.

[Bloomberg Co-Host Carol Massar]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stanovec on Bloomberg Radio.

[Bloomberg Host]

So the financial and retirement services company Empower, they have put this out. They Note that by 2030, women in the United States are expected to control $34 trillion in financial assets. That's up from 7.3 trillion just one decade ago. This represents a major component of the great wealth transfer, a $84 trillion shift projected to occur between generations by 2045. It's pretty tremendous.

[Bloomberg Co-Host Carol Massar]

And so in this week's Women, Money and Power, we're exploring how this shift is creating huge implications for how vast sums are invested, philanthropy, and the way that wealth is passed on to the next generation.

[Bloomberg Host]

Joining us to talk about it is Kathleen Paylor. She's vice president of Impact Investing and Philanthropy at RSF Regenerative Social Finance, and she joins us from San Francisco. Kathleen, so good to have you here. We want to drill down into this great wealth transfer, if you will, to women specifically. But when we think about wealth transfer just broadly and what to do with your money, what someone should do with their inheritance or otherwise, how does the macro for you factor in whether it's the current geopolitical environment, whether it's, we're talking AI, whether we're talking about private credit concerns and more. Let's just start there on the macro level.

[Kathleen Paylor]

Yeah, Carol. Tim, great to be here. You know, I think we've seen, you know, in the, in the course of a few days US go from geopolitical shock to global energy supply shock. And you know, as we all know, public markets react when headlines, even when those headlines are on stub substack in utter fantasy, as we saw, you know, a couple of weeks ago with Citrini. And one of the things that we're really hearing in the impact investing space, particularly in the deep impact investing space like @rsf, is that investors increasingly want more assets that are less correlated with public markets so that they don't have the kind of vulnerabilities and volatility that we're seeing right now. And really to be invested in real assets with long term value like food systems, regenerative agriculture, social enterprises that aren't reacting to minute by minute geopolitical headlines,

[Bloomberg Co-Host Carol Massar]

how do those assets manifest in not an asset, I guess in asset classes. Like are those in the private markets? Are they in the form of venture capital or venture debt investing? How do you invest in those assets that you speak of?

[Kathleen Paylor]

Yes, and yes. I mean impact investing in the past 10, 15 years has grown enormously. So really investors can invest across the spectrum from capital preservation to deep impact fixed income, which is where RSF plays to venture to venture debt to venture capital. Private credit, but it's not the private credit that we're seeing. You know, the volatility in right now we're investing in the private credit side. You can be private credit and fixed income, you can be private credit and much more venture, but it's really investing in real assets that are providing long term regenerative solutions to really intractable problems that we're facing right now and aren't just about what is the money I can make from this? I mean, that is, you know, we can look at the transfer that's happening, which is really more like 124 trillion if you look over the next 20 or something years. And a lot of that going not just to women, but to women in next gen. And they are really asking more questions. They are not just asking how much money can I make off of this deal? But they're asking what is this money doing? Where are my resources going and what are the implications of that for people and planet, not just for my portfolio.

[Bloomberg Host]

And I am curious, Kathleen, in terms of how women and next generation folks are thinking about wealth management differently as they inherit, as the wealth moves from a different generation and to women specifically, especially when you think about some of the very wealthy women out there who have made some major movements in a very different way when it comes to philanthropy. And I think about Mackenzie Bezos. Bezos.

[Bloomberg Co-Host Carol Massar]

MACKENZIE Scott, Excuse me.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah, I was gonna say I was trying to remember, forgive me. But I also think Melinda Gates continuing in terms of her work and how she's approaching, and many say it's often very different from what we've seen in the past.

[Kathleen Paylor]

Very different. Very different. And you don't see it anywhere more clearly than with Mackenzie Scott and folks like Melinda Gates as well, Melinda French Gates, I mean, they are increasingly looking for, and not just looking for, but expect investments to be purpose driven, intentional, responsive to both social and environmental needs. And again, not just saying like what am I going to get out of this, but what is my, my money doing in the world? I was talking a couple of weeks ago with an ultra high net worth woman and she referenced this book by Parker Palmer that is was called Let My Life, Let your life Speak. And she said, what if my money could speak? What would it say about what kind of person I am? And she said, I can tell you right now I wouldn't like it. And that's why I'm here, because I want my money to do something different in the world. And they're looking at much longer term, much more intentional. Some women, a lot of this time this is happening at divorce or death where they haven't had agency before. It's been sort of set it and forget it. Or my partner, my spouse is taking care of this. And now when it's in my domain, what do I want to do with it? What do I want it to say? What do I want it to do? What do I want my inheritance that I provide to the rest of the world to be? What do I want my legacy to be? And often we think about legacy just with philanthropy, but really now people are starting to think about what is the legacy period of what holistically from philanthropy all the way to investing, what is my legacy?

[Chase Business Representative]

Hey, one last question.

[Kathleen Paylor]

And women in particular are asking that,

[Bloomberg Host]

Kathleen, one last question, because I do feel like we become a more informed society, yet we still talk about financial literacy at all ages. Women coming in that you are seeing and working just quickly, do they have to kind of do a little bit of homework and do a Little bit of work to understand the investment environment, or are they coming in saying, I kind of got it, or I kind of have an idea of. Of what I need to do, you know?

[Kathleen Paylor]

And it's not just women. I think a lot of folks set it and forget it. But specifically around women, they're coming in with a lot of clarity about what's important. I want my money to do good things. I want my money to have a positive impact, and I don't know how to do it. So help me. Help me do that. And that's where advisors are coming in. And advisors who can talk with their clients, particularly women, about impact can help them navigate the impact investing landscape. Are in a fantastic position right now. And that's what we do a lot with folks who come to us. What is the next step? What is the first step? What does a capital stack look like on the impact side? Do I have to take a haircut? No, is the answer. You do not. Absolutely do not. But there's a fair amount of hand holding, and it's not even hand holding. That's not really the right way to put it. But it's walking side by side on a journey with folks. Anyone who is entering this space now knows what they want their money to do in terms of the impact that they want it to have, that they want it to be positive, but they don't know how to get there. And that's the journey that we're taking.

[Bloomberg Host]

Kathleen, let's continue this journey and hopefully we can get you back real soon. Kathleen Paylor, really appreciate it. Vice president of Impact Investing and philanthropy at Regenerative Social Finance, joining us from San Francisco.

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