UHNW clients commonly require collaboration among advisors, consultants, and other professionals to adequately address the Ten Domains of Family Wealth. Effective collaboration involves facilitating the flow of information, sharing ideas and proposals, and developing solutions or plans. Multigenerational families who share assets and/or goals also typically need to be able to collaborate well within the family itself.  Collaborative behaviors and skills can be enhanced and developed through training, coaching, and experience.

Acting collaboratively is considered the intermediate of three levels of group functioning on behalf of a client.  The most basic level – cooperation – involves the willingness and skills to exchange information or perform an action upon request from another professional or the client. Cooperation is largely transactional and task-specific. Collaboration is a more extensive set of processes that work toward a project goal. It is specific to the situation or project and may not necessarily extend to other clients or projects. Collaboration is a fundamental building block of but not synonymous with integration. 

The highest level of group functioning – integration – typically requires additional elements. These include shared goals, accountability, system support, effective leadership, and facilitation of group activity on behalf of the client. Integration has also been considered more of a mindset, a consistent approach within a firm or system. Collaboration tends to be ad hoc to a situation.