Only 31% of next-generation respondents not already involved in their family business said they were fully willing to take it over, according to a Sun Life survey released in November 2025. For owners preparing to retire, a family connection alone may not produce a successor.
Sun Life described its research as a survey of 1,823 family business owners across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, conducted in October 2025. The 31% finding concerned the uninvolved next-generation group, rather than every respondent.
Among family members who were both uninvolved and reluctant to take over, 50% cited a desire for independence and 42% feared the responsibility. Lack of interest and differences in values or vision also featured in Sun Life’s findings.
These are reported attitudes in six Asian markets. The figures do not mean that everyone outside the fully willing group refused, or establish how many companies will close. They do show why an owner needs alternatives to an assumed family handover.
What is business succession?
Business succession is the transfer of leadership, ownership or control from one person or generation to another. It can involve a relative taking charge, an outside executive running the company or a sale to new owners.
Ownership and management can pass separately. Children may inherit shares while professional managers handle daily operations. A family member might also contribute in a specialist job without wanting responsibility for the entire business.
A workable transition therefore needs decisions about who owns the company, who runs it and who has authority to approve major changes.
Childhood involvement does not guarantee commitment
A study in the Journal of Small Business Management examined reluctant successors through interviews across 25 multigenerational family firms. John Cater, Roland Kidwell, Megan Harper and Marilyn Young explored how childhood exposure and later experiences shaped attachment to the business.
In their explanation of the research, the authors described positive experiences of being trusted and included, alongside accounts of pressure, conflict and feeling overlooked.
They examined affective commitment, meaning an emotional connection to an organization. Wanting to help a company develop differs from staying because leaving would disappoint a parent or threaten financial security.
Some participants who had distanced themselves later reconsidered. Outside work, education and meaningful responsibilities helped them view the business differently. Giving a potential successor room to build an independent career may leave a path back, although it cannot guarantee a return.
The interviews offer insights into particular families, rather than a representative measure of succession preferences. They also suggest a useful starting point for owners, asking what role a relative wants before designing the handover around them.
The family can retain ownership without running the company
Outside leadership is already part of succession planning at larger family firms. A Deloitte report released in July 2026 found that 13% of surveyed businesses had a non-family chief executive, while 26% expected to have one after succession.
Those expectations had not necessarily become appointments. The survey was conducted from March to June 2025 among 1,587 family businesses in 35 countries, each with annual revenue of at least $100 million. Its findings concern substantial enterprises, not the typical local shop.
As our earlier coverage of succession readiness explained, having a plan is different from preparing someone to lead. An external appointment also requires clear boundaries between the executive’s decisions and those reserved for family shareholders or the board.
A sale offers another route. Buyers could include another company or the existing management team. In a management buyout, managers purchase the business, but they still need financing and an arrangement the company can support.
For employees and customers, continuity depends on how the handover works. Customer relationships, supplier arrangements and operating knowledge must remain accessible when the founder leaves. A successor also needs authority to make decisions without continually referring them back to the retiring owner.
A relative’s refusal gives the owner a decision to make while there is still time to act. Recruiting a manager, preparing a sale or developing another candidate all become harder if the business waits until its founder can no longer run it.
The company may carry the family name for generations. The person responsible for its next payroll, customer order and investment decision does not have to.
Cover image: Representative meeting room and cafe interiors, visibly separated in an editorial composite. Photographs by Mikhail Nilov and Merve via Pexels. Neither location is connected with the research or identified as family-owned or for sale.
