Family Business Stories

In episode 24 of our Family Business Stories Podcast, PwC’s Lisa Cornwell talks to Gilles Erulin, a longstanding family office practitioner and founder of Westwick Melrose & Cromwell (WMC), a hands-on consulting firm that supports families with family offices in managing extraordinary situations. Among other things, they look at Gilles’s learnings from decades at Financiere Pinault, the family office of billionaire businessman Francois Pinault and his children – including family office mergers and acquisitions and the challenges of succession in a wealthy business-owning family.A lot of family offices are well equipped to run their ordinary business. It’s when something suddenly pops up or starts nagging the family that they may not have the team in place to deal with the situation. In these circumstances, WMC can provide valuable expertise, such as supporting the family in navigating a merger or acquisition in an unfamiliar jurisdiction, or facilitating the transition from the first to the second generation.  Gilles also talks about the challenges of ensuring proper corporate governance in family offices without detracting from the uniqueness of the family itself – in other words, preserving the family’s right to be different.Is your family office faced with a major transition or an extraordinary situation? Check out the podcast to find out how experienced practitioners can help you negotiate circumstances that depart from daily business.

In this episode of our “Family Business Stories” podcast the last our mini-series focussed on the upcoming Switzerland Inheritance Initiative, PwC’s Lisa Cornwell talks to Alexandra Bertschi, PwC Switzerland’s family governance specialist. They talk about some of the more family-related and emotional aspects of the new tax inheritance initiative, due to go to the vote in the coming months. If approved, it would comprise a 50% federal inheritance tax with a one-off CHF 50 million exemption.

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, Lisa Cornwell talks to Jürg Niederbacher, who leads PwC’s private wealth practice across Switzerland, about the latest practical developments in the Inheritance Initiative. Now that the proposal and the alternatives have been rejected by the two chambers of parliament, what are the chances of a Yes vote later this year?

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, we talk to PwC Switzerland’s head of tax about how wealthy families are tackling the issue of inheritance – in particular in light of the upcoming inheritance initiative in Switzerland. This is the first of three editions of the podcast devoted to inheritance and succession, a technically complex but also emotionally charged issue for the people involved and those responsible for managing their affairs.

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, we talk to Nick Bedford, investment advisor at NFG Partners, about the growing popularity of Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIOs) among family offices. Nick shares some insights into why more family offices are embracing the OCIO model to access top-tier investment expertise and resources without the need for an extensive in-house team. He explores how OCIOs help navigate today’s complex investment landscape, covering everything from alternative investments to private markets. The conversation highlights the economic and strategic benefits of outsourcing, including cost savings, enhanced discipline and accountability in investment management.

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, we talk to Anita Mikkonen, partner and head of PwC Switzerland’s real estate tax and legal practice, and explore the opportunities for family offices to invest in Swiss real estate. She talks about real estate as a popular investment for family offices, focusing on Swiss property. She gives insight into listed real estate investment companies, investment funds and tokenised real estate structures that enable even foreign investors to benefit from residential real estate assets in Switzerland. The conversation takes in the pros and cons for real estate investment vehicles and points out ESG, sustainability and energy considerations that have to be taken into account when buying property.

Managing substantial wealth can be a difficult business at times. The provision of accurate information is critical to deal with tax, legal, regulatory and compliance matters, and many families have to duplicate time and effort with every request for information. In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, Tomas Hurcik, CEO of ORCA, introduces the business he founded to deal with these challenges. ORCA offers asset and wealth overview software that helps family offices, trusts and investment companies manage crucial information on their legal entities, private equities, real estate and other assets.

This episode of our Family Office Podcast looks at how family offices are dealing with the new data protection legislation and what family offices can do to protect themselves from problems arising from this regulation. Comprehensive new legislation governing data protection and privacy – in particular the EU’s GDPR and the new Swiss Data Protection Act – is posing major challenges for organisations in all sectors. Family offices are no exception. Philipp Rosenauer, partner at PwC Switzerland responsible for data protection and privacy, addresses challenges like cross-border transfers of data, leakage and theft.

This episode of our Family Office Podcast features Patrick Rooney, partner and head of business development at ProMeritum. ProMeritum is a UK-based hedge fund specialising in absolute return emerging markets fixed-income. In the podcast, Patrick explores the way his clients are currently responding to the widespread uncertainty globally and specifically how uncertainty in the US is prompting family offices to take stock of what the next year or two are going to look like in their portfolios.

The topic of sustainability can be tricky to navigate given the many and varied regulatory challenges, but it is certainly on the agenda of many family offices as they seek to match the values and passions of the family members with the sustainability investment environment. Antonios Koumbarakis, partner in PwC Switzerland’s Sustainability Competence Centre, works with a range of clients to tackle this issue. Listen to his insights in this episode, which provides plenty of food for thought about impact investing, the risk of greenwashing and the challenges in finding accurate performance data.

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, we speak with Chris Edward, a UK-regulated advisor and Sales Director for Lombard International Assurance, who has been dealing with UK resident clients for nearly 25 years in the wealth planning space. His expertise are primarily focused on trust and insurance based planning solutions.

In this episode of our Family Office podcast, we talk with Johannes Smits, Partner in People and Organisation at PwC Switzerland, where we discuss how Family Offices of all shapes and sizes manage the challenges faced and strategies to use when attracting and retaining talent.

Diversification is a key consideration for families and family offices making investments. Understanding and assessing opportunities available outside of the ‘traditional’ investment universe can be challenging. In this episode, we talk with Pascal Schneidinger, CEO and founder of Partasio, a company providing access to art investment. Pascal walks us through art as a diversifying asset class, touches on the complexities of this dynamic market and shares insights on how to access an asset class where the entry barriers are traditionally high.

Corporate Governance, Family Governance und Rollen im Familienunternehmen: diesen drei Themen widmen sich Reto Blaser, Catharina Prym und Roman Leimer. Aufbauend auf der bisherigen Family Governance Podcast Serie, erhalten Sie in dieser Ausgabe weitere Insights unserer Family Business Experten und wie Sie diese Themen in Ihrem Familienunternehmen angehen können.

In dieser Episode des Family Governance Podcasts führen Roman Leimer und Catharina Prym durch die ersten drei Zimmer des Strategiehauses: Mitgliedschaft, Selbstverständnis, Geschäftsmodell. In 18 Minuten vermittelt Ihnen unsere «Hausbesichtigung» wertvolle Einblicke in einen Beratungsprozess, der Familienunternehmen systematisch zur nachhaltigen Strategie begleitet – Ziel für Ziel, Zimmer für Zimmer.

This episode focuses on sustainability. We will take a look at the different approaches to defining it. We will also talk about its impact, sustainable investments and the opportunities that it presents for family businesses and family offices. Lastly, we will consider how the next generation can use sustainability to contribute to companies and growing wealth.

Mit einer Inhaberstrategie erhalten Sie ein einheitlicheres Bild davon, was Familie, Unternehmen und deren Zusammenspiel bedeuten. Die Familienverfassung als verbalisierte Form erleichtert Ihren zukünftigen Dialog miteinander.

Aus dem Spannungsfeld von Geld, Macht und Liebe gehen unterschiedliche Ansprüche hervor. Mit einer Family Governance schaffen Sie Klarheit über Bedürfnisse, Ziele und Verhalten. Es ist nie zu früh, die Zukunft abzusichern.

More and more wealthy people and business-owning families are considering moving abroad, whether for private, professional or business reasons, as a result of COVID-19 or because a new chapter in their life is beginning. This episode of our podcast looks at aspects that you should consider and clarify before moving. Topics include tax residence, tax privileges, flat-rate taxation, freedom of movement and legal structures, as well as wills and pensions.

New taxation rules, which have been adapted to the international standard, entered into force in Switzerland on 1 January 2020. The fifth episode of our Family Business Stories is dedicated to the effects and opportunities arising from this tax reform. We explain why international multi-corporations with the previous tax regimes are not the only companies that should pay attention to the new provisions. Step-up with grandfathering rules or replacement measures like the patent box or research and development deduction can also be attractive for family offices with subsidiaries operating in Switzerland, Swiss family businesses and SMEs.