Family Business Stories

Key topics we discuss include: The practical barriers to private market investing: why information gaps, network-driven access and ongoing administration continue to challenge lean family office teams. Funds versus deal-by-deal investing: the trade-offs shaping how families balance commitment, liquidity and control across their private market exposure. The role of late-stage, pre-IPO technology in a diversified portfolio: why allocations are growing, and why the point of entry matters as much as the opportunity itself. The next generation's influence: how younger family members are reshaping private market allocations, and why co-investing is emerging as both a strategy and a learning tool. Judgement and automation in due diligence: where AI adds efficiency in research and screening, and where human judgement remains essential when information is incomplete or difficult to verify.

Key topics we discuss include: “KYC is not just KYC”: why family offices need a joined‑up view that goes beyond AML and source of wealth to include reputational risk, sanctions exposure, PEP relationships and adverse media—and how these factors can affect assets and structures.  Building a fact‑based “financial biography”: documenting how wealth was accumulated—from the first dollar to the most recent—and how structures evolved across jurisdictions and over time, to support recurring due diligence requests and create consistency across institutions.  Reducing recurring friction: how gaps in historic knowledge can slow down processes with banks and counterparties, and why consolidating information in one place can make a tangible difference.  Intergenerational readiness: why the next generation often cannot explain historic wealth creation, and how a clear record supports succession, mobility and future banking or investment conversations.  Technology vs human judgement: how automation and AI are changing due diligence, but why human insight remains essential to interpret context and connect the dots—particularly where information is incomplete or hard to verify across regions.

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, Lisa Cornwell speaks with Hugh Obbard, founder of London-based advisory firm Obbard, which has helped global families navigate Prime Central London real estate for more than 30 years – a market that has long been a preferred destination for internationally mobile families seeking stability and long‑term value. They discuss how the market has shifted over the past decade – from tax changes and political uncertainty to new patterns of international mobility – and why these dynamics have created meaningful buying opportunities. The conversation explores the breadth of global demand, the appeal of London even for families who have moved abroad and who have traditionally viewed Prime Central London as a safe and familiar base, and the role that strategic refurbishment plays in creating long-term value. Hugh also shares practical insights into managing UK property from overseas and what “absentee ownership” really requires in today’s environment.

In this episode of our Family Office Podcast, Lisa Cornwell chats with Danielle Valkner, who heads our US family office practice and guides some of the world's most influential families.They explore how US family offices are evolving—transforming into efficient, business-like entities by integrating the right talent, processes, controls, and technology. The discussion delves into what it means to use AI responsibly, moves onto governance and engaging the next generation and touches on investment trends being seen in the Family Office space.

In this episode of our “Family Business Stories” podcast Lisa Cornwell, who leads our private clients and Family Offices team, engages with philanthropy consultant Diego Estrada to explore how private foundations and grant-makers can boost their impact sustainably. They discuss enhancing operations and governance, fostering trust-based partnerships, and why Switzerland stands out as a hub for innovation and talent. Diego shares insights on trends, common challenges like due diligence and oversight, and practical ways to measure results. His advice: work together, avoid reinventing the wheel—and act swiftly.

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.

In the fourth episode of our Family Business Stories, we take a look at future-proof structures for the family office. Complexity surrounding international assets is growing, regulatory pressure and the pressure to disclose are on the rise and COVID-19 is limiting the scope for movement and action. We recommend that family offices and asset owners rethink their (sometimes traditional) structures, streamline them where necessary and establish their hubs in countries where they can demonstrate substance that is sustainable and fiscally acceptable. In addition, more and more family offices are switching to special digital applications that illustrate revenue and costs in a more transparent way.

In the third episode we take a look at the governance and operational organisation of a family office. The family has to decide who is the owner, shareholder and final decision-maker. In most cases, it pays off to set up an Investment Council. And selecting the family officer is just as important, as they act as the contact person and trusted partner, and run the family office. The family officer usually specialises in certain asset classes and must understand their scope of action. The family and the family officer need to exchange views regularly and clarify how the costs are passed on to the users of the family office.

The second episode is dedicated to the strategic principles for setting up a single family office. This includes the vision for the family assets, as well as goals, values and room for manoeuvre. The various duties, such as asset accounting, controlling, reporting, regulation of successor issues and community engagement, are derived from the strategy. This then leads on to operational decisions like choosing a location, personnel, compensation model, budget and network. We also pay special attention to harmonising company, family and private assets as well as the associated interests. 

In this episode, we talk about setting up a family office with the aim of structuring family assets in a sensible manner, exploiting cost and value creation advantages and avoiding conflicts of interest. We discuss the differences between a single-family office, a closed multi-family office and a commercial multi-family office. We also explain what type of family office is appropriate depending on the volume of assets and how to find a suitable family officer.