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Evolving purpose at the 'blockbuster' European Family Office Conference

By James Beech

Looking at the purpose and evolution of the family office to power efficiencies, returns and longevity is the theme of this year's eagerly awaited European Family Office Conference in London on 1-2 November.

Campden Wealth and partners will welcome international family office principals, wealth holders, next gens and trusted advisers to the greatest gathering of best practices and inspiration on the global family office calendar. The essential two-day conference in the capital's historic Merchant Taylors' Hall (pictured) boasts 39 industry-leading speakers with keynote talks, panel discussions and interactive presentations. Exclusive sessions will run behind closed doors for family members, family office executives, and partners and advisers.

The conference also hosts early bird delegates in an enjoyable advance expedition to Highclere Stud (pictured) on 31 October. The party will hear from eighth-generation Harry Herbert about the entrepreneurial drive behind evolving the family business and his passion for horse racing. Delegates will also enjoy informal networking at the evening reception within the magnificent St Paul's Cathedral (pictured) on 1 November.

Jamie Cayzer-Colvin, executive director of Caledonia Investments, will serve as chairman and will open the conference. Caledonia is a London-based self-managed investment trust company, controlled by the founding Cayzer shipping family, with net assets of $2.5 billion (£1.9 billion).

Programme highlights include a case study on assigning roles and responsibilities in a family office to enable success. The talk will be delivered by Finnish entrepreneur Philip Aminoff, chairman of the industrial holding company Helectron Oy Ab.

How next gens can preserve their families' legacy while forging their own path in family business will be the focus of a call to action by Matthieu Leclercq, next chairman of AFIR in Belgium.

What families need to know about disruptions in the rapidly changing world of technology and where the risks and rewards are will be analysed by Jamie Arbib, a London-based investor in technology, second-generation family member and founder of the independent think tank RethinkX.

Peter Newton, conference producer at Campden Wealth, said the definition of wealth was changing and the “blockbuster” 19th annual European Family Office Conference had responded to those changes.

“Families and individuals are looking at wealth in completely different ways today to what they were 10, 20 or 30 years ago. No longer do they want to keep their wealth tucked away in a bank vault but instead put it to good use.”

Next gens and their interest in philanthropy and impact investing was a major driver in that change, Newton said. Senior principals were channelling that interest, perspective and technological aptitude into the family business as a proving ground towards succession while generating strong returns in the process.

With that comes a raft of issues around reputation, privacy, public relations—ambitious next gens are keen to promote the work they're doing, not necessarily from a self-indulgent point of view, but to get other people interested in the projects they are working on. More and more families have to ask themselves “how below the radar are we really being?”

Newton said a continued push for private equity among in family investment portfolios was evident from Global Family Office Report 2017, the latest study by Campden Wealth in partnership with UBS into changing attitudes. Not only were principals interested in how their wealth was being put to good use but they were also interested in the values of the entities they invested in and how they reflected on the values of the family.

“The 19th European Family Office Conference promises to be our strongest and best attended yet,” Newton said.

“There is a real desire within the family office community to evolve their strategies, structures and vision for the future—our attendees will benefit from first-hand insight from successful families and be presented with the takeaways to revolutionise their own family offices”.

For more information on the conference, please email peternewton@campdenwealth.com or telephone +44 (0) 203 763 2822.

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