culture

When hiring for your family office you need to think family first and office second. Can this person take your husband to hospital appointments? Can they jump on a plane without notice to manage your international holdings? Can they watch your daughter’s recital if you are stuck at work or if you can’t make it in, can they take your seat at the table?

The 30th generation winemaker Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi was raised on the stories of his eminent ancestors who have produced wine in Tuscany since the beginning of the 14th century. They were explorers, musicians, scholars, bankers and politicians, trading with European courts and supplying wine to royalty and the papacy, as the family archive reveals in documents dating back to the 1200s.

The year 2020 will see family offices invest tactically and bolster their cyber security in the face of uncertain geopolitics, while family values are promoted to retain top talent and next gens lead the charge on digital streamlining.

KPMG’s Greg Limb, head of family office and private client, and Andra Ilie, senior manager, family office and private client, share their predictions for the world's family offices in the year ahead.

There are several things that family businesses can learn from the history of Merck.

Cohesion and continuity are the benefits of adherence to family values and tradition. Merck values of hard work, empathy, and striving for excellence were imbibed and inculcated across generations mainly through practice.