The Family Business Center of Excellence of Ernst & Young partnered with the Executive Education Office to deliver their NextGen Academy Excellence Program in July.

The next generation members of wealthy families from Portugal, Vietnam, Italy, Ireland, the US and Malaysia spent two days on the HKUST campus. They took the opportunity to draw on the experiences of other prominent family businesses in Asia, on how to lead and manage family firms with a successful strategy.

Professor Roger King and Professor Winnie Peng of the Tanoto Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies shared their research findings and insights into the topic. They also invited a pool of distinguished speakers.

Dr James Thompson of Crown Worldwide Group shared the key challenges of the succession planning in his family. Mr Richie Eu of Eu Yan Sang went through the journey of different generations and the challenges they are facing. Mr Eddy Lee and Ms Andrea Lee of Lee Kum Kee discussed the structure and the roles of the family council play. Mr Erxin Yao of OOCL shared his experience on serving as non-family professional managers. Mr Adrian Fu of KHI Holdings Group talked about how his family’s philanthropy helps different sectors in society. The program concluded with an interactive panel discussion and a case study.