Single Family Office – The Powerful Tool for Succession
The Roger King Center for Asian Family Business and Family Office (the Center) has been offering its signature program to explore the transition of wealth between generations and global philanthropy.
In November, the Center successfully conducted the third module of its signature program “HKUST Global Family Leader Succession Program: Single Family Office – The Powerful Tool for Succession”. The program attracted family business and single family office owners and their family members from different industries in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan, and beyond.
Under the program, the Center’s Director Prof. Winnie PENG and Senior Advisor Prof. Roger KING led a group of family office scholars and prominent family office leaders to share research and case studies that address the practical issues of Asian family offices. Topics covered included investment strategies for single family offices in Hong Kong and Mainland China, family succession, family values, impact investing, family philanthropy, professionalization in family offices, and art collection.
A third-generation participant from an esteemed Hong Kong family remarked, “I really enjoyed the program and found the messages to be overall very helpful and inspirational. I have attended a number of other training programs, such as those provided by top universities in the US. In my opinion, those programs spent too much time dealing with more technical aspects. I appreciated how much your program focused on the people, how to embrace the diversity within families, and how to align values and interests across generational and cultural divides.”
A founder of a mainland family business stated, “The program helped me fill the gaps in my understanding of our family office. The principle of moving from a family business to a family office was reinforced through case studies and best practices. One valuable takeaway for me was the suggestion that the family office is as much about managing the family as it is about managing the wealth.”
Talking Philanthropy 2024 Forum
The Center also partnered with Global Philanthropic (an international network of strategic philanthropy consultants) to host the fifth Talking Philanthropy 2024 forum in Hong Kong. The forum, which explored the challenges of intergenerational wealth transition, began with a welcome speech by BAN Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General.
A list of expert speakers brought a wealth of wisdom and lived experience. They included the Center’s Director, Prof. Winnie PENG, Lindsay HOOPER from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and Harshani DHARMADASA of the United Nations Foundation. The discussions also included insights from Lady Edwina GROSVENOR, a member of a family with a distinguished legacy of philanthropy in the UK.
Revisit the forum here.