Family Office Stories

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.

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.