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See my related post, “Main Topics Tabled At 2019 Family Office Events” to learn more about this year's family office events.
Family offices are on the rise and among their key roles is the responsibility to support families and help them diversify. While this can to some extent take place with various internal initiatives, it is also absolutely vital to get out into the outside world, to share and be inspired by others.
As the family office sphere is becoming broader and more diverse, it pays to be forward-thinking and attend conferences and other events both within and beyond the expected family office ones.
According to the AMEX Global Meetings & Events Forecast for 2019, there has been a consistent year-on-year increase in meetings and events of around 1.5-2% over the last five years. This also extends into the family office space, where the number of events explicitly targeting families has been on the increase. For this reason, it is crucial to choose the right conferences to attend.
Even though these events are increasing in number, the length of the events has been getting shorter. This means that attendees could consider attending more events and gaining a broader perspective from this.
Choosing the Right Conference
With family offices generating a lot of buzz in recent years, it can mean that some events are little more than marketing activities for sponsors that are trying to target families with investment potential. While this may not always be a bad thing and can open up a wide range of investment opportunities it may be a good idea to get into a dialogue with organizers of the events beforehand. Such a discussion can go a long way in managing your expectations and will provide you with the opportunity to convey what you hope to gain from the event. Time is money and deciding as to which events to spend your time on is as essential as any monetary transaction.
Finding a conference who understands this will go a long way in making sure it was time well spent. Peter Newton, Director of Events at Campden Wealth has a wealth of experience in all the intricacies of events and families. "It is essential for any producer in any industry to engage with all stakeholders of an event (delegates, previous speakers, sponsors, etc.) to learn how individuals and families are applying their perspective to addressing these."
Family offices are relatively unique in that their outlook and horizons are very long-term, therefore what might seem like an important issue in general terms may only be a short-term consideration to a family looking to achieve returns over generations."
Thinking Outside Your Box
For family offices, the ideal conference content should constitute not only business and financial topics but also a raft of soft factors, such as design, digital solutions, innovations and revolutionary thinkers.
David Grammig from Grammig Advisory - a global conference broker & consultancy points out, "Families all have wealth managers, asset managers, advisers - they don’t have someone speaking directly to them on soft issues. Mental health, disputes, values, etc. - taking family life and business into consideration. Look for conferences that offer a good mix of this in their program as you will probably leave more energized."
Soft factors are becoming increasingly important for family offices, and embracing them to their fullest often requires creative thinking. Design thinking is becoming prevalent in so many businesses and is now filtering through to family offices. This new-found creative focus also means that a shift is needed in how this creativity is fuelled.
For this reason, beyond the regular family office events, consider something different. Rather than just looking at investment events, also look a bit further at events that challenge your creativity. Expanding your search could not only lead to discovering some exciting investment opportunities but also assist with developing soft assets.
These alternative conferences and creative festivals are not only for the advertising industry and creative professionals. Even though they don't directly target family offices, they could be very inspirational and even transformational from both a business and personal angle, and all offer a platform to connect with business owners and industry leaders.
- SxSW - South by Southwest is one of the leaders in the interactive media, film and creativity space.
- FastCompany Innovation Festival - Brings together creators and innovators from around the world.
- Design Indaba - This is just one of many exciting creativity conferences that explore topics around the intersection of design and business.
- Consensus - This cryptocurrency and blockchain event promises to give you a glimpse into the future and make sure you're up to speed with the latest thinking around the space.
Closer To Home
Closer to the family office sphere, it's also a good idea to consider the various regional summits. They can be particularly interesting, especially when the organizers are putting together such an event for the first time. It is worth paying extra attention to events that take place in regions that you're looking to expand into, as such conferences offer fantastic networking and contact acquiring opportunities. When looking at regional events, it is essential to note that the conference experience can vary wildly, depending on the particular location and content involved.
Cultural differences are just one factor. In the Middle East, for example, families want to build personal relationships over a period of time, so it takes time before talking business. Families also tend to be very hands-on with their investments, rather than letting these decisions rest with their investment advisors.
Conversely, the approach in Northern Europe is entirely different, with professional management handling most of the investment evaluation process and families focusing on soft issues. Singapore and Hong Kong tend to lean towards a faster-paced approach, which means that families can expect a very different type of event format to those in Europe and North America.
Some of the family office targeted events include; the Global Investment Summit, organized by Campden Wealth, various events by Prestel & Partner, and other regional meetings like the Africa Family Office Summit and the APAC Family Office Investment Summit. It's also worth considering the events organized by international members networks such as FBN and YPO to build your ties to local families.
Beyond the event
In attending events throughout the year, you open yourself up to gain knowledge, understanding of markets not yet familiar to you but most importantly the opportunity to make human connections which would otherwise have been lost to you. Networking and investment opportunities may be the bait dangled to get you to attend but its the people you meet who will form the rod on which to catch them.
Here, organizers can also support, "To engage beyond an event, organizers should look to online networks, social media groups, webinars, event questionnaires and competitions to keep an audience engaged and deliver additional value for them," continues Newton.
Attending events as a family office can provide you with an invaluable foundation to make new connections, explore new opportunities and look at your entire operation with the benefit of a fresh perspective.
