Family Business Audiocast

R. Adam Smith sits down with Nikolas V. Gvosdev, Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College and Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, for a wide ranging conversation on techno strategic power and what it means for global investors. Gvosdev walks through how national security has expanded well beyond the military domain into health, finance, information and supply chains, and why family offices and family wealth planning now require real geopolitical literacy. The conversation covers onshoring, critical minerals, the Armenia Azerbaijan trip corridor, and why private capital is increasingly stepping into roles once reserved for governments. A rare, direct bridge between geopolitics and family enterprise decision making.

00:00 Welcome to the Family Business Audiocast
01:10 Introducing Nikolas Gvosdev
03:30 Bridging academia, government and business
08:12 How national security strategy has evolved
16:51 Has globalization hit a wall
20:35 Defining techno strategic power
27:06 Short termism and the Western alliance
35:11 Filling the vacuum left by legacy institutions
41:02 The trip corridor and private capital opportunity
46:49 Geopolitical literacy for family offices
50:03 Realism versus liberalism, where we stand today

Dr. Jennifer Pendergast joins R. Adam Smith to talk about what actually makes family business governance work, and what makes it quietly fall apart. Pendergast is an adjunct professor and consultant at Kellogg Executive Education, where she teaches programs on family governance and family office management, and a senior advisor at Egon Zehnder's family business advisory practice. Drawing on her years at the Family Business Consulting Group and her research background from Wharton, she unpacks why independent directors matter, how next generation family members should be prepared for ownership rather than just the business, and why culture can be both a family enterprise's greatest strategic asset and its biggest blind spot. The conversation also covers owner alignment, legacy capture, and why boards are built through practice, not installed by design.

00:00 Welcome to the Family Business Audiocast
01:10 Introducing Dr. Jennifer Pendergast
02:56 Jennifer’s work at Kellogg, Egon Zehnder and on family boards
04:41 From a Wharton PhD and McKinsey to family business
08:16 Designing effective boards and the case for independent directors
12:11 Governance education and the next generation
15:46 Balancing next gen careers with ownership roles
17:18 Using AI to customize next gen development
18:16 Culture as a strategic advantage: legacy vs. staying nimble
22:38 Recruiting independent directors for private company boards
24:22 Aligning the ownership group on a shared vision
28:22 Bridging academic research and family business reality
33:36 Building the family as a learning organization
34:52 Advice for families early in the journey
37:33 Passion and making owners buyers, not sellers
40:04 The family roadshow
40:40 Recap: culture, fairness and a board that truly governs
42:13 How to find Jennifer and the John L. Ward Center
43:57 Closing thoughts

R. Adam Smith sits down with Shirl Penney, founder and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, to unpack how the firm grew from a home office launch in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis into a platform supporting more than 700 advisors and approaching 140 billion dollars in assets under administration.

Penney shares his path from a small fishing village in Maine to Wall Street, why he left a rising career at Citigroup, and how equity alignment across advisors, resource partners, and investors keeps Dynasty's culture intact through rapid growth. The conversation covers fiduciary advice, family office alignment, and what it takes to build a firm meant to last generations, not to be flipped.

00:00 Introduction to the Family Business Audiocast
01:21 Meet Shirl Penney of Dynasty Financial Partners
02:33 Leaving Citibank in the 2008 financial crisis
03:51 Penney's story from Eastport, Maine to Wall Street
06:08 The origin of the Dynasty name
07:36 Dynasty's four business verticals explained
09:55 Misalignment inside legacy Wall Street brands
14:23 Triangulation of advice and family office design
16:23 Purpose, strategy and culture at Dynasty
21:29 Hiring for grit and missionaries over mercenaries
23:07 Launching the industry's largest breakaway teams
27:17 The power of positive energy in leadership
29:35 Harvey Golub and Dynasty's early investors
32:29 Financial wellness and the case for independent advice
35:31 Thinking about legacy and what gets left behind
38:11 A future refounding of the business
42:00 Equity ownership across every stakeholder
44:07 Fortress, Schwab, BlackRock and JP Morgan as investors
47:17 Advice for those considering the wealth management industry

Dr. Marleen Dieleman, Peter Lange Professor of Family Business at IMD Business School, joins R. Adam Smith to explore how authority and fairness actually get tested inside business families. Drawing on decades of research across Southeast Asia, including her early work inside Indonesia's Salim Group, Dieleman unpacks the public boardroom conflict at City Developments Limited and the Quek family, why succession stalls even when structures look sound, and how Singapore built itself into a global family office hub. The conversation moves through family constitutions, next gen involvement, and the governance habits that hold a family enterprise together long after the paperwork is signed.

00:00 Introduction and welcome to Dr. Marleen Dieleman
03:29 Her path from Rotterdam to family business research
04:08 Studying the Salim Group and joining IMD
05:27 How Asian family enterprises differ from the West
06:33 Complexity from multiple wives and diversified holdings
08:56 Government and private enterprise in the Asian NICs
11:26 Chaebol versus keiretsu explained
12:59 The CDL case study introduced
13:56 How the Quek family conflict became public
16:19 The pros and cons of being a public company
20:47 Authority and the Asian succession context
22:36 The difficulty of stepping back from power
22:59 The King Charles problem in Asian succession
25:16 Family offices and where private equity money goes
27:59 Why Singapore's family office ecosystem works
30:32 Attracting Western family offices to Singapore
34:22 Building legitimacy through family governance
38:42 Next gen involvement versus exit from the business
44:11 Building a lasting succession plan
48:13 The one thing families should start early
49:38 Closing thoughts on fairness and legitimacy

This week on the Family Business Audiocast we feature Peter Jaskiewicz, one of the world's leading scholars in family enterprise and founding director of the Family Enterprise Legacy Institute at the University of Ottawa. Drawing on his own family's business history and decades of research, he discusses why shareholder agreements matter so much to long-term value, what separates families that endure from those that don't, and the often unspoken psychological weight carried by rising generation members. The conversation covers succession planning, governance, mental health in family enterprise, and why strong family businesses matter for society at large. This episode brings a candid, research-grounded look at legacy, ownership, and what it really takes to prepare the next generation.

00:00 Introduction to the Audiocast
01:18 Meeting Peter Jaskiewicz
02:17 Peter's academic path and research
04:18 Peter's current focus areas
06:29 Why shareholder agreements matter
08:43 Peter's family business roots in Poland
10:38 A family crisis and its lessons
12:39 Governance without a charismatic leader
14:08 Succession as legacy protection
15:41 Why glue matters more than governance
17:28 Power, ego, and family leadership
19:10 The psychological burden of the next gen
20:17 Escaping a parent's shadow
22:04 When family members don't want in
23:28 The competitor irony
25:10 Defining next gen versus rising gen
27:29 Starting early with young children
29:00 A succession plan attempted too late
30:12 Family businesses and their societal weight
31:30 Why family firms are a force for good
33:41 The overlooked majority of businesses
35:52 Preparing families like preparing to swim

R. Adam Smith welcomes Peter Moustakerski, CEO of Family Office Exchange (FOX), for a conversation on how enterprise families grow more complex, and more successful, across generations. Peter walks through FOX's six-stage life cycle model, from founder-led business families to multigenerational financial families to fully realized enterprise families, and explains how FOX quantifies complexity through a 43-factor benchmarking tool used by over 230 member families. The discussion turns to flourishing, a concept borrowed from Jay Hughes, as the true measure of family success beyond financial performance, along with how values, governance, and next-gen empowerment sustain family enterprises for the long term.

00:00 Welcome and introduction to Peter Moustakerski
01:26 What is Family Office Exchange (FOX)
03:05 Peter's background across family office roles
05:46 The six stages of family life cycle
09:48 The founder as creator of the core enterprise
12:39 Why success creates complexity
15:09 FOX's 43-factor complexity benchmark
18:26 What makes FOX different as a community
20:31 Introducing the concept of flourishing
23:41 Building flourishing into family structures
25:15 How shared values evolve across generations
27:35 Understanding the next gen conversation
29:53 Key factors in next gen transition success
32:26 The importance of intentionality and legacy
33:17 Peter's optimism for the family enterprise field
35:09 How to connect with FOX and Peter

R. Adam Smith is joined by Dr. Rebecca Gooch, Global Head of Insights at Deloitte Private, for a data-rich look at the modern family enterprise. Rebecca shares research on the rapid growth of single family offices worldwide, the revenue outperformance of family businesses versus non-family peers, and the generational transition now reshaping succession planning across the industry. The conversation also covers technology adoption, AI, and the rising cybersecurity risks facing family offices and family businesses alike. Rebecca offers a global perspective on how sophisticated families are building governance structures, human capital strategies, and long-term thinking to protect wealth across generations.

00:00 Welcome and episode introduction
01:17 Introducing Rebecca Gooch of Deloitte Private
02:53 The rapid rise of the modern family office
04:20 Regional breakdown of family office growth
04:50 Family office AUM projected to hit $5.4 trillion
07:37 Family businesses make up 22% of global firms
08:39 Family business revenue growth versus non-family firms
09:33 Why long-term thinking drives outperformance
12:08 Succession dynamics and culture across Asia
14:44 The generational wealth transition underway
15:40 Why 41% of families lack a succession plan
18:25 CEO age and the coming leadership shakeup
19:16 Private equity, IPOs, and sales as succession options
20:17 Deloitte's family office and family business research series
22:29 Technology adoption inside family offices
23:32 AI adoption rates in family businesses
24:40 Cybersecurity risk facing family offices
26:18 What a cyber attack actually looks like
27:23 Family business exposure to cyber attacks
29:31 Encrypted data storage and vendor safeguards
32:01 Rebecca's favorite part of her work

This episode of the Family Business Audiocast brings together three veteran advisors to rethink the traditional Chief Investment Officer role inside family enterprises. Jane Siebels, a longtime advisor to family enterprises across capital markets and alternative investments, joins Christian Bühring-Uhle and Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard of AVS Advisors to unpack how illiquidity, misaligned incentives, and deal-driven compensation can quietly erode a CIO's independence. The conversation moves through governance structures, succession planning, and the human capital search for judgment and courage, arguing that the best family office leaders act less like allocators and more like trusted counsel. It's a candid look at what family wealth office management and family estate planning require when legacy, not just alpha, is the real goal.

00:00 Welcome to the Family Business Audiocast
01:13 Rethinking the family CIO role today
01:58 Guest backgrounds in family capital governance
03:37 The traditional CIO model is changing
04:55 Jane on private equity and illiquidity risk
05:58 Christian on stewardship over asset allocation
07:27 Governance structures around CIO incentives
08:06 The deal junkie syndrome in CIOs
09:53 When strategy stops leading investment
11:16 Family responsibility to set clear objectives
12:41 Illiquid vehicles and zero dry powder
14:13 Quick guest introductions and firm backgrounds
15:31 Long-term wealth creation versus short-term alpha
17:02 Motivating CIOs without short-term bonuses
19:35 Comparing CIO roles in the US and Europe
20:42 Introducing the CIO consigliere concept
22:30 Balancing long-term strategy with daily operations
23:38 Structuring layered incentives across asset types
24:18 Judgment, resilience, and low-ego leadership
25:30 Human judgment in complex private transactions
26:51 Backgrounds that build elite family office judgment
28:12 Why courage is the rarest trait in advisors
29:45 Emotional intelligence and the truth-teller role
30:52 Coaching the next generation through transition
31:35 Capital as a subset of wealth, not all of it
32:21 How to actually identify emotional intelligence
33:58 A real family example of funding with KPIs
35:32 Self-awareness as the top hiring signal
36:20 Bringing outside expertise into family offices
37:13 What each guest loves about the work

Josh Baron, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and co-founder of Banyan Global Family Business Advisors, joins R. Adam Smith to explore why the field has moved beyond succession planning toward something broader. Baron argues that ownership, not inheritance, is the most powerful force in business, and that capable owners look very different depending on whether they operate, govern, or invest. He walks through his four room model for healthy governance, the purpose gap that opens after a liquidity event, and the six forces that pull successful families apart. A practical conversation on the kind of family office management and culture that endures across generations.

00:00 Welcome to the Audiocast
01:06 Introducing Josh Baron
02:46 Beyond the old succession model
04:45 The three roles of owners
06:30 Why inheritance doesn't make owners
12:40 Healthy governance and the four rooms
16:24 The rise of the business family
17:40 The purpose gap after a sale
20:00 How the advisor ecosystem grew
21:30 The six forces that break families
24:50 What's predictable about breakdowns
26:40 Good practices most families skip
27:20 The five Cs that define survivors
30:36 Building a culture of curiosity
32:00 Closing thoughts on continuity

Tom McCullough, founder and Chairman of Northwood Family Office, joins R. Adam Smith to unpack what a full-service family office actually does and why so few families know where to begin. Drawing on four decades in wealth management, McCullough lays out the five pillars of family office services, planning, investment management, governance, family wellbeing, and administration, and makes the case that wealthy families aren't under-advised but under-integrated. The conversation moves from the founding story of Northwood to the rise of the integrated advisor, the goals-first approach to investing, and a candid reflection on legacy and succession.

Susan R. Schoenfeld, JD, LLM, CPA, MBA, CEO and founder of Wealth Legacy Advisors, joins R. Adam Smith to explore the human dimensions of multigenerational wealth. Drawing on a career that spans tax law, trust administration, and service as a family ambassador at a $600 million single family office, Susan discusses how families can build governance structures, develop next gen leaders, and navigate the emotional undercurrents that surface around major transactions. From crafting a family enterprise narrative to facilitating consensus through her "good enough" philosophy, Susan makes the case that family estate planning is ultimately about values, stewardship, and preparing the next generation to lead with purpose.

Dennis Jaffe — organizational psychologist, senior research fellow at Banyan Global, and one of the founding voices in family enterprise consulting — joins R. Adam Smith to explore why succession so often stalls between intention and execution. Drawing on decades of work with global families and his recent collaboration with J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, Dennis reframes succession not as a single decision but as a multigenerational system built on reflection, alignment, and shared purpose. The conversation covers limiting assumptions that block action, the governance structures that hold family business enterprise together across generations, and what families truly risk when they delay.

00:00 Welcome & Guest Introduction
03:14 Dennis Jaffe's Opening Remarks
04:01 Why Families Delay Succession
06:35 Redefining Succession as a System
08:40 The Power of Reflection & Mindset
10:27 Succession at Scale — Large Transactions
13:08 The Five-Step Succession Framework
16:43 Family Governance & Wealth Complexity
19:49 Selling the Family Business
23:20 Next Gen Buyouts & Succession Limits
26:07 Legacy, Purpose, and Long-Term Vision
29:15 The Costs of Waiting
31:14 Closing Thoughts & Where to Find Dennis

Stephan Gerwert, Head of Family Office Services at PwC Deutschland, joins R. Adam Smith for a wide-ranging conversation on what it takes to build and sustain a modern family office — particularly within Germany's uniquely secretive ultra-high-net-worth landscape. Stephan draws on a career that spans big-bank wealth management, leading a Swiss single-family office, and co-founding a fintech platform to offer a genuinely holistic perspective. Topics include building governance from scratch using RACI frameworks, the growing importance of family succession planning, Germany's conservative capital allocation habits, cybersecurity threats facing affluent families, and the collaborative opportunity — still largely untapped — among Europe's most powerful entrepreneurial dynasties.

00:00 Welcome & Introduction
01:36 Guest Introduction: Stephan Gerwert and PwC Deutschland
03:17 PwC Germany as an Independent, Holistic Family Advisor
05:06 Stephan's Career Path
07:31 Advisory Philosophy: Starting with Family Vision
09:52 Building Governance from Scratch
11:23 The Family Capital Ecosystem and Scaling Trends
14:56 European Family Dynasties Reinvesting as Business Platforms
16:00 Germany's Secretive Family Office Culture vs. the US
18:29 Proactive PR and Brand Ownership for Prominent Families
19:26 Germany's Economic Headwinds and Family Business Succession
24:01 German Family Business Statistics and Cash Allocation
26:03 Low Equity Ownership and Long-Term Implications
28:06 Holistic Wealth Reporting and Technology
29:56 Cybersecurity Threats Facing Ultra-High-Net-Worth Families
32:39 Closing Reflections on Stewardship and Legacy

Luke Jernagan, Director of Family Learning and Culture at Matter Family Office, joins R. Adam Smith for a conversation about the relational and human dimensions of managing multi-generational wealth. Luke traces his unusual path from Episcopal ministry to family advisory work, and describes how Matter structures its engagement model around communication, shared values, and generational learning — the elements he believes sustain a healthy family enterprise over time. He covers the firm's recent merger with IWP in Denver, the philosophy behind permanent capital ownership, next-gen wealth preparedness, and how families can build a living legacy that outlasts the sale of any single business.

00:00 Welcome and host introduction
01:07 Introducing Luke Jernagan and Matter Family Office
02:36 Matter's service model and family office services
04:09 Luke's path from Episcopal ministry to family advisory
07:07 What distinguishes Matter's culture and ownership structure
09:50 Communication as the foundation of family enterprise
12:30 Concentrated wealth and preparing families for a sale
15:09 Next-gen readiness and whole-family education
17:21 Human capital, Barry Wehmiller, and Kathy Lintz's vision
20:58 Trends in ultra-high-net-worth families and the industry
25:41 Stewardship curriculum and next-gen engagement
28:34 Redefining legacy beyond the family business
31:05 Closing reflections and a note on St. Louis

Amy Griman, founder of Delta Creative Group and former global president of the BMO Family Office, joins R. Adam Smith to explore what she calls the readiness gap: the distance between technically sound estate and governance structures and a family's actual preparedness to act on them. Drawing on more than 30 years at the intersection of trust law, family office services, and human capital, Amy unpacks how communication breakdowns, undefined decision-making architecture, and generational misalignment can unravel even the most sophisticated plans. The conversation spans succession, legacy, the Canadian versus U.S. wealth landscape, and how culture must inform governance, not the other way around.

00:00 Welcome & Amy Griman Introduction
01:53 Founding Delta Creative Group
03:54 Trust & Estate Settlement: Early Career Lessons
06:13 M&A, Liquidity Events & Readiness for Day Two
08:48 Decision Architecture: Boards, Councils, and Charters
10:46 Stress Testing Governance & Communication Cadence
14:53 BMO Family Office: Platform, Culture & Client Experience
17:14 Boutique vs. Institutional Advisory Models
18:09 Family Culture, History, and the Ownership of Story
22:36 Canadian Wealth Landscape vs. U.S. Market Dynamics
24:28 Fusing Governance with Culture: G1 to G2 Transitions
29:11 Defining Legacy: The Why Behind the Wealth
30:10 Closing Reflections & Sign-Off

Kelly Pollock, CEO of the Burgess Family Foundation, and Betsy Cohen, philanthropic futurist and founder of FutureGood, join R. Adam Smith for a wide-ranging conversation on strategic philanthropy, community impact, and the evolving role of family enterprise in shaping long-term social change. Drawing on decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, trust banking, and futurism, Kelly and Betsy explore how family foundations can deepen community relationships, navigate generational transitions, and move from transactional giving to sustained impact. The conversation also touches on AI's emerging role in the nonprofit sector, the diverging philanthropic priorities of G1 and G2, and what it means to be a builder — not just a buyer — in your community.

00:00 Welcome, Introductions & Guest Backgrounds
02:01 The Burgess Family Foundation: Mission and Structure
03:04 FutureGood: Philanthropic Futurism Explained
04:19 Kelly's Path from COCA to Family Foundation CEO
06:07 Betsy's Journey from Corporate Futurist to Philanthropic Advisor
08:10 Translating Family Passion into Strategic Philanthropic Investment
10:31 St. Louis Philanthropy: Depth of Community and Collaboration
12:11 Collaborative Funding Initiatives Across the Region
15:51 FutureProof: Bringing Nonprofits Together for Shared Planning
16:35 Next Gen Engagement Inside the Burgess Family Foundation
18:29 G1 vs. G2 Philanthropic Priorities and the Generational Shift
20:53 Scale of Family Office Philanthropy: Data and Trends
24:50 Unlocking Capital Beyond Grant Making
26:37 Innovation, Risk Capital, and Scenario Planning in Philanthropy
29:02 AI's Impact on Nonprofits and Family Foundations
31:09 Next Gen Leadership and Being a Student of the Work
35:07 Closing Reflections: Buyers vs. Builders

Philip Marcovici — international tax lawyer, author, and advisor to ultra-high-net-worth families — joins R. Adam Smith to explore what it takes for a family enterprise to endure across generations. Drawing on decades of advising families across Asia, Europe, and beyond, Philip challenges the assumption that culture determines planning outcomes, arguing that wealth's destructive potential is universal. The conversation spans governance structures, the role of advisors, next-generation stewardship, tax system reform, and the concept of regenerative wealth — connecting the internal health of a family enterprise to its obligations and impact in the wider world.

00:00 Welcome & Philip Marcovici Introduction
02:22 Career Background & Baker McKenzie Years
03:16 Culture, Governance & Global Family Patterns
05:31 Family Enterprise: Long-Term Vision Planning
08:30 Advisors, Education & Asking Better Questions
10:45 Governance Structures & Legal Frameworks
15:54 Using a Governance Entity Across Structures
16:50 Tax Systems, Non-Dom Reform & the UK Example
20:53 Corporate Tax, Family Wealth & Economic Impact
23:41 Regenerative Wealth & the Family Enterprise Role in Society
26:00 Internal vs. External Sustainability: Bridging the Silos
30:13 Tax, Branding & Wealth's Obligation to Society
32:58 Emotional Intelligence & Next-Gen Succession
37:19 Closing Reflections & Sign-Off

James Rosebush — Reagan White House veteran, author, and family office advisor — draws direct lines between presidential leadership and multigenerational stewardship. Having worked alongside Reagan as Chief of Staff to the First Lady, Rosebush witnessed firsthand how indifference to public opinion, deep spiritual conviction, and a relentless drive to understand "what is really going on" shaped one of history's most consequential presidencies. He translates those lessons into the realities of family enterprise: the complexity of working with difficult wealth creators, the emotional demands placed on advisors, and why integrity compounds over time just as capital does.

Emily Balentine Barbour, Partner and Head of Client Engagement and Family Legacy at Balentine, shares her unique perspective as a third-generation member of an Atlanta-based wealth management firm. The conversation explores Balentine's journey from sale to major bank during the financial crisis back to independence in 2010, now managing $8.5 billion under advisement. Emily discusses the evolution of wealth management beyond investment performance to encompass family legacy planning, the importance of engaging spouses and next generations for retention, and how AI enhances client relationships. She emphasizes that modern family financial planning requires integrating values with financial strategy while maintaining independence from private equity pressures.

Jeremy Cheng, Principal at Lansberg Gersick Advisors, shares his approach to building learning capacity for enterprise families across Asia and beyond. Broadcasting from Hong Kong, Jeremy discusses the evolution of family business enterprise education, the importance of continuous curriculum development, and how families can embrace portfolio thinking for rising generations. He explores cultural differences between Eastern and Western approaches to family wealth office management, the role of emotional intelligence in mentorship programs, and why allowing the next generation to reinterpret legacy is essential for long-term continuity and individual freedom.

00:00 Introduction to Jeremy Cheng
02:05 Journey into family enterprise advisory
04:22 Evolution of learning systems
05:07 Research and generational transitions
07:00 Gaps in family enterprise education
08:00 Curriculum development essentials
10:15 Core competencies across generations
12:30 Portfolio thinking in Asia markets
14:45 Thailand and Philippines comparisons
17:00 Rising generation venture development
19:20 Owner versus governor role clarity
22:31 Expectations and emotional intelligence
23:15 Mentorship program implementation
26:40 Governance and power dynamics
27:10 Reinterpreting legacy for freedom
29:02 Closing thoughts on continuity