Paul Philipp Hug The family entrepreneur p4 tyler brûlé The media ...

Paul Philipp Hug 

The family entrepreneur p4 

tyler brûlé 

The media entrepreneur p8 

insight on entrepreneurship 

INSEAD discussion p12 

Pictet and entrepreneurs 

A source of advice p20 

bernard rueger 

The industrial entrepreneur p24 

filipe santos 

A greater role for social entrepreneurs p28 

Jacques-Antoine Granjon 

The internet entrepreneur p32 

the Pictet succession model 

Entrepreneurs at heart p35 

Philippe bertherat 

Afterword p38 

issue four | october 2010 

focus on entrepreneurs

foreword 

This report is about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. This unique group 

of business leaders employs millions of people and generates a substantial 

proportion of the world’s wealth. Entrepreneurs create successful companies 

that continue to grow and get passed down through the generations, often 

then becoming family-owned businesses. While having distinct advantages 

over public corporations, they are not without their own concerns. How do 

you make sure the transition from entrepreneurial structure to family-owned 

business is smooth? What does the future hold for these organisations? With 

the time and energy demanded by the business, how do you take care of your 

personal wealth? In this report, we asked three groups of people to contribute 

their expertise in helping to answer these questions. 

First, we organised a round-table of professors at INSEAD, the leading 

international business school. They brought the latest thinking about the 

challenges faced by entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses. They tackled 

key questions like succession, offering fascinating observations on Asia and 

the growth of social entrepreneurship. 

Behind the theory are some remarkable and inspiring stories. We talked 

to four leading entrepreneurs about their motivations, ambitions and concerns 

and how they have resolved problems inherent in running their business, even 

sharing the secrets of their own success. These include a media entrepreneur 

who set up three businesses, an internet entrepreneur who took a simple idea 

and turned it into one of France’s most successful companies, an industrial 

entrepreneur who oversaw the international expansion of a Swiss company, 

and a family entrepreneur who took over the running of a 130-year-old bakery 

at the age of just 31. 

Finally, we contributed our own intelligence, assimilated over 200 years 

of running a business. Pictet has been run by a small group of families for two 

centuries and has dealt with many of the issues that these types of businesses 

face. Our specialist knowledge places Pictet in an ideal position to offer 

independent advice to entrepreneurs in areas such as financial planning, tax 

counselling and investment. This allows them to separate their private wealth 

from the success of their company, protect it for future generations and devote 

their own time and energy to their businesses. 

We hope you find this report both stimulating and valuable in tackling 

the issues that confront every successful independent business. 

Pictet & Cie 

October 2010 

Pictet & Cie editorial team–Ninja Struye de Swielande, Stephen Barber and Olivier Capt 

Design & editorial consultancy–Winkreative | Rapporteur–Phil Thornton | Photography–Børje Müller

p8 

p20 

p24 

p4 

p12 

p28 

contents 

insight on entrepreneurship 

inseAd discussion 

Transferring to the 

next generation p12 

filipe santos 

A greater role for social 

entrepreneurs p28 

facts and figures 

Trends in entrepreneurship p30 

entrepreneurs in action 


The family entrepreneur p4 

tyler brûlé 

The media entrepreneur p8 

bernard rueger 

The industrial entrepreneur p24 


The internet entrepreneur p32 

Pictet’s expertise 


A source of advice p20 

the Pictet succession model 

Entrepreneurs at heart p35 

Afterword 

Philippe bertherat p38 

pictet report | october 2010 

focus on entrepreneurs 3 

p32 

p35

4 the family entrepreneur 



Bäckerei Hug has been baking bread the traditional way for more 

than 130 years. Much has changed over that period but not the 

commitment to quality and craft. The company has since moved into 

cakes, pastries and chocolate and now produces nearly 1,000 products. 

It has taken over rival companies and built up a chain of shops 

and restaurants to complement its bakery operations. Each successive 

generation of the Hug family has added value to the business while 

promoting the standards championed by founder, Joseph Hug-Meyer, 

who bought the first Zumbühl bakery in Lucerne for CHF 3,010 at 

the age of 26. 

Planned succession 

Despite the long tradition of family ownership, Paul Philipp 

Hug initially had no interest in taking over when his father, 

Paul Hug-Riedweg, first suggested the idea. At the time he 

was working at Boston Consulting Group following a career 

at Ericsson. His father had run the business alongside other 

family members and believed there was only one person for 

this role. Sadly, the decision became clearer after his sister, 

an alternative candidate, died prematurely. 

Once Hug had made his decision to accept, they put a 

succession plan in place. The family worked together to 

make sure the process was well managed. Hug used the 

year-long transition period to prepare for the role. During 

this time, he shared responsibility with his father, becoming 

sole CEO in 2009 at the age of 31. His father remains as 

non-executive chairman. 

In retrospect, Hug thinks the transition period was too 

long. A month, followed by weekly sessions with his father 

would have been enough, he says. ‘It’s like sitting next to 

the driver; you don’t learn. You only learn when you’re in 

the driving seat. I learned more in my first couple of weeks 

in charge than in the whole year before.’ 

The family entrepreneur 


Paul Philipp Hug is the fifth generation of his 

family to run their Swiss bakery company in Lucerne 

since it was founded in 1877. Combining tradition 

with modernisation is Paul’s recipe for success. 

Being brought up in a family business environment helped 

Hug prepare for management responsibilities. ‘In our 

family, we live the business. I would go to the bakery to visit 

my grandfather when I was small. In the evening it was the 

main topic of conversation between my dad and mum.’ 

Even today the family is involved; his two sisters, one of 

whom is in the wine business in South Africa, send regular 

emails offering constructive advice, ideas, and information 

about new products they have seen or tasted. 

When he decided to take on responsibility for the business, 

Hug believed it would work best if he took full ownership 

of the company. He needed the family’s full compliance 

to make this work, so he arranged a unique management 

buyout. The family discussed the succession plan in detail. 

‘It was an emotional issue because of the heritage left by my 

parents. We drew up a contract that included my sisters and 

parents outlining all the emotional issues and how best to 

proceed. That made it easier.’ 

‘It’s like sitting next to the driver; you 

don’t learn. You only learn when you’re 

in the driving seat. I learned more in 

my first couple of weeks in charge than 

in the whole year before’ 

He borrowed money from the family and industrial financiers 

to purchase their shares. A few minority shareholders remain 

but most of the equity is owned by Hug. He will pay his 

family and other investors back over the coming years. 



the family entrepreneur

Why did he make the decision to take over sole ownership 

at such a young age? ‘I wanted this to be my own company, 

to take full responsibility for its development. The challenge 

was to take over the business and build it in the 

long-term. I wanted to be my own boss and take my own 

decisions,’ he says. 

A long-term view 

The history of Hug is one of continuous growth and change 

across the generations, of which Paul Philipp Hug is the 

fifth contributor. While Joseph Hug-Meyer built the original 

business, it was the next generation, led by Josef Hug- 

Schmid, who expanded it by setting up a company selling 

biscuits to retailers. His son, Paul Josef Hug-Brun, took the 

revolutionary step of establishing a new manufacturing 

site that left the company the legacy of a large area of land. 

Finally Paul Philipp Hug’s father multiplied the turnover 

and number of employees by adding shops and restaurants 

and cafés. 

Hug’s experience to date and his assessment of how 

his family built the business has led him to identify two 

important aspects that separate the entrepreneur from the 

employee manager. 

A manager wants to improve the business but naturally 

thinks about his or her own future and therefore only 

the family entrepreneur 

6 

plans three or four years ahead. Buying the company from 

the family means Paul needs 10 to 20 years to pay back the 

investment. ‘I have to think long term.’ 

Secondly, Hug believes an entrepreneur measures 

success differently to an employee manager. The manager 

is answerable to shareholders, so is likely to cut costs in the 

face of a downturn in demand, whereas the entrepreneur 

can afford to maintain investment for the longer term. 

‘Being an entrepreneur is to have values, 

to sustain the quality and secure jobs even 

in the hard times, to be brave enough to 

wait when things are not 

going well and not to immediately 

cut costs in the short term’ 

A more long-term vision leads to greater commercial stability–not 

just for the owners and managers but for all the staff. 

‘I need long-term revenue from the company, not just shareholder 

value and dividends,’ he says. ‘Family-owned com- 

panies are more stable. The company remains the priority for 

the family, both from an investment and emotional perspective. 

There’s a huge satisfaction in owning your own shop.’ 

Traditional ingredients 

While these attitudes are common to all entrepreneurs, 

there are factors that distinguish first generation entrepreneurs 

from family businesses. According to Hug, a first 

generation entrepreneur focuses on building and success, 

whereas subsequent generations are under pressure to 

satisfy the family–not just financially, but emotionally. 

‘I have to focus on tradition and on a business built by my 

family. Everybody still takes part in it.’ 

Tradition is an essential ingredient in the success of 

Bäckerei Hug. The business is a traditional bakery that 

focuses on artisans’ skills rather than industrial expertise. 

‘We stand for tradition and value,’ he states proudly. The 

challenge Hug faces is to ‘build on the family heritage, as 

well as maintain and grow the value of the business–and to 

do this by modernising it.’ 

Early succession 

By ceding control when he did, Paul Hug-Riedweg avoided 

the mistake many entrepreneurs make of leaving the 

handover too late. At the same time it meant Paul Philipp 

Hug was relatively young. Hug acknowledges this meant 

he had less experience, but believes his external perspective 

gave him a more rounded view of the business. The ma- 

jority of people in the company are experienced and skilful 

bakers. His leadership style is more about consultation 

than giving orders. ‘I learnt on the job; managing a family 



usiness is not something you learn at a university or in a 

consulting environment.’ 

By taking over at the age of 31 he felt able to openly benefit 

from the advice of those with greater experience. ‘When 

you are 50, nobody wants to give you advice,’ he says. ‘Being 

young I found plenty of supportive sparring partners and 

got a lot of constructive advice. There are great advantages 

to working with people 20 or 30 years older than you.’ 

The succession process was helped by the fact that his 

father took a back seat immediately after the handover. He 

remained as chairman but did not interfere in the decision-making 

process, and ensured there was total clarity 

about the succession throughout the company. Hug says, ‘If 

employees go to see my father with comments, he redirects 

them to me. This means I am empowered to run the company 

effectively.’ 

Hug’s relative youth enabled him to make changes to 

the way the business was run in a way that an older generation 

might not have done. He maintains the traditions of 

Bäckerei Hug while ensuring that the company is best positioned 

to survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace; 

for example, he decided to close two non-profitable 

shops. ‘We had never done that before,’ he states. 

A man with vision 

Since he took over, Hug has streamlined many operat- 

ional processes, and is introducing a new Enterprise 

Resource Planning (ERP) system. He also instigated a 

sophisticated marketing operation, and updated the branding, 

including a redesign of the company logo and new 

product labels. ‘Before I took over we didn’t have a mar- 

keting function,’ he says. ‘We simply went to see a client, 

products in hand, and let him test them. Now we have a 

brochure and can show clients something more compelling.’ 

He has also installed a layer of middle management 

as part of his strategy for improving the company’s human 

resources function. 

Under Paul Philipp Hug’s leadership the company 

has become a model of efficiency. He has invested in new 

machines that increase productivity while maintaining 

quality level. The company employs 280 people including 

shop staff, has 150 business clients, and runs 18 shops and 

six cafés and restaurants in central Switzerland. 

What does Paul Philipp Hug see as his biggest achievement? 

He comes back to the balance between tradition 

and modernisation. ‘My greatest satisfaction is in growing 

the business while maintaining the quality,’ he says, ‘I am 

proud to show myself capable of heading this family business 

and proving to everyone, the family, the employees and 

the customers, that it is in the right hands.’ 

Paul Philipp Hug is a man with a vision. ‘I am planning 

for the long term,’ he says, claiming that the lack of shareholder 

pressure means he can always choose to reinvest 

profits for future growth. ‘I earn a lower salary than when 

I was working outside the family business, but the satis- 

faction is infinitely greater,’ he claims. ‘One thing will never 

change. The name Hug will always stand for quality and the 

best bread in Switzerland.’ 

Paul Philipp Hug’s five keys to success 

• Succession is only successful and orderly when the current generation 

is able to relinquish control and plan the best way to hand the 

business on to the next. 

• Family members need to discuss the financial, as well as the 

emotional, implications of succession. 

• A good entrepreneur seeks advice from people who know 

about financial and technical issues. He or she cannot be an 

expert in everything. 

• Everything takes longer than you think it will, especially when 

it comes to making major changes to the business. 

• The family is a huge resource, so use it. Members of the family who 

work in your business or their own venture can give you wise and 

sensible advice. 


focus on entrepreneurs 

the family entrepreneur 7

8 the media entrepreneur 


focus on entrepreneurs 

|

For Tyler Brûlé, the visionary behind two global publishing brands 

and an intelligence-driven design enterprise, being shot by a sniper 

while reporting in Afghanistan during the war in 1994 only served to 

fuel his devotion to journalism, the commercial value of intelligent 

editorial and his inherent business drive. 

Tyler Brûlé decided to launch his own magazine–a smart 

title covering design, travel and lifestyle–that would soon 

become part of the contemporary vernacular. Wallpaper*, 

supported initially by a £136,000 UK government-backed 

business loan, was launched from his own home to critical 

acclaim in 1996. Brûlé says its success was due to a clear 

vision of where the publication fitted within a crowded 

marketplace–combined with a focused belief in quality. 

Decision to sell 

Two years after it first hit the newsstand, Brûlé sold 

Wallpaper* to Time Warner, retaining the post of editorial 

director and gaining what he calls ‘an MBA at Time Warner.’ 

This decision sets Brûlé apart from many entrepreneurs 

who find it particularly hard to give up control. But this 

option was driven by pure business logic. While the launch 

had been hugely successful, Tyler saw the opportunity to 

grow the business with the distribution and marketing 

expertise of a major media company as his partner. 

Then, in 1998, Brûlé set up Winkreative, a branding, 

design, and content agency whose blue chip clients include 

British Airways, American Express and BlackBerry. The 

launch was a natural response to clients’ demands for more 

bespoke, editorial-based commercial solutions to their 

branding requirements. 

Apart from relishing the challenge of starting a 

business, Brûlé says an important part of his entrepre- 

The media entrepreneur 

Tyler Brûlé 

Tyler Brûlé is a serial entrepreneur. In just 15 years he 

has launched two publishing icons–Wallpaper* and 

Monocle magazines–and built a global design agency. 

The secret of his success, he says, is passion. 

neurial drive is the desire to perfect a product–whether it be 

a magazine or aircraft interior. 

That could explain his decision in 2007 to launch 

another ground-breaking magazine, Monocle. Billing itself 

as a ‘briefing on global affairs, business, culture and design’, 

Monocle is read by an affluent group of well-travelled, wellconnected 

readers, and is already distributed in 65 countries 

internationally. 

Today, almost 15 years after founding Wallpaper*, Brûlé 

runs a cosmopolitan enterprise with over 100 employees, 

and an international network of offices connecting London, 

New York, Tokyo, Zürich and Hong Kong. 

‘My passion for the final product gives 

me an energy that I can pass onto others; 

clients, colleagues and investors alike’ 

Brûlé also has a strong sense for opportunity–knowing 

when to exploit and when to ignore. He says a fear of failure 

is an essential requisite for any successful entrepreneur. 

While trepidation is an important motivator, Brûlé insists 

his success is due to one overwhelming factor: passion. His 

enthusiasm for the final product gives him an energy that 

inspires those around him–including clients, colleagues 

and investors. 

At Winkreative, for instance, people happily echo his 

positive ‘just do it’ mentality and many have been with the 

company since its launch. Those that do leave, says Brûlé, 

tend to start their own businesses rather than work for 

someone else. 



the media entrepreneur

Focus on quality 

Both Winkreative and Monocle are global concerns, with 

offices, clients and readers spread around the world. This 

means staff frequently travel long distances. Brûlé himself 

is away from home for 250 days a year, often travelling to 

two or three continents a week–for him, meeting clients 

face-to-face rather than via teleconference is a vital part of 

his business ethos. 

Underpinning almost every decision he 

makes is an acute ability for predicting, 

assessing and dealing with risk 

Brûlé rejects what he describes as an American ‘price, price, 

price’ corporate culture where high standards take second 

place to cutting corners. For him, quality is paramount. 

Building a team 

While Brûlé’s successes reflect his singular vision, they also 

reveal his gift for surrounding himself with a first-rate 

team. At Winkreative, for instance, he hires people based 

on their potential rather than simply their achievements. 

Brûlé’s own management style has evolved over time. These 

days, he delegates more, a decision he sees as a key part of an 

entrepreneur’s learning curve. 

10 the media entrepreneur 

Although he keeps a close eye on critical issues such as cashflow, 

costs, client retention and new business, Brûlé relies 

on his chief financial officer and other board directors for 

the day-to-day running of the companies. This has allowed 

Brûlé to step back and take an overall view of the company’s 

strategy and direction. It also means he is free to explore 

synergies between his two brands and seek new opportu- 

nities beyond the Monocle/Winkreative dynamic. 

Today, Brûlé’s most pressing challenge is how to capi- 

talise on his latest success. As Winkreative’s achievements 

open the way to expansion, retaining its entrepreneurial edge 

is the prime objective. The design agency is approaching the 

‘magic number’ of employees management experts say can 

trigger a change in company culture. Brûlé’s solution is to 

focus on regional expansion. 

Magazines and newspapers have 

survived, he says, because they are still 

best suited to people’s downtime 

Winkreative has offices in Zürich, New York and Tokyo, 

which will soon be joined by Hong Kong and São Paulo, but 

London will remain the creative and editorial base. 

In contrast to many similar companies in the sector, 

Winkreative continued to expand in 2009 both because it 

had resisted spreading its risks excessively, and because of 

substantial revenue sources in Asia. 

Brûlé’s circumspection to risk was much influenced by 

the fact the company is incorporated in Switzerland. This, 

he says, has rubbed off in terms of its cautious approach to 

risk profile. From a management perspective the company 

has been prudent in its investments and likes to maintain a 

healthy balance sheet. 

Tax and regulation 

Brûlé shares many entrepreneurs’ long-standing objection 

to government regulation and the signals that this sends 

about the importance governments give to the contribution 

made by entrepreneurs. While the regulatory environment 

in Western economies is broadly positive, he says it cannot 

compare with the pro-business culture in Asia. 

He recalls that, when it became public knowledge that 

Winkreative was deciding between Singapore and Hong 

Kong as its southeast Asian base, the Hong Kong government 

was on the phone within days asking what it could do 

to seal the deal. 

Politicians in the UK and Europe talk about how important 

small business is to the economy, but Brûlé is not 

convinced this always translates into policies that nurture 

entrepreneurs. In his view, centres such as Hong Kong are 

light years ahead of London. For a city to attract entre- 

preneurs, he believes it must act like one. 



Conclusion 

While his views on corporate culture and business risk set 

him apart from the classic stereotype of an entrepreneur, 

it is Brûlé’s belief in print media as a profitable venture 

that reveals his true individualism. In an era when the 

death of newspapers and dominance of electronic media 

became talking points, Brûlé launched not one but two 

successful magazines. 

While other entrepreneurs settle for 

novelty, Brûlé retains an almost puritanical 

belief in the enduring power of quality 

Magazines and newspapers have survived, he says, because 

they are still best suited to people’s downtime. Gadgets such 

as iPads may be indispensable for business people’s working 

lives but are next to useless on the beach or by the pool. His 

dismissal of trickery and gadgetry extends beyond a devotion 

to print. While other entrepreneurs settle for novelty, 

Brûlé retains an almost puritanical belief in the enduring 

power of quality. 

Tyler Brûlé’s five keys to success 

• Do not underestimate the importance of first impressions–the 

quality of your website, the paper you print your business cards 

on, the person who answers your phone. 

• Hire someone based on his or her potential, not just the last 

position a candidate has held. 

• Invest in a good work environment–it is good for staff retention 

and happiness, and is also part of a company’s story. 

• Do not be too quick to cut travel budgets when looking to save 

on costs–business is won and retained by getting in front of your 

clients and partners. 

• Tear down the walls–intuitive communication works better 

than e-mail. 



the media entrepreneur

INSEAD discussion 

Transferring 

to the next 

generation 

Transferring the entity to the 

next generation is one of the 

greatest challenges faced by 

family businesses. Our panel 

of leading academics met at 

INSEAD business school in 

Fontainebleau, France, to 

tackle this issue and bring 

insight into how succession, 

governance and philanthropy 

can be managed to ensure 

a smooth transition. 

12 insead discussion 

Introduction 

All family businesses begin as entrepreneurial 

ventures. By the time the 

founder nears retirement, they have 

often expanded and mutated beyond 

recognition, making succession even 

more complex. Transferring control 

to the next generation marks the first 

step in establishing an enduring family 

business, but without proper planning, 

that transition can have damaging 

consequences for the company. 

A major concern is that the entrepreneurial 

business model does not 

automatically translate into a wider 

family-owned structure. One reason for 

this incompatibility is the psychological 

makeup of entrepreneurs themselves, 

who tend to display a strong desire to 

take and retain control, and a reduced 

need for social support. 

These characteristics, which are 

themselves major contributors to 

early business success, can prevent the 

smooth handover of control to junior 

family members and expose fundamental 

challenges for the owner. 

The panel discussed at some length 

the range of challenges experienced in 

the transition of entrepreneurial structure 

to a family-owned business, the 

potential means by which any adverse 

effects can be amelioriated, and what 

lessons had been learnt, either empirically 

or in practice. 



Leadership and next generation 

The desire of founding entrepreneurs 

to see their business methods and leadership 

style imitated by future generations 

is a potential problem, says 

Morten Bennedsen. A lack of respect 

for formal business structures by entrepreneurs 

from the outset, he goes on to 

explain, can hamper success 30 or 40 

years down the line. By then, the original 

company might be part of a larger 

organisation, seeking to expand overseas, 

or can have morphed into a dif- 

ferent type of business that calls for a 

more rigid corporate structure. 

Whatever the nature of these chan- 

ges, the next generation needs a dif- 

ferent set of skills. Preparing the new 

leaders for their future responsibilities 

is a vital part of the succession process. 

Apprenticeship succession is the most 

traditional method of handing over 

control; the second generation simply 

learns its skills from the founder. 

Research by INSEAD shows that this 

can result in a management team with 

less education, board-level experience, 

and expertise in running companies 

than one appointed through more 

structured succession planning. 

‘Even at the second 

generation you have to 

recreate–or you’re dead’ 

Ludo Van der Heyden 

Grooming successors is the more 

professional model. This is where the 

children of the founder gain management 

experience outside the business, 

or the founder selects non-family 

members with skills the company 

needs to secure future success. 

Although the transition process 

may not be straightforward, a family 

business has an important advantage 

over other companies: emotional capital. 

Christine Blondel, believes the 

emotional investment family members 

have in the company pays dividends 

when they succeed, a reward corporate 

bodies find hard to deliver. 

The Panel 

Moderator 

christine blondel 

Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship 

and Family Enterprise 

Co-director of The Family Enterprise 

Challenge (FAME) programme 

Professors 

Morten bennedsen 

Academic Director 

Professor of Economics and 

Political Science 

The André and Rosalie Hoffmann 

Chaired Professor of Family Enterprise 

randel carlock 

Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor 

in Entrepreneurial Leadership 

Co-director of FAME 

Xiaowei rose Luo 

Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship 

and Family Business 

filipe santos 

Associate Professor of 

Entrepreneurship 

Director for the Maag International 

Centre for Entrepreneurship 

Academic director of the INSEAD 

Social Entrepreneurship Initiative 


Professor of Technology Management 

Mubadala Chairholder in Corporate 

Governance and Strategy 

First holder of the Wendel Chair for 

Large Family Firms 



insead discussion

Best practice on succession 

In the past, family companies tended 

to reinvent their business model every 

third generation. These days, says 

Ludo Van der Heyden, businesses must 

transform themselves almost every 

generation to keep pace with changing 

demands. As a result, the next generation 

often seeks to impose its vision 

earlier, cutting the average business 

lifespan of the founding entrepreneur 

from 40 to 20 years. 

‘There are potentially 

many roadblocks around 

the successions’ 

Morten Bennedsen 

For a family business to succeed, suc- 

cession needs to take place sooner 

rather than later. Ludo Van der 

Heyden’s research suggests the most 

successful transfers of power are 

planned when the original entrepreneur 

is in his or her fifties. 

The next generation is not the 

only beneficiary of such timely tran- 


sitions. According to Christine Blondel, 

a prompt handover of power can 

also benefit the founder. Stepping back 

well before they turn sixty gives them 

an opportunity to start a new venture. 

While this makes intellectual sense, 

relinquishing control at a relatively 

young age can be challenging. The 

reason, says Morten Bennedsen, is that 

entrepreneurs are driven individuals 

who thrive when in control. Giving up 

that control is no easy task. 

For a successful transition to occur, 

Bennedsen believes two factors must 

exist. First, the business founder must 

genuinely want control to pass to the 

next generation. Making clear early 

on their wish to step back guarantees 

them and their successors a rewarding 

future. Waiting until the last 

minute to relinquish control can seriously 

damage the prospect of a smooth 

restructuring–not least because sentimental 

attachments to a business can 

increase as owners grow older. 

Second, the potential successors 

must want to take control. Research 

by INSEAD indicates a significant difference 

between attitudes of first and 

subsequent generations of successors. 

While second, third or fourth generations 

expect to take over their family 

business, and may even demand that 

power be transferred, the situation 

is very different for children of founding 

entrepreneurs. 

‘Research suggests the 

most successful transfers 

of power are planned when 

the original entrepreneur 

is in his or her fifties’ 


Founders often fail to signal their 

intentions clearly and in good time, 

making planning for the future 

impossible. This can result in the 

next generation of potentially 

successful entrepreneurs taking their 

talents elsewhere. 

For Christine Blondel, junior family 

members must also be unequivocal. By 

expressing a wish to run the business– 

while respecting their elders’ achievements–they 

can help make succession a 

more positive and profitable process for 

both sides. Paradoxically, one of the best 

ways to demonstrate a willingness to 

run the family company, says Blondel, 

is for children to prove their commercial 

worth outside the firm. 

Gaining experience away from the 

family can help encourage a strong 

sense of autonomy–an important trait 

for any entrepreneur–and give the 

current generation an opportunity 

to judge the business skills of pos- 

sible successors. 

An alternative way to achieve the 

goals of autonomy and appraisal is for 

the next generation to develop a new 

subsidiary, conquer new markets or 

launch a new line of business. This has 

the added advantage of promoting 

the continuity necessary for a family 

company to prosper. 



Ensuring fairness 

Fairness is essential to a successful 

transfer. By putting this at the core of 

the decision-making process, a family 

business can reduce conflict and lay 

strong foundations for the future. 

INSEAD identifies five key principles: 

• Give everyone the opportunity to 

express their opinions and shape the 

discussions. 

• Agree clear objectives from the start 

and ensure outcomes are respected 

later on. 

• Apply the process to everyone in the 

same way. 

• Make sure all family members 

acknowledge the need to alter previous 

agreements to reflect changing 

family values and business needs. 

• Enshrine a culture of fairness in all 

aspects of family life–it makes business 

dealings seamless. 

For Ludo Van der Heyden, a process 

must not only be fair, it must be seen 

to be fair. Transparency must, he says, 

be at the heart of all family dealings. 

If something is hidden, it destroys 

the equity of the process. If an entre- 

preneur fails to disclose his or her 

plans for instance, the next generation 

may assume he or she does not trust 

them to run the business. 

You can only create an effective 

framework in the spirit of openness and 

honesty, argues Ludo Van der Heyden. 

Keeping an open mind is also key to 

success. The original owner might want 

to retain leadership within the family, 

but if nobody wants the role, the family 

needs to find an external candidate. 

‘Rules don’t come before 

the discussion; they’re 

a consequence of it’ 

Christine Blondel 

Christine Blondel believes good 

communication is another necessary 

component for agreeing succession 

principles. Establishing the rules must, 

she says, be seen as an all-encompassing 

process that takes account of the 

context and values of the business. Any 

rules need to be based on open discussion–not 

the other way around. 

The role of philanthropy 

Transferring control to family 

members is not the only concern 

of today’s entrepreneurs. Assigning 

wealth to good causes is a major 

preoccupation, says Filipe Santos. In 

the past, business owners decided 

how much to pass on to fam- 

ily members and how much to devote 

to causes. These days, entrepreneurs 

want philanthropy to be an integral 

part of what they do as a business. One 

manifestation of this is the creation of 

family foundations and offices with a 

philanthropic component. 

Entrepreneurs have always wished 

to create wealth for themselves, but 

now they also want to decide how 

much wealth should be kept within 

the family domain, and how much 

wealth is legitimate and good to share 

with society. The issue is therefore how 

to strike that balance. 

‘Entrepreneurs believe in 

value creation; they want 

to give back to society’ 

Filipe Santos 

Bennedsen says a philanthropic project 

requires different skills and involves 

family members who may not be interested 

in becoming executives in the 

corporation. This can benefit the family 

business by creating a philanthropic 

operation and keeping family members 

within the organisation. 

Xiaowei Rose Luo points out that 

in Asia, family firms are leading the 

trend in philanthropy. ‘If you look 

at corporate philanthropy and qual- 

ity standards, family firms tend to do 

a better job than other types of firms,’ 

she says. ‘The main reason is that 

family firms feel their name is associated 

with their corporate behaviour.’ 

INSEAD research shows that the 

higher the percentage of shares held 

by a family firm, the more they engage 

in corporate philanthropy. 



insead discussion

An Asian perspective 

In emerging markets, family governance 

plays an even greater role than 

in more mature markets, according 

to Luo. In Europe and the US, 

private entrepreneurs often depend 

on the banks or venture capital 

market for financing, and a sophisticated 

legal system to ensure contracts 

are honoured. In Asia, raising capital 

and enforcing agreements can prove 

impossible. It is therefore common 

for people to rely on family members 

and pool resources to start their businesses. 

‘Family relationships serve 

as the substitute for the market institutions 

that you typically see in 

mature markets,’ Luo says. ‘That’s why 

family entrepreneurship is probably 

even more important than individual 

entrepreneurship.’ 

As a result, says Luo, entrepreneurs 

rely far more on family members to 

help build up their businesses. When 

the business expands, founders often 

start up more companies with family 

members placed in charge to encourage 

the sharing of resources, and 

provide each other with a network of 

loyal suppliers and creditors. For this 

reason it is very common to see family 

business groups in Asia, rather than 

individual family firms. 

‘Family relationships 

serve as the substitute for 

the market institutions; 

entrepreneurs are teaching 

their children about how 

to do business’ 

Xiaowei Rose Luo 

In China, this strong family system 

even fills the knowledge gap created by 

Communism. With no business schools 

or private sector operating in the country 

for over four decades, the new generation 

of Chinese entrepreneurs learned 

its skills from family enterprises. 


The success of this model is reflected in 

the great strides that Chinese familyowned 

businesses have made in recent 

years. A Chinese family automobile 

firm, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 

Co, this year acquired Volvo from Ford 

for $1.8bn. This demonstrates how 

powerful family leverage can be both 

in financial and familial terms. 

The downside to a constantly 

expanding network of family companies 

frequently becomes apparent at 

the time of succession when the sheer 

number of vested interests, often adding 

up to over thirty family members, 

can be overwhelming, making the 

management unworkable when the 

founder dies. 

One example of a business damaged 

by its convoluted family structure is 

Formosa Plastics of Taiwan, whose 

founder Wang Yung-ching passed 

away in 2008 aged 91 without leaving 

a will. Although he had handed over 

management control to a committee of 

seven family members in 2006, he had 

not made clear how ownership would 

be divided between three wives and 

their several children. The result was a 

protracted and costly court case. 

Luo claims that lack of proper 

succession planning is a recurrent 

theme, often leaving the younger 

generations with no clear understanding 

of what the future holds. 

Bennedsen says that one reason the 

founder-run firm does so well is that 

power rests with one person. ‘When 

you are the entrepreneur, when you are 

the family head, you have much more 

authority.’ To overcome the problems 

of family hegemony, a new breed of 

Chinese entrepreneurs is funding business 

schools across the country. 

As with more mature markets, 

research shows those who do best after 

succession have a better education 

and more experience of management 

techniques and corporate governance; 

knowledge and experience gained outside 

the family business. 



Conclusions from INSEAD 

The family business is one of the most 

successful corporate models. Those who 

run this type of business face a different 

set of challenges; they need to extract the 

benefits that family ownership can bring 

and minimise the internal conflicts it can 

present. They must also manage the process 

of succession and ensure that one generation 

passes on its skills to the next without 

seeking to exert too much control. 

The INSEAD discussion highlighted 

several important lessons. Family businesses 

need to apply clear rules consistently across 

generations. Evidence shows that the 

professional model of succession, where the 

next generation gains experience outside 

the family firm, is often better than the 

apprenticeship model. A commitment to 

fairness both in the way the firm is run and 

in the way succession is planned is critical. 

Good communication gives everyone 

involved a voice. 

By taking these lessons on board, family 

firms equip themselves with the tools to 

ensure they preserve the existing value of the 

business and create new wealth that can be 

passed down the generations. 

INSEAD business school 

As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, 

INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas from around 

the world to change lives and transform organisations. This global 

perspective and cultural diversity is reflected in all aspects of its 

research and teaching. 

With campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore) and the Middle 

East (Abu Dhabi), a research centre in Israel and an office in New 

York, INSEAD extends the reach of its business education and 

research across three continents. 145 renowned faculty members 

from 36 countries inspire more than 1,000 degree participants in 

MBA, Executive MBA and PhD programmes. 



insead discussion

18 




focus on entrepreneurs 19


A source 

of advice 

Entrepreneurs devote 

a huge amount of time 

and energy to building 

successful businesses. 

As a consequence they 

accumulate considerable 

personal and family wealth. 

Inevitable questions 

arise as to how best to 

preserve this wealth 

throughout their lifetime 

and maximise its benefits 

for the next generation. 

20 pictet and entrepreneurs 

Founded in 1805, Pictet is only too familiar 

with the issues facing entrepreneurs. 

Like other family businesses we’ve faced and 

solved succession issues. Our own business is 

run by eight partners who are responsible for 

organising the transmission of ownership 

to the next generation. An understanding of 

entrepreneurs’ challenges and priorities is 

key to the advice we offer this unique group 

of individuals. 

The art of managing wealth 

From early in its history, Pictet developed 

the expertise to guide clients in 

the art of managing wealth. Today, 

we act as an entrepreneur’s personal 

chief financial officer. Our bankers 

and advisers work in long-term partnership 

with clients gaining a clear 

understanding of what they want to do 

with their wealth. They help devise and 

implement the best strategy for achieving 

those objectives. They look at short 

and long-term priorities, and design a 

comprehensive solution that preserves 

the value of hard-earned wealth. 

We believe three things are critical to 

successful long-term wealth planning: 

Financial planning that gives you 

an understanding of how your total 

wealth can best be used to provide for the 

long-term needs of you and your family. 

Fiscal and legal advice that optimises 

your tax exposure and enhances 

the long-term integrity of your assets. 

An open architecture platform 

that ensures your wealth is invested to 

preserve its long-term value. 



Financial planning 

Everyone wants to achieve different 

things with their wealth. Financial 

planning is fundamental if you are to 

draw up the right long-term strategy 

for your specific needs and ambitions. 

The depth and breadth of planning are 

critical at the outset of the process. Our 

financial planners build up an exhaustive 

picture of your current financial 

position and work out how best 

to employ that wealth in the future. 

Pictet’s financial planning is concentrated 

in four main areas. 

Transferring value 

The plan lays out the total assets that 

the entrepreneur accumulates, including 

a value for the company at the time 

of retirement. The key is to manage the 

transfer of wealth from company to 

personal. The transfer can take place in 

the form of dividends, or through the 

sale of the business, but also through 

succession or transfer. There are dif- 

ferent ways to optimise this transfer. 

Most importantly, the entrepreneur 

must calculate precisely how much is to 

be transferred, taking into account both 

the company’s and private cash flows. 

This will include a realistic assessment 

of the likely expenditure over 

the course of the entrepreneur’s life. 

By using actuarial assumptions, advi- 

sers will define how financial needs 

may vary over time. 

An exhaustive picture of 

your current financial 

position and future needs 

Allocating wealth to specific needs 

Our analysis divides assets into three 

categories of capital: financing, reserve 

and surplus. Financing capital is the 

money needed to achieve personal 

objectives and maintain lifestyle. 

Entrepreneurs’ expenses can increase 

significantly over time. Reserve capital 

is the accumulated wealth needed to 

maintain financial autonomy over the 

very long term. Surplus capital is the 

amount remaining; the money that 

can be used for early transmission of 

wealth to family members, other gifts 

and higher risk investments. Of course 

each type of capital will carry a specific 

degree of risk and a matching level of 

return expectation. 

The opportunity to use 

open architecture is crucial 

for all entrepreneurs 

Setting the optimal asset allocation 

The strategic asset allocation must 

match resources and objectives so that 

Life cycLe of an entrepreneur and weaLth creation 

Company 

value 

Personal 

wealth 

the entrepreneur’s lifestyle can be 

maintained and their financial independence 

preserved; it is tailored to 

the degree of risk with which they 

feel most comfortable. The financial 

plan shows how to decide the best use 

of financial assets, and most importantly, 

defines the maximum level 

of risk an investor may be willing to 

take. Those who deal with cash flows 

and profit projections in their professional 

lives will recognise the same 

principles applied to their personal 

financial requirements. 

Working with an open architecture 

The opportunity to use open architecture 

is crucial for all entrepreneurs. 

The following section will address this 

subject exclusively. 

Seed Grow Transfer 

Financing 

capital 

• Transfer wealth from company to personal 

• Define ideal asset allocation 

• Segment wealth according to personal needs 

Our advice is to consult a financial planner as soon as the business enters the growth period, but at 

least five to ten years before a business transmission. The financial planner will help the entrepreneurs 

allocate their wealth and plan for every cash flow. Pictet’s tradition of confidentiality means 

entrepreneurs can discuss possible long-term options for their company–including future disposal 

or succession–that they might feel unable to do with a commercial lender. 



pictet and entrepreneurs 

Surplus 

capital 

Reserve 

capital

Fiscal and legal advice 

Sound tax advice is critical throughout 

the entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurs’ 

needs will vary according 

to what phase their business is in: 

start-up, growth and expansion, or in 

the exit stage. At Pictet we offer independent 

tax advice and counselling 

throughout the company life cycle. 

Seed 

Several key decisions are taken during 

the start-up phase: what legal form 

the company should take, its domi- 

Life cycLe of an entrepreneur and fiscaL requirements 

Your 

company 

22 pictet and entrepreneurs 

cile, the agreement between the founders; 

contracts to manage cross-national 

relationships, and any holding structure 

for the company. Our fiscal advisors 

have long experience in these 

areas, identifying and explaining the 

advantages and disadvantages of all 

the options open to them. 

Grow 

As the business grows, entrepreneurs 

may need to make decisions on mergers 

and acquisitions, employee compen- 

Seed Grow Transfer 

Fiscal / tax Set-up of the 

structure 

• legal form 

• domicile 

• agreements 

between founders 

• holding structures 

Life of the structure 

• merger/acquisition 

• employee compensation schemes 

• pension plans 

• transfer of wealth from company 

to personal 

Exit of the structure 

• sell/transfer handling 

• capital gains, 

tax liabilities 

• accumulated 

professional assets 

• other structures 

FINANCE 

sation schemes and managing pension 

plans. Pictet offers third party advice 

about the long-term implications of such 

changes with no conflict of interest. 

Transfer 

Eventually complex decisions need to 

be made about succession or transfer, 

an event that can be fraught with 

emotional and legal implications. The 

tax implications differ significantly 

depending on whether entrepreneurs 

sell their business or pass it on to the 

next generation. Our fiscal advisers 

help maximise the value of the remaining 

wealth for entrepreneurs and their 

successors after the transmission. 

Legal issues include the management 

of capital gains tax liabilities, accounting 

for professional assets used by the entrepreneur, 

accumulated wealth within 

the business, the new legal structure 

for the business, and the entrepreneur’s 

arrangements after he or she leaves the 

business. We will guide them in making 

decisions throughout this complex 

process and share the bank’s access to 

legal advice from all branches of the law 

in the major jurisdictions of the world. 

Whatever sector they work in, Pictet 

can offer the highest quality advice as 

the business develops and their personal 

financial needs change. 



Open architecture 

The term open architecture is a philosophy 

that is crucial on two distinct 

levels. First, it applies to the investment 

strategy, ensuring that the investor’s 

portfolio is composed of the most 

appropriate assets. Secondly, it refers to 

the business activity of the bank, ensuring 

every decision is made with the 

investor in mind. 

Investment architecture 

The open architecture of Pictet’s investment 

activities sets the bank apart from 

many other financial institutions. Our 

open architecture approach offers the 

most advantageous solution for our 

clients. This flows directly from the core 

values of independence, excellence, 

integrity and respect that have been an 

integral part of Pictet for generations. It 

means we help our clients make an open 

and objective selection of what is right 

for them, reaching decisions through a 

rigorous and accountable investment 

process with complete transparency– 

independent in our investment decisions 

and product selection. 

We spend time identifying the 

best fund managers and develop longterm 

relationships with them. The 

bank looks at recent performance, but 

crucially puts more emphasis on the 

stability of their performance over 

time. This is an ideal guide to how a 

manager will perform over a three, five 

or ten year horizon. 

Open architecture flows 

directly from our core values 

of independence, excellence, 

integrity and respect 

This policy means we favour managers 

who do better in a bear market–when 

markets fall–rather than those who do 

best in a bull market–when prices soar. 

This is because a fund that falls in line 

with a poor market can wipe out several 

years’ gains over a bull market. Pictet’s 

long experience in investment shows 

that this strategy is the best way to 

avoid capital destruction. That is why 

we focus on the qualities and performance 

of the individual manager rather 

than only on the fund itself. 

Banking architecture 

Many banks provide too wide a range 

of services, from private banking to 

commercial banking to investment 

banking. While it may look appealing 

initially to have a one-stop shop for 

business and private matters, history 

has shown that conflicts of interest inevitably 

occur. The mix between private 

and professional affairs interferes with 

state-of-the-art banking practices. Flexibility 

disappears, risk is aggregated, 

and decisions can become corrupted. 

The legal structure of Pictet, the 

sole focus on wealth management at the 

expense of any commercial or investment 

banking activities ensure the 

complete absence of conflict of interests 

and a full dedication of our team to 

a single objective: the effective management 

of the assets entrusted to us by 

our clients. 

Pictet’s five tips for entrepreneurs 

Long-term 

We cherish long-term relationships with 

clients; we find this maximises their 

financial welfare. Entrepreneurs need to 

start working with their banks long before 

the succession process begins. 

Understanding 

Base your business on the particular needs 

of your clients. Pictet has developed its own 

business on a precise understanding of our 

clients over 200 years. 

Discretion 

Entrepreneurs can openly discuss their 

wealth, ambitions and vision for their 

company with our advisors; discretion 

is at the heart of our approach and there 

is no conflict of interest. 

Process-based 

Our skills have been refined over time into 

a process that ensures we look after entrepreneur’s 

assets in the best possible manner, 

as illustrated by the asset allocation process 

based on matching financial needs and 

financial means. 

Tax efficiency 

By developing a broad understanding 

of entrepreneur’s objectives, we ensure 

their wealth is managed in the most tax 

efficient way. 



pictet and entrepreneurs

Bernard Rueger always knew he would take over the company that 

his grandfather founded and his father built up. After completing his 

apprenticeship in various areas of the business he took over the reins 

in 1992; a succession that was managed with Swiss precision. Now 

the third generation owner believes future success lies in combining 

the efficiency of Asian manufacturing with the very best of Swiss 

know-how. 

A long transition 

Bernard was 25 years old and working in Canada when his 

father asked him if he was interested in taking over. ‘I said 

“of course–why not?”’ Rueger recalls. ‘Maybe my father was 

afraid I was not coming back!’ Rueger had a long period of 

transition between him and his father Rolf before and after 

he took over as chief executive. 

On his own initiative, he worked at the company’s 

German subsidiary for three years, partly to improve his 

language skills. He spent a further five years working alongside 

his father at the headquarters in Lausanne, mainly 

focussing on sales. During that time, he built up his knowledge 

of Rueger SA and its products–the company makes 

a large range of high-precision temperature and pressure 

gauges for multinational companies including BASF, 

Mitsubishi, Nestlé and Shell. 

He was 34 when he took over as CEO–his younger 

brother Jean-Marc subsequently became a board member 

and took on responsibility for production. His father 

retired five years later at the age of 70. ‘Sometimes there 

were tensions but it was very interesting for me to work 

with someone who was very experienced in our core business,’ 

Rueger says. He has a very different mentality from 

his father who was a very careful manager. ‘I would not say 

I’m not careful but I am much more adventurous.’ 

24 

the industrial entrepreneur 

The industrial entrepreneur 

Bernard Rueger 

In 1942 Ernst Rueger made his first bimetallic 

thermometer. Almost 70 years later his grandson 

Bernard has turned the Swiss industrial success into 

a major player in the fast-growing Asian market. 

Expanding east 

This difference manifested itself when Rueger decided to 

expand the international operations of the company and move 

into Asia. His father had expanded the company’s reach across 

Europe and particularly into Germany, one of the world’s 

largest export markets. When Rueger took over, the company 

was exporting 60 per cent of its output. The younger Rueger 

had seen vast swathes of industry move to Asia and believed 

there was a risk that Swiss companies would lose whole markets 

if they did not embark on a strategic revolution. 

‘The whole team must change to enable 

the company to adapt to new market 

environments and challenges’ 

Rueger took a snap decision to fly out to Korea the day after 

a competitor dropped the name of a major Korean manufacturer. 

‘Today we are market leaders in South Korea and 

he is not selling there at all. I took the market. Sometimes 

it’s important to listen to your competitors.’ 

Rueger says he took over at the company just as globalis- 

ation was starting to change the way business was done, a 

critical period for companies in Europe. He moved stan- 

dardised manufacturing activities to Asia to take advantage 

of lower wage costs and the opening up of these fastgrowing 

emerging markets. Rueger now has a sales office in 

Kuala Lumpur, and a subsidiary in Beijing. ‘It is fortunate 

that we took the decision to set up these companies 10 years 

ago; it has helped us through the financial crisis because 

these companies bring us jobs here in Switzerland.’ 





the industrial entrepreneur

He acknowledges this was a decision that only a new generation 

owner would have taken. ‘My father did extremely 

well with the business from after World War II until the end 

of the 1980s. Globalisation began just after I arrived; my 

mentality fitted well with the changes,’ he says. The danger 

for small entrepreneurial businesses is that they often build 

the management team around themselves. It is not only the 

owner who has to change his way of working; the whole 

team must change to enable the company to adapt to new 

market environments and challenges. 

A new management style 

Rueger revitalised the senior management team and 

changed the company’s management style. His father ran 

a patriarchal company whereas his style is based on teamwork. 

He acknowledges that it is the owner who ultimately 

takes the decisions and risks, but says sharing and dis- 

cussing problems is part of his management style, and gives 

the company greater flexibility. He has also delegated more 

responsibility. He says he did not join the company with 

a specific intention of changing Rueger’s management 

systems. ‘It happened naturally. Leadership can’t be learnt 

in school.’ 

‘I often say this is the last project I’m 

doing but when I’ve finished I start the 

next one immediately’ 

Asked what makes an entrepreneur, he reels off a list of 

qualities he believes separates entrepreneurs from man- 

agers. These include curiosity about opportunities, readiness 

to take risks, courage, pragmatism, and perseverance in the 

face of setbacks. ‘You always have challenges. You don’t stop 

until you achieve your aim. Some projects are very demanding 

and I frequently say “this is the last one I’m doing”. But 

when I’ve finished I start the next one immediately.’ 

He believes innovation is vital for family entrepreneurs; 

it ensures the business adapts to new opportunities and 

challenges. This does not just mean product innovation– 

although this is essential for a company such as Rueger–but 

innovation in working practices and management styles. ‘It 

is important to have a small advantage over your competitor. 

It doesn’t have to be a big advantage,’ he says. 

Today’s entrepreneurial challenges 

Rueger believes that companies in the West face a tough 

15 years. There are the potential tax rises likely to result 

from the costs incurred by governments during the financial 

crisis. Also, there is competition from Asia. While he 

believes that politicians in Switzerland–although less so 

in the European Union–support entrepreneurs, he says 

the West must learn lessons from the US, and also Asia and 

26 the industrial entrepreneur 

other emerging economies. As President of the local Chamber 

of Commerce and Industry, Rueger is well positioned to 

judge this. ‘The biggest problem in Europe is that nothing 

is done to facilitate entrepreneurship,’ he says, ‘whereas in 

the US you can be a multiple entrepreneur–everything is 

organised for you.’ 

Workers in Western Europe are happy for the state 

to provide them with assistance through the social security 

system and will fiercely resist changes to their benefits 

despite the need to cut public spending. ‘Asia is the opposite,’ 

he says. ‘They are very business oriented. They like to 

work whereas Europeans like to have more free time.’ He 

tells the story of a business traveller in Singapore airport 

late at night. The cleaner sees that the traveller has lost 

something and goes over to see if he can help. ‘In a European 

airport, that would never happen.’ 

‘The biggest problem in Europe is 

that nothing is done to facilitate 

entrepreneurship, whereas in the US 

you can be a multiple entrepreneur’ 

The challenge for Europe is to ensure it stays competitive 

in a globalised world where countries can move their headquarters 

with such ease. For Rueger this means being able 

to combine the intellectual resources available in Switzerland 

with the manufacturing potential of Asia. At the heart 

of entrepreneurship–and the core of the future success of 

European economies–is the ability to design new products. 

‘Switzerland and the rest of Europe can survive if they 

have the capability to bring new products to the market,’ 



he says. ‘We have this capacity because of the education we 

have here. Selling to the emerging markets is exciting and 

exactly what we are doing.’ 

The company has recruited Chinese graduates from 

Swiss universities to help Swiss employees gain a greater 

understanding of Chinese business practices. Rueger says 

that a clear example of the cultural divide is the response 

to a quotation request. While a German company would 

expect a detailed response within six weeks, an Asian buyer 

that had not had a response within 24 hours would dismiss 

the supplier. ‘We have to adapt to these things and it can be 

very challenging,’ he says. 

It is clear to Rueger that the company’s future lies in 

Asia. ‘I know we have a big opportunity to be more creative 

in Switzerland but the challenge is how to keep jobs here 

with the high costs. The answer is certainly having products 

with a high added value. Asian countries are not yet capable 

of doing that.’ He says the future success of the com- 

pany is focused on coordinating the sophisticated design 

and innovative activities in Switzerland with standard 

manufacturing operations in Asia. ‘By combining these, we 

have an advantage over our competitors.’ 

Bernard Rueger’s five keys to success 

• Leadership is essential but you do not have to do everything 

yourself–it’s about being the conductor of the orchestra, not the 

best player. 

• Build a good team and recruit people who are more intelligent 

than yourself; it will help you manage for the long-term. 

• Spend as much time as you can defining strategy and as little as 

possible engaged in day-to-day business. 

• It is important to ‘get your hands dirty’ and understand what 

the company makes. One reason for the financial crash was that 

the banks’ CEOs didn’t understand the products their bankers 

had designed. 

• Always look to innovate, not just in terms of products, but also 

in ways of working and management techniques. 



the industrial entrepreneur

Social entrepreneurs 

A greater role 

for social 

entrepreneurs 

Social entrepreneurs 

will play a greater 

role in this new age 

of fiscal austerity 

fiLiPe sAntos 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR 

OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, 

INSEAD 

28 social entrepreneurs 

For more than two centuries, entrepreneurs 

have created wealth for society by pursuing 

their own financial self-interest. Now a new 

generation of business leaders is taking a more 

direct approach to solving social problems. 

Inspired by role models such as Microsoft’s 

Bill Gates, they are using their 

commercial skills and market-based 

incentives to tackle poverty, disease 

and environmental degradation. With 

government cutbacks touching every 

aspect of life, these socially-driven 

business leaders are set to play an 

increasingly important role. 

Characteristics of today’s social entrepreneur 

The common view of a social entrepreneur 

is a mix of Sir Richard Branson 

and Mother Theresa–commercial entrepreneurship 

combined with charity. 

The truth is more complex. At its best, 

social entrepreneurship is an organ- 

ising process distinct from those in the 

business and social sectors. 

While social activists use political 

pressure to stop the negative impact of 

government and business, social entrepreneurs 

approach it from a different 

angle. They ask why people behave in 

a negative way, then look for market 

and/or community based incentives to 

encourage positive behaviour. On one 

level, their actions are no different to 

any commercial entrepreneur–pursuing 

opportunities for value creation 

through new business initiatives. The 

distinction is in their motivation. 

Whereas the main driver for commercial 

entrepreneurs is profit, their 

socially-minded counterparts want to 

improve society. 

Creating a sustainable venture 

What both types of entrepreneur 

have in common is the need to make 

ventures financially sustainable. Give 

money to a poor man and he can eat 

the next day–but what happens when 

the money is gone? Human beings 

cannot live off goodwill. 

Hence the concept of sustainable 

‘microfinance lending’ pioneered by 

Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. 

Lenders loan money to poor individ- 

uals so that they can create a small 

business. When that enterprise takes 

off, it generates returns to repay the 

loan and support the owner’s family 

and community in the long-term. Not 

only do the first of wave of benefi- 

ciaries improve their own lives, the 

money they give back to the lender is 

used to fund further loans. Creating 

a sustainable solution to a problem 

in society has become a hallmark of 

today’s social entrepreneurs. 

Managing a growing enterprise 

In the past, identifying problems and 

designing innovative solutions on a 

small scale was the typical approach of 

social enterprises. In the wake of the 

global fiscal crisis, the difficulty many 

entrepreneurs face is how to expand 

their operation to address the growth 

in numbers needing their help. 

‘Profit is not the main driver 

for a social entrepreneur’ 

Over the past 200 years, management 

theories and powerful business tools 

in the areas of marketing, strategy and 

competitive advantage have helped 

entrepreneurs expand their commercial 

ventures. Growth within the social 

enterprise sector remains comparatively 

unknown territory. As the 

aftershocks of the economic turmoil 

continue to be felt around the world, 

rethinking management theory for 

social entrepreneurs is critical. Developing 

a set of powerful tools is necessary 

to enable the social enterprise 

sector to reach its full potential when 

society needs it most. 

It is for this reason that INSEAD’s 

Social Entrepreneurship Programme, 

launched in 2005, is promoting the 

leadership, organisation and business 

skills entrepreneurs require to manage 

a growing social enterprise. Business 

theorists are not the only group 

addressing the modern age of social 

entrepreneurism. 



The financial community is also starting 

to adapt. One dilemma for social entrepreneurs, 

for example, is how to hire 

skilled people and obtain finance on 

commercially viable terms even though 

they cannot offer the same rewards or 

returns as commercial counterparts. 

‘As conventional methods 

of addressing society’s 

problems appear ineffective, 

social entrepreneurs 

can take the lead’ 

To deal with this, venture capital firms 

are establishing social impact funds 

that apply traditional investing criteria 

to projects with the potential to 

benefit society as a whole. Elsewhere, 

social ‘angel’ investors are looking for 

opportunities that deliver social value 

rather than just profit, and experiments 

are taking place to establish a 

social stock exchange. Developing the 

financial tools necessary to support 

social entrepreneurs is therefore a 

priority for the business community in 

years ahead. Allied industries will also 

benefit from a thriving social sector. 

Consider wealth management. 

With increasing numbers of successful 

entrepreneurs wanting to use 

their assets to ease societal problems, 

managing their wealth in line 

with their conscience will call for an 

entirely new approach to personal 

asset management. Succession is an- 

other area where the financial and 

wealth management sectors can play a 

part. The rapid growth in social entrepreneurship 

since the 1970s means 

many established social entrepreneurial 

organisations are reaching a point 

where transferring power is becoming 

a pressing issue. While commercial 

enterprises are often taken over by a 

larger corporation, leaving the founder 

free to start up new ventures, acqui- 

sitions within the social entrepreneur 

sector are rare. 

Crisis as opportunity 

The challenge for entrepreneurs, 

business schools, governments and 

financiers is to create a vibrant social 

entrepreneurial culture that will have 

the same impact on society as the 

commercial sector. The current fiscal 

crisis has made this transition even 

more urgent. 

The age of austerity means governments 

are looking to devolve more 

responsibility to social entrepreneurs– 

typically more adept at delivering local 

solutions cost-effectively than central 

government. This new approach, 

combined with a reduction in social 

security spending, calls for even more 

ambitious and professional social 

entrepreneurs to meet society’s needs– 

from job creation to education. 

Not only must they identify the 

best innovations, they will also need 

to apply them at a national or international 

level. As conventional methods 

of addressing society’s problems appear 

ineffective, the time has come for social 

entrepreneurs to take the lead. 

Filipe Santos is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship 

at INSEAD. He is the director for the 

Maag International Centre for Entrepreneurship 

and the academic director of the INSEAD Social 

Entrepreneurship Initiative. His research lies at 

the intersection of strategy, organisation theory, 

and entrepreneurship. His current focus is the field 

of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. 



social entrepreneurs

30 facts and figures 

Family-owned businesses as a percentage of companies 

60% 

FRANCE 

50% 

EU 

70% 

UK 

75% 

LATAM 

95% 

USA 

Article ‘Family Businesses Dominate’, Kristin Cappuyns, Joseph H.Astrachan PhD, Sabine B. Klein PhD 

‘People with at least one selfemployed 

parent are 2–3 times 

more likely to be self-employed’ 

FT Magazine, April 24/25, 2010 

‘In Switzerland, 30,000 small to 

mid-size companies are created 

every year; 70–90% are no longer 

existing after 5 years’ 

PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Facts and figures 

Trends in entrepreneurship 

The PwC Family Business Survey 2007–2008 

75% 

SPAIN 

Family-owned business as a percentage of GDP 

35–65% 

EU 

40–45% 

NORTH AMERICA 

84% 

GERMANY 

›85% 

ITALY 

Family-owned businesses in Fortune 500 

(largest US public companies ranked 

by revenues) 

50–70% 

35% 

FAMILY-OWNED 

(175) 

0 LATAM 

100 

The PwC Family Business Survey 2007–2008 

Article ‘Family Businesses Dominate’, Kristin Cappuyns, 

Joseph H.Astrachan PhD, Sabine B. Klein PhD 



45% 

of europeans would like 

to become their own boss 

whereas 

61% 

of americans have the 

entrepreneurial urge 

European Commission: 

Enterprise and Industry 

After a discussion about economics 

with Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac, 

George W Bush is said to have turned 

to Blair and remarked, ‘the problem with 

the French is that they don’t have a word 

for “entrepreneur”.’ 

Anecdote told by Baroness Williams of Crosby 

‘Working together, 

corporations and social 

entrepreneurs can reshape 

industries and solve the 

world’s toughest problems’ 

Bill Drayton and 

Valeria Budinich 

Harvard Business Review 

(September 2010) 

‘World-class entrepreneurs 

have reached critical mass 

in some surprising 

places–and their number 

is growing quickly. These 

innovators just might revive 

the global economy’ 



33 

the average age of 

founders of start-ups 

across the world is 33 



x2 

you are twice as likely to 

be an entrepreneur in the 

emerging world as in the 

developed world 

Global Enterprise Monitor 

The World Bank’s list 

of the most advantageous 

places to do business 

–Top 10 

Ease of doing business 

Singapore 

New Zealand 

Hong Kong 

United States 

UK 

Denmark 

Ireland 

Canada 

Australia 

Norway 

Ease of starting a business 

New Zealand 

Canada 

Australia 

Singapore 

Georgia 

Macedonia 

Belarus 

United States 

Ireland 

Mauritius 

Small firms (‹20 employees) as a percentage of companies 

67% 

IRELAND 

95% 

GREECE 

MINIMUM MAXIMUM 

OECD statistics 

Small firms (‹20 employees) as a percentage of workforce 

11% 

USA 

35% 

GREECE 

MINIMUM MAXIMUM 

OECD statistics 



facts and figures

The internet entrepreneur 


Jacques-Antoine Granjon is one of France’s most respected 

entrepreneurs. His e-commerce company, vente-privee.com, 

will soon be turning over €1bn a year. Predicting market 

trends, he believes, is at the root of his success. 

Since its online launch in 2001, vente-privee.com has grown into an 

international retail operation with over 1,350 employees and a string 

of awards for entrepreneurial prowess. 

Entrepreneurialism in the blood 

The temptation to capitalise on his success by selling the 

company is one Jacques-Antoine Granjon finds easy to 

resist. Entrepreneurialism is in his blood. He set up his 

first business in 1985, aged 22, with a €3,000 loan from his 

father. The venture bought end-of-line stock from leading 

fashion companies and sold it discreetly to retailers in a 

way that protected the integrity of the original designer 

brands. Fifteen years later, the rise of online retailing saw 

the original concept resurrected as vente-privee.com. 

‘vente-privee.com is a model where we 

used our old skills but instead of selling 

anywhere and everywhere, we produced 

a digital catalogue’ 

While both businesses enabled fashion houses to sell 

old stock and generate revenue without harming their 

premium image, vente-privee.com added an extra layer of 

protection. Before customers can buy from the website, they 

must register online, making the company Europe’s first– 

and now largest–private web-based sales club. 

Growing the business 

In recent years, the business has enjoyed remarkable sales 

growth. Granjon believes online retail is still a market 

with immense potential. While retailing has been around 

32 the internet entrepreneur 

for thousands of years, he says, electronic commerce has 

only been fully established since 2005. To make the most 

of this emerging sector, Granjon is expanding his venture 

globally and sourcing new brands to sell online. The scope 

for growth appears almost limitless. Unlike conventional 

shops, vente-privee is open 24 hours a day, seven days a 

week in every country in which it operates. Granjon says his 

commitment to future expansion is what distinguishes him 

from short-term entrepreneurs who build a business, sell 

it, and then move on to the next idea. Instead, he focuses 

on improving the quality of his original offering to secure 

sustainable growth. 

When consumers can shop elsewhere at the click of a 

button, Granjon believes offering excellent service is the 

only way to survive. Last year, vente-privee.com received 

the Customer Service of the Year Award for event-based and 

general distance selling at the Nuit des Favor’i awards in 

Paris (FEVAD). The previous year it won the annual innovation 

prize in the Distance Selling/E-commerce category 

at the LSA (Libre Service Actualité) Magazine Awards. To 

secure his goal of first-class service, Granjon is prepared to 

invest. While online start-up costs are small, he accepts it is 

costly to grow–and stay ahead of the competition. 

Since 2001, almost 30 discount retailers have set up 

similar models to vente-privee.com in its core markets. This 

could leave the company caught between a long tail of small 

outlets and the group of larger retailers it aims to be part of. 

Continuing to deliver higher levels of quality, argues Granjon, 

is the only way to stand out and prosper. 

Solving the succession issue 

Although he is only 47, Granjon has already considered 

the issue of succession. With no plans to sell the company, 

passing it on to his children would seem the obvious 





the internet entrepreneur

choice. However, he is adamant that won’t happen. First, 

he believes handing wealth down to the next generation 

removes their entrepreneurial drive and willingness to take 

risks. Second, his seven partners all have children and he is 

keen to avoid any disputes over who should take over. The 

company, he says, belongs to the future managers, not him. 

Passing on his skills to them is therefore essential. 

Motivation, creativity and foresight 

Although business skills are important for any potential 

entrepreneur, possessing the requisite motivation is even 

more vital in Granjon’s opinion. After finishing business 

school, he could not imagine taking orders from or generating 

wealth for somebody else. This overwhelming desire 

for autonomy spurred him towards his decision to set up a 

business. ‘Everyone has their own motivation: for me it was 

making money and being free,’ he says. While the pursuit of 

freedom is a trait more often associated with artistic types, 

Granjon says entrepreneurs are just that. 

‘Entrepreneurs are people who look at something and 

change the angle and say–that’s how it exists but I will look 

at it from another angle and do it another way,’ he says. 

Looking at a problem from a different angle is what sets 

them apart from other business leaders, and that, he adds, 

is very much a creative process. No surprise then that he has 

a large collection of modern art housed at his offices in the 

former printing works of Le Monde. 

‘It is not a company I built to give to my 

children. It is not a company I built to sell’ 

Another important attribute of any good entrepreneur is the 

ability to anticipate how society will develop. Granjon jokes 

that, had he gone into business in the 1980s, he would have 

invested in spectacles. With people living longer and spending 

more time behind computers, the demand for reading 

glasses would have made him his fortune. Whatever the 

venture, starting young can make the difference between 

success and failure. The older someone gets, says Granjon, 

the harder it is for him or her to risk launching a business. 

He also believes that it is hard for young people to get 

the motivation to start a business if they do not feel a hunger 

for success–almost literally. ‘Money spoils the desire in 

young people and everything in life is desire,’ he says. While 

his parents were wealthy, he started his business with a loan. 

‘If they had given me an apartment when I was 18, I would 

have put in a TV and a big bed and waited for my girlfriends 

to stay the whole day. Why work if you have everything?’ 

To back his belief, he cites a famous remark by Yvon 

Gattaz, the former President of the National Council of 

French Employers (MEDEF). As young people climbed what 

he called the ‘staircase of risk’ (l’escalier du risque) they were 

34 

the internet entrepreneur 

less likely to want the gamble of starting their own business. 

The first step on the ladder was university when students 

would be attracted by office-based careers. The next step 

was to start a family and take a mortgage. The final rung was 

described by Gattaz as ‘rheumatism and cholesterol.’ 

The US versus Europe 

Although there is a strong entrepreneurial culture in France, 

Granjon believes the same is not true across Europe. He says 

support for entrepreneurs disappears whenever individ- 

uals become successful. This contrasts with the US where, he 

adds, people are encouraged to try, fail and try again. They 

are also applauded for becoming wealthy through their own 

endeavours. The American goal is to be rich and successful– 

not an ambition universally shared in Europe. 

‘My first motivation was freedom. 

It would have been impossible for me 

to work for another company because 

I don’t like being given orders’ 

So should European governments do more to support 

entrepreneurs? Granjon is emphatic that entrepreneurs 

should not ask for help from the state. A real entrepreneur, 

he says, is someone who expects nothing from anyone apart 

from themselves and their team. 

Jacques-Antoine Granjon’s five keys to success 

• Quality is the most important thing: the quality of the product and 

the quality of the service. 

• Anticipate long-term trends in the economy and understand how 

people will live their lives in future. 

• Choose people who will be close to your way of thinking. The worst 

hazard is having key people who are not philosophically part of 

your venture. 

• If something needs doing, do it yourself. Don’t waste time waiting 

for someone else to get things done. 

• Don’t wait for one famous idea. vente-privee.com was the result of 

20 years of business operation. 



The Pictet 

succession model 

Entre- 

preneurs 

at heart 

The unique management 

model at Pictet & Cie is the 

result of more than 200 years 

of evolution. It is based on 

perpetually recreating the 

classic family of managing 

partners. It maximises the 

advantages of a business 

managed along family lines 

while avoiding its potential 

setbacks producing a model 

based on moderation, 

discipline and restraint. 

JAcques de sAussure 

SENIOR PARTNER, 

PICTET & CIE 

Next year marks the 170th anniversary of the 

partnership appointment of the first member 

of the Pictet family to what was then known 

as Banque de Candolle Mallet & Cie. The 

Pictet name has been associated with the 

bank ever since it was founded, although 

it only changed its name to Pictet & Cie in 

1926. In total, nine generations of the family 

have been involved in the business. 

Successful succession 

The bank has always had partners from 

different backgrounds drawn from 

outside the family. But because of the 

continuous and important role the 

Pictets have played in the business since 

1841, the organisation also possesses 

the characteristics and advantages of a 

family business. Continuity is built into 

the management structure of the bank. 

Since its foundation, it has always been 

run as a fully-fledged private bank, for 

which the managing partners assume 

joint and unlimited personal liability. 

Every ten years or so, Pictet & Cie 

chooses two or three new partners aged 

between 35 and 45, so there are always 

at least two younger partners. This also 

ensures the business is passed down 

the generations through a succession 

process that is institutionalised as part 

of its life cycle. 

Every ten years or so, 

Pictet chooses two or 

three new partners aged 

between 35 and 45 

In the summer of 2010 the planned 

handover of the role of senior managing 

partner took place. Ivan Pictet, 



the pictet succession model

who stepped down from the bank 

aged 66, was one of two members of 

the Pictet family who were managing 

partners. On the other hand I am 

not a member of the Pictet family, 

but my father was a partner for a 

number of years. This maintains our 

commitment to continuity. At the same 

time two new managing partners were 

also appointed. 

‘We are not a family business pure 

and simple, but rather a business run 

along family lines,’ Ivan Pictet said 

recently, describing the role of senior 

managing partner as more like that of 

a referee than a chief executive. There 

are currently eight managing partners, 

two of whom are from the Pictet 

family. This combination of family 

involvement, continuity of control and 

36 the pictet succession model 

the inclusion of partners from outside 

the family nucleus has helped blend 

the principles that underpin both 

family structures and business success. 

It also gives Pictet first-hand insight 

into the concerns of family businesses 

in terms of both wealth management 

and succession planning. 

‘We are not a family 

business pure and simple, 

but rather a business run 

along family lines’ 

Daily decision-making 

One characteristic where the bank 

is akin to a family business is the 

highly personal structure and tone of 

our communications. By restricting 

the structure to a close-knit circle of 

managing partners who work together 

on a day-to-day basis, we have little 

need for the organised, formal communications 

that are necessary when the 

size of a board makes the number of 

bilateral relationships very large. 

The managing partners meet every 

morning for at least an hour. They are 

able to discuss issues quickly and informally, 

and reach decisions during the 

meeting. Internal decision-making is 

oriented towards seeking consensus. 

Where there is a difference of opinion, 

the senior managing partner acts 

as mediator, reconciling the different 

views being put forward. 

The partnership structure 

Selecting a new partner is a bit like a 

marriage, a relevant comparison given 

the likely 30-year longevity of the relationship. 

The personal dimension is 

an important part of the procedure for 

achieving managing partner status. 

A new partner doesn’t buy his way in; 

the existing partners select him or her. 

Emotional, cultural and intellectual 

compatibility with the other members 

is important, as are specialist skills. 

The selection process 

for partner is a bit like 

a marriage, a relevant 

comparison given the likely 

30-year longevity of the 

relationship 

The managing partners grant each new 

arrival a loan, which he reimburses 

from his share of the profits. This 

puts all partners on an equal financial 

footing. A partner’s status as a 

co-owner of the business is therefore 

temporary, even if it lasts throughout 

his professional career, because it 

is linked to the individual rather than 

families, and can’t be passed down to a 

partner’s heirs. 



The bank follows clear principles of 

succession. When partners leave, they 

have no further claim on the business, 

giving up their role with unlimited 

personal liability. The portion of their 

assets that was invested in the business 

is paid to them by the other partners, 

calling on a reserve set up during their 

career as a managing partner. 

The principle of equality is very 

important. Each partner’s voice carries 

equal weight, whatever his share in 

the bank; this means that no hierarchical 

distinctions can be made. A 

partner’s age and length of service 

vary, but they do not in themselves 

bestow any formal power. It is only 

through contribution to the business 

that a partner acquires and retains 

particular authority. 

The model simulates the nuclear 

family, taking the best from business 

managed along family lines–which 

research shows outperform publicly 

held ones. Relationships are not marred 

by inter-generational or longstanding 

conflicts as can happen in a family 

business. The group members evolve 

together in an environment where 

no one is weighed down by heavy 

outside pressures. 

The need to have two members 

of the Pictet family on the board has 

been managed in a way that avoids 

the potential for conflict. The family 

connection is limited by the unwritten 

rule that neither a parent and child, 

nor two siblings, can be managing partners 

at the same time. In order to limit 

potential emotional complications 

even further, the two partners from the 

Pictet family must be chosen by those 

from outside the family. In this way, 

a system of elective kinship acts as a 

counterbalance to familial kinship. As a 

general rule, the partners who bear the 

Pictet name have the same rights and 

responsibilities as the others. All share 

joint and unlimited liability for their 

entire assets. 

Clients centre stage 

Tradition puts the needs of the client 

firmly at centre stage. The bank’s 

managing partners devote a substantial 

part of their time to managing client 

relationships. The blend of experience 

and fresh ideas, continuity and inno- 

vative spirit, family tradition and new 

blood marks this business model out as 

unique and explains its success. 

The result of this gradual inno- 

vation in a business management 

model based on tradition, moderation 

and discipline is evident in the bank’s 

financial status and performance. 

Professional expertise is 

the most important factor 

in being selected as 

a managing partner 

The bank is pursuing international 

expansion and currently has 20 offices 

in some of the world’s most important 

financial centres. Pictet’s tried and tested 

business model means it will always 

be able to adapt to changing economic 

circumstances. Its 200 years of experience 

allows Pictet to remain competitive 

and deliver the best service and advice to 

its clients, now and far into the future. 



the pictet succession model

Afterword 

Entrepreneurs make a vital contribution towards economic growth, wealth 

creation, employment and innovation. This report reveals another important 

aspect of entrepreneurs–the essential qualities that go towards making up 

this unique type of business leader. The personal stories of the entrepreneurs 

featured in this report show that successful entrepreneurship can be distilled 

down to five strong character traits: creativity, courage, commitment, 

confidence, and an ability to take risk. Add to this the enormous amount 

of time and energy that entrepreneurs put into their ventures, and it is no 

surprise that they are seen as an essential ingredient to delivering economic 

recovery at this time of uncertainty. 

Entrepreneurs devote so much time and energy to the success of their 

businesses that their personal finances often take second place. Our service 

is tailored to helping them resolve this issue. We base it on our own 200 

years of experience of the unique way family businesses operate and our 

understanding of the pressures entrepreneurs put themselves under to 

achieve the best for their company, as well as the best for their clients. Our 

counsel is independent advice from an independent bank with no conflict 

of interest. 

Managing the wealth created through enterprises and handling the 

management of succession are crucial decisions that cannot be left to chance. 

Pictet has been committed to the wise management of money and the 

preservation of accumulated wealth for more than two centuries. Using our 

knowledge and investment skills acquired over generations, Pictet works 

as the entrepreneur’s personal chief financial officer. We have the expertise, 

knowledge and experience in wealth management to give business leaders 

the reassurance that, while they create the growth and jobs that are so vital 

to the wider economy, we are looking after their hard-earned wealth. 

Philippe Bertherat 

Partner, Pictet & Cie 

38 afterword 



PICTET & CIE 

Founded in 1805 in Geneva, Pictet & Cie is 

today one of Switzerland’s largest private 

banks, and the leading independent 

asset management specialist in Europe, 

with CHF371 billion (EUR279 billion) in 

assets under management and custody at 

30 September 2010. 

Pictet & Cie is a partnership owned 

and managed by eight general partners 

with unlimited liability for the bank’s 

commitments. 

The Pictet Group, which is based 

in Geneva, employs more than 3,000 

staff. The Group has offices in Barcelona, 

Basel, Dubai, Florence, Frankfurt, 

Geneva, Hong Kong, Lausanne, London, 

Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Montreal, 

Nassau, Paris, Rome, Singapore, Turin, 

Tokyo and Zurich. 

Disclaimer 

This publication is issued and distributed by Pictet & 

Cie based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is not aimed at or 

intended for distribution to or use by retail clients, or 

any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of, or 

located in, any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction 

where such distribution, publication, availability or use 

would be contrary to law or regulation. The information 

and material presented in this publication are provided 

for information purposes only and are not to be used 

or considered as an offer or invitation to buy, sell or 

subscribe to any securities or other financial instruments. 

Furthermore, the information expressed herein reflects 

a judgement as at the original date of publication and is 

subject to change without notice. 

This publication and its contents may be quoted provided 

that the source is indicated, but it may not be reproduced 

or distributed, either in part or in full, without prior 

authorisation from Pictet & Cie. 

All rights reserved. Copyright © 2010 Pictet & Cie.

www.pictet.com

Paul Philipp Hug The family entrepreneur p4 tyler brûlé The media ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?