Family Business Audiocast

The Family Business Audiocast series is a premier podcast that brings together the foremost experts from the global family office and business ecosystem. The series has quickly become one of the leading global podcasts in its field, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners and subscribers worldwide. Each episode offers an exclusive deep dive into the inner workings of family businesses and single-family offices, exploring key topics such as governance, culture, corporate strategy, growth, and mission alignment. Our conversation covers the experiences with, and the importance of, high-quality advisors, investors, partners, governance, and essential resources and vendors for family boards and owners. Founded 2022™ Created, Produced, and Owned by R. Adam Smith

Family Business Audiocast is a business podcast hosted by R. Adam Smith, with 72 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

R. Adam Smith hosts Family Business Audiocast, a business show with 72 episodes published.

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  Episode #75

  Episode 75: Shirl Penney on Why Advisor Independence Wins in Family Wealth Management

  Sep 30, 202652 min

  R. Adam Smith sits down with Shirl Penney, founder and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, to unpack how the firm grew from a home office launch in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis into a platform supporting more than 700 advisors and approaching 140 billion dollars in assets under administration. Penney shares his path from a small fishing village in Maine to Wall Street, why he left a rising career at Citigroup, and how equity alignment across advisors, resource partners, and investors keeps Dynasty's culture intact through rapid growth. The conversation covers fiduciary advice, family office alignment, and what it takes to build a firm meant to last generations, not to be flipped.00:00 Introduction to the Family Business Audiocast01:21 Meet Shirl Penney of Dynasty Financial Partners02:33 Leaving Citibank in the 2008 financial crisis03:51 Penney's story from Eastport, Maine to Wall Street06:08 The origin of the Dynasty name07:36 Dynasty's four business verticals explained09:55 Misalignment inside legacy Wall Street brands14:23 Triangulation of advice and family office design16:23 Purpose, strategy and culture at Dynasty21:29 Hiring for grit and missionaries over mercenaries23:07 Launching the industry's largest breakaway teams27:17 The power of positive energy in leadership29:35 Harvey Golub and Dynasty's early investors32:29 Financial wellness and the case for independent advice35:31 Thinking about legacy and what gets left behind38:11 A future refounding of the business42:00 Equity ownership across every stakeholder44:07 Fortress, Schwab, BlackRock and JP Morgan as investors47:17 Advice for those considering the wealth management industry

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  Episode #74

  Episode 74: Why Singapore Became the World's Family Office Hub, with Marleen Dieleman

  Sep 16, 202651 min

  Dr. Marleen Dieleman, Peter Lange Professor of Family Business at IMD Business School, joins R. Adam Smith to explore how authority and fairness actually get tested inside business families. Drawing on decades of research across Southeast Asia, including her early work inside Indonesia's Salim Group, Dieleman unpacks the public boardroom conflict at City Developments Limited and the Quek family, why succession stalls even when structures look sound, and how Singapore built itself into a global family office hub. The conversation moves through family constitutions, next gen involvement, and the governance habits that hold a family enterprise together long after the paperwork is signed.00:00 Introduction and welcome to Dr. Marleen Dieleman03:29 Her path from Rotterdam to family business research04:08 Studying the Salim Group and joining IMD05:27 How Asian family enterprises differ from the West06:33 Complexity from multiple wives and diversified holdings08:56 Government and private enterprise in the Asian NICs11:26 Chaebol versus keiretsu explained12:59 The CDL case study introduced13:56 How the Quek family conflict became public16:19 The pros and cons of being a public company20:47 Authority and the Asian succession context22:36 The difficulty of stepping back from power22:59 The King Charles problem in Asian succession25:16 Family offices and where private equity money goes27:59 Why Singapore's family office ecosystem works30:32 Attracting Western family offices to Singapore34:22 Building legitimacy through family governance38:42 Next gen involvement versus exit from the business44:11 Building a lasting succession plan48:13 The one thing families should start early49:38 Closing thoughts on fairness and legitimacy

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  Episode #72

  Episode 72: Family Flourishing and the Six Stages of Family Enterprise Life Cycle

  Aug 19, 202637 min

  R. Adam Smith welcomes Peter Moustakerski, CEO of Family Office Exchange (FOX), for a conversation on how enterprise families grow more complex, and more successful, across generations. Peter walks through FOX's six-stage life cycle model, from founder-led business families to multigenerational financial families to fully realized enterprise families, and explains how FOX quantifies complexity through a 43-factor benchmarking tool used by over 230 member families. The discussion turns to flourishing, a concept borrowed from Jay Hughes, as the true measure of family success beyond financial performance, along with how values, governance, and next-gen empowerment sustain family enterprises for the long term.00:00 Welcome and introduction to Peter Moustakerski01:26 What is Family Office Exchange (FOX)03:05 Peter's background across family office roles05:46 The six stages of family life cycle09:48 The founder as creator of the core enterprise12:39 Why success creates complexity15:09 FOX's 43-factor complexity benchmark18:26 What makes FOX different as a community20:31 Introducing the concept of flourishing23:41 Building flourishing into family structures25:15 How shared values evolve across generations27:35 Understanding the next gen conversation29:53 Key factors in next gen transition success32:26 The importance of intentionality and legacy33:17 Peter's optimism for the family enterprise field35:09 How to connect with FOX and Peter

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  Episode #71

  Episode 71: Rebecca Gooch on Succession Planning and the Family Enterprise Boom

  Aug 6, 202634 min

  R. Adam Smith is joined by Dr. Rebecca Gooch, Global Head of Insights at Deloitte Private, for a data-rich look at the modern family enterprise. Rebecca shares research on the rapid growth of single family offices worldwide, the revenue outperformance of family businesses versus non-family peers, and the generational transition now reshaping succession planning across the industry. The conversation also covers technology adoption, AI, and the rising cybersecurity risks facing family offices and family businesses alike. Rebecca offers a global perspective on how sophisticated families are building governance structures, human capital strategies, and long-term thinking to protect wealth across generations.00:00 Welcome and episode introduction01:17 Introducing Rebecca Gooch of Deloitte Private02:53 The rapid rise of the modern family office04:20 Regional breakdown of family office growth04:50 Family office AUM projected to hit $5.4 trillion07:37 Family businesses make up 22% of global firms08:39 Family business revenue growth versus non-family firms09:33 Why long-term thinking drives outperformance12:08 Succession dynamics and culture across Asia14:44 The generational wealth transition underway15:40 Why 41% of families lack a succession plan18:25 CEO age and the coming leadership shakeup19:16 Private equity, IPOs, and sales as succession options20:17 Deloitte's family office and family business research series22:29 Technology adoption inside family offices23:32 AI adoption rates in family businesses24:40 Cybersecurity risk facing family offices26:18 What a cyber attack actually looks like27:23 Family business exposure to cyber attacks29:31 Encrypted data storage and vendor safeguards32:01 Rebecca's favorite part of her work

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  Episode #70

  Episode 70: Rethinking the Family CIO Role for the Modern Family Enterprise

  Jul 22, 202639 min

  This episode of the Family Business Audiocast brings together three veteran advisors to rethink the traditional Chief Investment Officer role inside family enterprises. Jane Siebels, a longtime advisor to family enterprises across capital markets and alternative investments, joins Christian Bühring-Uhle and Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard of AVS Advisors to unpack how illiquidity, misaligned incentives, and deal-driven compensation can quietly erode a CIO's independence. The conversation moves through governance structures, succession planning, and the human capital search for judgment and courage, arguing that the best family office leaders act less like allocators and more like trusted counsel. It's a candid look at what family wealth office management and family estate planning require when legacy, not just alpha, is the real goal.00:00 Welcome to the Family Business Audiocast01:13 Rethinking the family CIO role today01:58 Guest backgrounds in family capital governance03:37 The traditional CIO model is changing04:55 Jane on private equity and illiquidity risk05:58 Christian on stewardship over asset allocation07:27 Governance structures around CIO incentives08:06 The deal junkie syndrome in CIOs09:53 When strategy stops leading investment11:16 Family responsibility to set clear objectives12:41 Illiquid vehicles and zero dry powder14:13 Quick guest introductions and firm backgrounds15:31 Long-term wealth creation versus short-term alpha17:02 Motivating CIOs without short-term bonuses19:35 Comparing CIO roles in the US and Europe20:42 Introducing the CIO consigliere concept22:30 Balancing long-term strategy with daily operations23:38 Structuring layered incentives across asset types24:18 Judgment, resilience, and low-ego leadership25:30 Human judgment in complex private transactions26:51 Backgrounds that build elite family office judgment28:12 Why courage is the rarest trait in advisors29:45 Emotional intelligence and the truth-teller role30:52 Coaching the next generation through transition31:35 Capital as a subset of wealth, not all of it32:21 How to actually identify emotional intelligence33:58 A real family example of funding with KPIs35:32 Self-awareness as the top hiring signal36:20 Bringing outside expertise into family offices37:13 What each guest loves about the work

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