About this episode

Stephan Gerwert discusses the intricacies of family wealth management and succession planning within Germany's family enterprise ecosystem.

Stephan Gerwert, Head of Family Office Services at PwC Deutschland, joins R. Adam Smith for a wide-ranging conversation on what it takes to build and sustain a modern family office — particularly within Germany's uniquely secretive ultra-high-net-worth landscape. Stephan draws on a career that spans big-bank wealth management, leading a Swiss single-family office, and co-founding a fintech platform to offer a genuinely holistic perspective. Topics include building governance from scratch using RACI frameworks, the growing importance of family succession planning, Germany's conservative capital allocation habits, cybersecurity threats facing affluent families, and the collaborative opportunity — still largely untapped — among Europe's most powerful entrepreneurial dynasties.00:00 Welcome & Introduction01:36 Guest Introduction: Stephan Gerwert and PwC Deutschland03:17 PwC Germany as an Independent, Holistic Family Advisor05:06 Stephan's Career Path07:31 Advisory Philosophy: Starting with Family Vision09:52 Building Governance from Scratch11:23 The Family Capital Ecosystem and Scaling Trends14:56 European Family Dynasties Reinvesting as Business Platforms16:00 Germany's…

People in this episode

Host: R. Adam Smith

Guest: Stephan Gerwert

Topics covered

• family wealth
• succession planning
• family office
• governance
• cybersecurity
• entrepreneurial dynasties

Keywords

• family office
• wealth management
• succession planning
• Germany
• capital allocation
• cybersecurity
• entrepreneurial dynasties

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PwC Deutschland

Places: Germany, Europe, Switzerland

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