A&O Shearman fourth annual Family Office Summit 2024

Highlights from the summit

This year’s summit took place at our state-of-the-art New York conference center over one and a half days in September, covering a range of topics from clean energy efforts to global partnerships to healthcare innovation. We were honored to have Garen Staglin, chairman and founder, One Mind/HBGI, and Kalen Jackson, vice chair and owner, Indianapolis Colts, as our keynote speakers on the urgent issue of mental health in the U.S. The panel was moderated by our own Adam Hakki, co-chair of the executive committee and Board, and U.S. chair.

Other highlights included a panel on sports as the new asset class, featuring Kara Nortman, co-founder of Monarch Collective; Christine Walsh, chief development officer of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee; and Harris Ziskroit, investment partner of 26North. The panel was moderated by our partner, Roger Morscheiser, who has extensive experience in sports and media.

Women’s Family Office Summit

The Women’s Family Office Summit was a half-day event designed to address the specific interests and challenges of women family office principals and senior-level executives. The program explored how technology and artificial intelligence are transforming family office operations and investment decisions and how to foster diversity in venture capital. We also had the privilege of hearing from two inspiring women leaders in fireside chats: Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871, a nonprofit tech incubator based in Chicago, moderated by our partner, Emily Westridge Black; and Ellen Havdala, managing director of EGI, a leading family office and private investment firm, moderated by our partner, Sophie Jermine.

Leadership reflections

“Our fourth annual Family Office Summit and inaugural Women’s Family Office Summit were a tremendous success, thanks to the participation and engagement of our clients, colleagues, and speakers,” says Donna Parisi, global co-head of global financial markets and financial institutions sector lead, and leader of the firm’s family office initiative. “We are proud to be a trusted advisor to the family office community and to offer them a platform to connect, learn, and grow.”

Anna Salek, co-head of family office group and head of private client group, adds: “Thank you to everyone who took part in the fireside chats and panels and shared their expertise. Your participation made all the difference.”

The summit was hosted by Donna Parisi, Anna Salek and Amir Rafizadeh, principal at 678 Partners.

The Family Office Summit event page can be viewed here.