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News Stories · Family Business

IMD and Pictet join forces to celebrate and reward leading family enterprises

The IMD Global Family Business Award, now sponsored by Pictet – is regarded as the most highly regarded for successful global family businesses
October 2018
  • Three-year agreement recognizing excellence in family business
  • Unique platform for sharing best practices
  • Award to be presented at the Family Business Network Summit in Venice
  • Learn more about the IMD Global Family Business Center here

Lausanne, Switzerland, 9 October 2018 – IMD and Pictet, one of Europe’s leading independent wealth and asset managers, have joined forces to promote the indispensable role family businesses play in the economy.

IMD and Pictet have signed a three-year agreement to celebrate and reward leading family enterprises. “This award recognizes the best of the best,” observed IMD President Jean-François Manzoni. “Our Family Business Center is a world-leading hub providing learning journeys and research to family enterprises globally. We are pleased to join forces with Pictet, a leader with a global presence, strong values and a marked interest in sustainable success.

The IMD Global Family Business Award, now sponsored by Pictet – is regarded as the most highly regarded for successful global family businesses. It recognizes enterprises that are exemplary in uniting family interests with those of the business and in combining tradition and innovation while demonstrating clear corporate social responsibility. IMD Professor and Director of this award Benoit Leleux commented, “The award is the oldest and finest accolade for a family to receive. Since its launch in 1995, we are proud to have recognized 22 family businesses, each one unique and best in class.

The aim of this distinction, which provides a unique platform for sharing best practices and analyzing the economic backdrop, is to promote family businesses by highlighting the exceptionally high standards they are capable of and the many forms they may take.

Partnering with IMD for this award is a source of pride as well as a natural move for Pictet”, stated Rémy Best, Pictet Partner with joint responsibility for Wealth Management. “As owner-managers, Pictet partners are entrepreneurs themselves. And the partnership structure resembles the functioning of a close-knit family owned group in many ways. We therefore fully understand the evolving needs family businesses necessitate and can talk to them on the same level about their concerns, such as succession, education and the role of money”.

This accolade is presented in collaboration with the Family Business Network International (FBN-I) during their annual summit, which this year will take place from October 10-12 in Venice. In 1999, the Scheufele Family from Chopard joined forces with IMD, and has since contributed the beautifully crafted trophy.

Previous winners include world-class companies such as LEGO, Ayala Corporation, S.C. Johnson, Hermès, Barilla, Yazaki Corporation, Merck, Firmenich, Bel Group, Bavaria and most recently Pentland Group. A full list of past winners can be seen here.

IMD’s commitment to ethics, responsibility and sustainability is integrated into its educational offerings, thought leadership, community engagement and organizational activities.