NAVIGATING CHANGE
IN PERSPECTIVES,
BELIEFS, AND BEHAVIOURS

Why beliefs and behaviours are the key to family unity

PARALLEL SESSION

Speakers: Hugo Douglas and Archie Douglas

Facilitator: Francesco Lombardo

Date and time: Thursday 22 May 2025, 1:00pm - 1:45pm

SESSION OVERVIEW

Do conversations about wealth and wealth transfer often lead to tension or conflict within your family business or among clients? Do family members sometimes feel as though the bonds holding them together are beginning to unravel? Many families even dread the prospect of having the "money talk."

In this session, Francesco Lombardo will facilitate a discussion with members of the Douglas family, who will share their journey of understanding their own beliefs and behaviours and how this insight has transformed their family dynamics. Topics will include the greatest risks to family harmony and successful wealth transfer—often stemming from unaddressed behaviours and beliefs within the family; how a unified purpose that embraces diverse perspectives can foster resilience and inclusivity; and the myths surrounding money, and whether these are openly discussed.

The Douglas family has been involved in the real estate and property development industry since the 1970s and has been a partner in numerous successful businesses and ventures over the years. In recent years, the Douglas family enterprise has expanded to include a charitable foundation and a Family "Future Fund," led by second-generation family members.




SPEAKERs

Hugo Douglas
Managing Director, Investment Management Australia

Hugo's career commenced in 1999 within the banking and finance industry including roles with NAB, Credit Suisse and Deustche Bank in Australia and the U.K.  Since joining Investment Management Australia (IMA) in 2005, his key duties have included the due diligence, deal structuring and governance of the shareholder’s property development investments. Hugo is presently a director of Redbank Communities and the Douglas Family Foundation. 


ARCHIE Douglas
Director, Redbank Communities

Archie was co-founder and director of PRDnationwide, established on the Gold Coast in 1976. As one of Australia’s leading real estate practices, PRDnationwide employed approximately 2,000 people throughout its network and was instrumental in delivering many of Australia’s largest and most successful property developments. Since selling the business to Colliers in 2006, Archie has been actively involved in residential development as a director and investor in Halcyon Lifestyle Communities (sold to Stockland in 2021) and Redbank Communities.


facilitator

Franco Lombardo
Founder and Managing Director, Veritage

For more than twenty years, Francesco (Franco) Lombardo (FEA) has been a family business coach to some of the world’s most successful and affluent families. His early years spent in the corporate world, in tandem with his own journey of emotional self-discovery, gave Franco a deep insight into the unique pressures facing high-net-worth families and the complexity of not only sustaining their financial wealth, but their emotional wealth. As a leading global expert on the emotional impact money and wealth has on relationships within family businesses, he is committed to assisting families find, create, and maintain emotional safety by developing new models for cultural governance, which contributes to the stability, continuity and sustainability of the family business enterprise, its wealth and its legacy. 


all sessions

Explore all the sessions on offer at this year’s Family Business Conference: Asia-Pacific. Each session has been thoughtfully crafted to provide you with real-world tools and takeaways for navigating change in the world of family business. Featuring a range of expert keynote presentations, family business stories, interactive workshops and parallel sessions, every session is designed to equip you with strategies to navigate current challenges, embrace future opportunities, and achieve sustained success for your family business.