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, 2:00pm - 2:45pm
SESSION OVERVIEW
Do wealth and wealth transfer conversations often lead to tension or conflict among your family clients? Do they sometimes feel as though the seams holding their family together are beginning to fray? Many families even dread the prospect of having the "money talk."
In this session, Francesco Lombardo and members of the Douglas family share their journey of understanding their own beliefs and behaviours and how this insight has fundamentally transformed their family dynamics. Topics will include the greatest risks to family harmony and successful wealth transfer—often found in the uncovered behaviours and beliefs of each family member; how a unified purpose that values different perspectives can enhance resilience and inclusivity within the family; and the myths surrounding money and whether they are openly discussed.
The Douglas family have been involved in the real estate and property development industry since the 1970's and were partners in many successfully businesses and ventures during that time. In recent years that Douglas family enterprise has expanded to include a charitable Foundation and a Family "Future Fund” which is led by second generation family members.
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.
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.
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.