Notable & Quotable: Bloomberg’s family office; Chinese family businesses; the family Pictet

Bloomberg’s family office likes investment bankers

Willett Advisors, the family office of Michael Bloomberg, likes to hire ex-investment bankers. According to efinancialcareers, Willett has hired many of them, including its most recent appointment, Jonathan Hughes, a former banker from Goldman Sachs. Other hires include its chairman, Steve Rattner, who previously worked at Morgan Stanley and Lazard, and Willet’s chief investment officer, Alice Ruth, who spent 12 years at  Montgomery Securities/Bank of America. The article went on to say other more junior positions have also been filled by ex-investment bankers. Bloomberg, of course, knows a few things about investment banking – before starting the eponymous information group, he worked at the legendary Wall Street investment bank, Salomon Brothers.

How many family businesses are there in China? Millions

A report in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post revealed some startling statistics on the number of family businesses in China. According the China-based State Administration for Industry & Commerce, the number of private enterprises in the country was around 16.5 million in 2015, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 15% since 2002. The SCMP quoted a UBS banker who said: “Given that most Chinese private enterprises are now family-run, these constitute an important part of the (Chinese) economy.” Yes, very much so – and increasingly for the world economy as well.

Pictet reckons that being family owned helps its business

The very exclusive Swiss private bank Pictet says that being family-owned and having members of the family owners working with clients is a great asset in growing its business. Nicolas Pictet, who was interviewed by the Financial Times, said: “The fact that we are some sort of family business is very important. It’s a big, big, big advantage – for the Chinese, but also in Europe.” Nicolas recently took over as senior partner, or the top position, at Pictet. He succeeds Jacques de Saussure, who is retiring.