Pictet appoint new family office head, previous leader sets up family advisory group

Geneva-based private bank Pictet has appointed Honora Ducatillon as its new head of family office services after Grégoire Imfeld steps down to set up an advisory group for wealthy families. 

Duncatillon joins from Edmond de Rothschild where she held a similar position. She is a lawyer by background and holds a number of Family Firm Institute certificates. 

Imfeld has set up a new business called One Family Governance. Sources on both sides said his departure was amicable from Pictet. 

Imfeld confirmed that he had signed a consultancy agreement with Pictet,  which expects him to provide it with advisory services. As well as heading up the family office team at Pictet, where he worked for twelve years, Imfeld put together a series of events, such as an award series involving Lausanne-based business education school IMD.  

He created a family office governance service for Pictet and provided extensive advice on their creation.

Prior to Pictet, he worked for banking groups Julius Baer and Credit Suisse. Family Capital named him as a top family office adviser, according to peers, in a 2018 survey.

Imfeld’s One Family Governance advisers include Rania Labaki, an associate professor of management at EDHEC Business School and director of the EDHEC Family Business Centre; Bilal Zein, an adviser, who set up family office adviser Quonian Capital, and Kathryn McCarthy, who has advised members of the Rockefeller and Sulzberger family.

Imfeld was keen to gain greater autonomy, according to Pictet. He said: “The objective of One Family Governance is to continue what I created at Pictet, but further collaborate with seasoned professionals, creating teams of experts and develop innovative solutions for families and family offices.”

Pictet remains actively involved in the family office advisory business. Earlier this year, it recruited Pamela Hsu Phuam plus members of her team, from Julius Baer, where she was head of greater China intermediaries, to run Pictet’s Asian family office business. 

Former Julius Baer chief executive Boris Collardi joined Pictet as a senior partner in 2018.