Family office advisor and veterans of the UHNW finance world leave; other family office appointments

Two veterans of the multi-family office world retire – for the time being…

William Drake and James Wethered have resigned from Owl Private Office, a London-based multi-family office, which they set up three years ago. Drake and Wethered are veterans of the ultra-high net worth financial world and are probably best known for founding Lord North Street in 2000, which in its day was a well known MFO before it merged with Sandaire, another London-based MFO. Drake and Wethered along with Andrew Wimble founded Owl Private Office in 2017. 

Drake, 66, and Wethered, 67, departure comes at the same time Owl announced it was splitting, with Wimble overseeing Owl, and a new business, Delfin Private Office, led by Annamaria Koerling. 

Drake, who will remain as a non-executive director at Owl, also runs a family investment group called Pelican, according to Companies House. He’s also a director of RFR Property, a real estate private office, advising private clients on high-value residential property in central London.

PwC’s UK family office head to leave

Sian Steele, PwC’s family office leader in the UK, is leaving, according to sources close to the professional services group. Family Capital wasn’t able to confirm where she was moving to. Steele is a partner at PwC’s  London private client practice and heads up the firm’s family business network in the UK.

Büll Family Office appoints COO

Hamburg based Büll Family Office/Holding Group (Albert Büll Beteiligungsgesellschaft), a private investment office owned by Albert Büll, a prominent German investor and businessman, has appointed Felix Häß as its chief operating officer, according to local media sources.  Previously, Häß worked for Bauer Family Office, another Hamburg-based family office, where he helped grow the team to 14 from five. 

Last year, Büll Family Office appointed Tobias Krauss to head up the family office. Krauss was previously CEO at PMB POSSEHL Mittelstandsbeteiligungen, an investment group controlled by a foundation overseen by the Possehl family. 

Bertarelli’s venture group appoints tech expert to its advisory board

Forestay Capital, the venture arm of Ernesto Bertarelli’s Waypoint Capital investment group, has appointed Randy Castleman to its advisory board. Castleman was a co-founder and managing partner of Court Square Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in enabling technologies in communications, digital media, and information technology. He also served as an entrepreneur in residence at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

“His entrepreneurial background and mindset, coupled with his broad and deep knowledge of the Boston and New York tech ecosystems will be a great asset for Forestay and we look forward to his helping us grow our business,” said Forestay Capital’s managing partner, Fred Wohlwend, in a press statement.