Shearman & Sterling was pleased to host the inaugural Family Office Summit on October 12 & 13 in New York City. The one-and-a-half-day program brought together single-family offices, select multi-family offices, institutional investors, board/trustee members and private foundations to network and discuss developments, opportunities and challenges across a number of sectors, including digital assets, private equity, real estate, energy, deep tech and impact. The event covered topics including the trend towards co-investing, and generational differences in investment priorities and style, with younger generations focused more on impact investing, as well as both the importance and potential pitfalls of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.
The event was hosted by partners Donna Parisi (New York-Derivatives & Structured Products) and Anna Salek (New York-Private Client), co-heads of Shearman & Sterling's Family Office Group and Amir Rafizadeh, Principal at 678 Partners. Donna moderated a panel, "New Asset Class on the Block – Blockchain & Digital Assets," with Sandra Familet-Lufkin, Co-Chief Investment Officer, The Chauncey F Lufkin III Family Office / Venture Partner, Hutt Capital; Chris Kelly, Founder, Kelly Investments; and Anthony Saliba, CEO & Founder, Matrix Holding Group / CEO, Mercury Digital Assets. Anna moderated the panel, "Impact, Philanthropy & Governance – How Families Build an Integrated Social Impact Strategy," with Hannah Shaw Grove, Chief Marketing Officer, Foundation Source; Eric Clement, Senior Vice President – Social Impact & Sustainability Investments, RXR Realty; and Tom Groos, Partner, City Light Capital.
Senior Partner David Beveridge moderated a fireside chat, "How the World's Elite Money Managers Lead & Invest," with Ted Seides, founder of Capital Allocators and host of the popular institutional investing podcast of the same name.
Other panels included "Are Leveraged Buyouts Back?" with Shearman & Sterling partners Marwan Elaraby (Dubai-Capital Markets) and Gus Atiyah (New York-Finance) and CEO of GMS Capital Partners, Yezan Haddadin; and "The Global Hydrogen Economy: Investment Opportunities in Future Infrastructure." The hydrogen discussion, led by Shearman & Sterling partner Dan Feldman (Abu Dhabi-Project Development and Finance) and Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Steelhead Composites Andrew Coors, discussed the revolutionary potential of hydrogen in the current energy transition movement to decarbonize the global economy.