KUALA LUMPUR, 20 September 2023 – When you hear the phrase “family legacy,” you may think of inheritances, trusts, and potentially even estate planning. But it goes beyond that. Family legacies also include beliefs, values, attitudes, and reputations passed down through generations. These are the aspects of a family legacy that are often overlooked but remain so critical to families in business who have a desire to connect and contribute to sustaining their legacy across generations.

In an effort to drive family businesses forward and nurture family business leaders, International Family Enterprise Centre at Taylor’s University, a family business education pioneer, as well as family business succession experts and fellow family business owners, teamed up with a panel of expert speakers, including Alvin Yap, Managing Director of A.D. Financial Group, David Harland, Executive Chairman from FINH, Australia, Dr. Marta Widz from Family Silver Institute, Dr. Johnben Loy, Founder and Clinical Director of Rekindle, Datin Yap Shin Siang, Group CEO of YYC Group, and Dato’ Loy Teik Ngan, Executive Chairman of Taylor’s Education Group to exchange the best strategies targeting the unique needs of Asian family businesses.

Sustaining the Family Legacy: How to Successfully Transition Across Generations was held on September 8, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pavilion Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Approximately 150 participants attended the physical event, which took place in Malaysia for the first time. The symposium is co-organized by the International Family Enterprise Center (IFEC) at Taylor’s University and A.D. Financial Group.

The event brought together experts from different fields, including the Entrepreneur Insight media team, family business leaders, practitioners, and wealth advisors. The forum provides a platform for members of family businesses to convene and discuss the real issues and challenges faced by family businesses and to draw inspiration and support from each other.

The symposium featured a range of topics related to family business and its succession journey, with a particular emphasis on the necessity of a family constitution and the family office in governing both the business and the family.

One of the key topics discussed at the event was Succession Planning & Management by David Harland + Lewis Liew, Director of Kajang Rocks, Janet Lee, Co-Founder of Jalex Group and Goh Chin Seng, Group Financial Advisor of Pantai Selamat Group.

During the discussion, these experts emphasized the importance of allowing their younger generation to begin in a junior position in the family business or work for a few years outside the family business to teach them that they must work their way up from the bottom to achieve great things in life.

Dr Marta Widz offered a different perspective on succession journey through her panel discussion which included Brian Soo, Chief Innovation Officer of Fire Fighter Sdn Bhd, Datuk Lawrence Leow, Executive Director of Teamplate Group, and CK Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Stone Empire.

As second generations in their respective families, the panel shared their trials and tribulations of joining the family business as well as how they managed to overcome those challenges.

The symposium also showcased several fascinating case studies of family companies on the verge of closing their doors. These case studies demonstrated how adopting a family business constitution can help business owners and employees understand their company’s competitive advantages as well as what distinguishes and sustains its culture. It can also address and clarify the duties of specific family members, both within and outside of the family business.