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Pass on your family’s abundance to the next generation with the help of our family office services.

09/11/2026

Value at Risk can provide a useful measure of downside exposure. It does not, however, show how severe losses could become once its threshold is exceeded.

Our latest Inside the Data article examines how Expected Shortfall, Historical Drawdown Replays and Scenario-Based Stress Testing can give family offices a broader view of portfolio risk.

For advisors and investment committees, the objective is to understand what lies beyond the headline figure.
Read the full article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/inside-the-data-the-false-security-of-normal-distributions/

Learn more about our independent reporting service:
https://thececilygroup.com/financial-reporting/

Visuals: František Kupka - Two grays I, The machinery, Music, Positioning of Mobile Graphic Elements point, Blue

27/10/2026

Closer Looks is back! Now with a new home on Substack.

Our Founder and CEO, Dr. Nicholas Schwarz, is relaunching his Closer Looks series to explore family governance, stewardship, and the challenges of communication between families and their advisers in greater depth.

The series will go beyond its original format, bringing together practical advisory questions, insights from Nicholas's doctoral research, and ideas from his forthcoming book on Family Governance Maturity Models.

In his opening post, 'Family Governance – Let's Begin', Nicholas explores the relationship between family governance and stewardship, and why technical advice alone may fall short of helping families create a legacy worth passing on to the next generation.

We invite you to follow his Substack and join the conversation.

https://nicholasschwarz.substack.com/p/family-governance-lets-begin

26/10/2026

Liquidity matters when a family needs to act.

An investment can remain valued within a portfolio even when that capital cannot be realised within the timeframe required. This can affect an investment committee's ability to rebalance, change managers or meet other capital requirements.

Our latest Inside the Data article examines how independent reporting can identify these constraints across managers and help committees assess whether sufficient liquidity remains available when decisions need to be implemented.

Read the full article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/inside-the-data-when-a-liquid-portfolio-contains-constrained-capital/

Visuals: Frantisek Kupka - The Cathedral, Planes by Colors, Ordination of verticals, Woman Picking Flowers, Nocturne

19/10/2026

Silvio Berlusconi built an enterprise under his personal control. Its succession required a structure that could accommodate five family owners.

Professional management was developed while Berlusconi was still the controlling owner. His children gradually entered the ownership structure, while Marina and Pier Silvio established long-term leadership roles.

Our latest case study examines how management, ownership and control evolved over several decades — and the governance questions that remain as the family prepares for another generation.

Read the article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/a-case-study-the-berlusconi-succession/

Learn more about the Family Council Canvas: https://thececilygroup.com/family-council-canvas/

Visuals: La Moncloa - Silvio Berlusconi, Nevtuğ Yalçın - Dynamic broadcast control room with monitor screens displaying live event feeds, Paolo Giandotti (Quirinale) - State funeral of Silvio Berlusconi, Quirinale - Funerale di Silvio Berlusconi, Carlo Dell'Orto - Mondadori headquarters by Oscar Niemeyer

09/10/2026

The number of holdings alone does not show whether capital is distributed in line with the portfolio’s intended structure.
In one consolidated portfolio, position-level analysis revealed what the overall holding count could not: capital was distributed between sub-scale positions at one end and material concentrations at the other.

Our latest Inside the Data examines how Position Sizing Bandwidth Analysis, Position Distribution Analysis, and Market Value vs. Performance Mapping can help family offices assess whether position sizes remain deliberate.

Read the full article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/inside-the-data-when-more-holdings-do-not-provide-better-diversification/

Visuals: Morgan Russell - Synchromy No. 6, Conception, Synchromy in Orange: To Form, Synchromy 1913, Cosmic Synchrony

05/10/2026

What happens to succession when a family business grows into a much broader family enterprise?

The Wilson family’s story began with Lululemon and a breakthrough in technical apparel. As the company grew, professional executives took over management, and Lululemon became publicly owned. At the same time, the Wilson family’s interests expanded into real estate, private equity, Amer Sports, philanthropy, and new ventures.

The five Wilson sons are therefore inheriting something quite different from the business their parents built in Vancouver.
Our latest case study looks at how ownership, management, and family interests have developed over time — and the questions this raises as the next generation takes on its own roles.

Read the full case study: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/a-case-study-the-wilson-succession/

Learn more about the Family Council Canvas: https://thececilygroup.com/family-council-canvas/

Visuals: Raysonho - Lululemon Athletica at Markville, Joe Mabel - 582-584 Johnson Street, Victoria, British Columbia, SYSHLWO MSRPSL SUNGA - Shenzhen, Bao'An Uniwalk Mall, Darifengm 092 Shtiah - HK, Queen's Road Central, Ddryden87 - KPU Surrey Main building

25/09/2026

In early 2026, global technology experienced one of its weakest periods of relative performance against global equities in the last 50 years.

Yet a conventional portfolio report could make the significance of that movement difficult to see. Aggregate returns can conceal substantial differences between sectors, particularly where gains elsewhere offset weakness in a concentrated allocation.

Our latest Inside the Data examines how Active Sector Return, Historical Percentile Distribution, Cross-Sectional Return Dispersion, and Sector Attribution can help family offices identify when a sector exposure warrants closer governance attention.

Read the full article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/inside-the-data-when-sector-risk-disappears-into-the-benchmark/

Learn more about our independent reporting service:
https://thececilygroup.com/financial-reporting/

Visuals: Robert Delaunay - Formes circulaires, Soleil no. 2, Simultaneous Windows on the City, The Cardiff Team, Lune no. 1, Rythme, Joie de vivre

17/09/2026

What happens to family ownership as professional executives assume greater responsibility for the business?

Our latest case study follows the Fleming family across five generations, from Robert Fleming’s first investment trust to international banking, dispersed family ownership, the sale to Chase Manhattan, and the development of a family office into an international wealth management business.

The case shows how ownership, operational authority, and responsibility can gradually move into different hands. At each stage, the Flemings had to reconsider their role: as business owners, beneficiaries, stewards of shared capital, and representatives of a growing family.

Read the article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/a-case-study-the-fleming-succession/

Learn more about the Family Council Canvas: https://thececilygroup.com/family-council-canvas/

Visuals: David Hawgood - Machine for carding jute, Verdant Works, Dundee, Val Vannet - Inner city industrial area Dundee, Michael - One Chase Manhattan Plaza, Alan Mak - Hong Kong Central with Jardine House, Thomas Faed - The Last of the Clan (The Fleming Collection)

11/09/2026

A positive fixed-income return can conceal very different sources of performance.

Our latest Inside the Data article examines how Yield Decomposition separates bond returns into Income, Rolldown, Rate Change, Spread Change and Residual.

For family offices and their advisors, this provides an important layer of oversight. It can reveal whether returns are being supported by recurring income, favourable credit conditions, interest-rate movements or other effects — and whether the resulting performance remains proportionate to the risk being carried.

Read the full article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/inside-the-data-when-bond-returns-hide-the-risk/

Learn more about our independent reporting service:
https://thececilygroup.com/financial-reporting/

Visuals: Paul Klee - Red Balloon, Highway and Byways, Chosen site, Transparent in perspective Grooved, Diana in the Autumn Wind

04/09/2026

The Rong family's history demonstrates how ownership, wealth, executive authority and institutional influence can follow different succession paths.

From the family's early industrial empire to Rong Yiren's role in building CITIC, Larry Yung's leadership of CITIC Pacific and the emerging third-generation succession, the basis of family authority repeatedly changed.

Our latest case study examines what happened when that structure came under pressure in 2008, and what the subsequent transition to institutional leadership can teach family offices about ownership, control and successor preparation.

Read the article: https://thececilygroup.com/blog/a-case-study-the-rong-succession/

Learn more about the Family Council Canvas: thececilygroup.com/family-council-canvas/

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https://thececilygroup.com/

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