Octavian Graf Pilati, rising generation member of an Austrian princely family, prepared to sell the palace his family had held for over three hundred years. In recent years, the Pilati family lands had been leveraged as loan collateral for an international venture that had become entangled in a case of suspected management fraud. Between banks unwilling to restructure debt obligations, the complexities of multi-jurisdictional legal enforcement, and intransigent family members, Octavian found himself in the impossible position of being tasked with resolving the crisis yet with little formal power to follow through on his designated responsibilities. Realizing he and his family's centuries-long legacy was at an impasse, should the family choose to fully divest its long-held assets in the face of possible financial ruin? Could they bounce back from failure - either in this generation or future ones - or should future generations seek to start anew?
Fernando Scodro, a third-generation member of his family, mulled over the next step in integrating an ESG strategy into his family office's investment portfolio. While his family office, Grupo Baobá, had made excellent progress in incorporating his family's values into their individually owned assets, such as VC and real estate, he weighed how to expand their ESG strategy in future investments. How should the family evaluate the relative benefits of an asset's return on investment versus return on impact? What would a forward-looking ESG strategy look like for his family - and other families who were their co-investment partners? How could Fernando convince external partners of his strategy's imperative and cultivate like-minded managers and financial products to achieve his goals? Finally, when should the family instead prioritize achieving impact through philanthropic initiatives? However he chose, he knew that the paths he advocated for within his family would impact all future generations of the Grupo Baobá Family Office.