Deutsche Bank Family Office Conference, London 2024: Growth in Times of Uncertainty

Technological shifts from the AI boom, global conflicts, and the biggest election year in human history are just a few of the uncertainties investors face. But uncertainty creates opportunity, and at this year’s Family Office Conference in London, the Private Bank introduced family investors to some of the innovators who have already pulled it off.

“Each of these speakers has been incredibly successful at investing in the asset classes that they’re going to be talking about today”, Arjun Nagarkatti, Head of the Private Bank, Central Europe and the US, told the gathered crowd.

A record number of attendees this year took part in two days of networking and knowledge sharing, kicked off by a dinner headlined by British parliamentarian and former Chancellor of the Exchequer – and Deutsche Bank alumnus – Sir Sajid Javid, in conversation with Salman Mahdi, Global Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank Private Bank.

Jim Reid, Global Head of Macro & Thematic Research at Deutsche Bank Investment Bank, also took listeners on a tour of the macroeconomic backdrop that family offices face as they consider the current slate of investment risks and opportunities – including historically high inflation and the hangover from massive Covid stimulus programs. 

Key topics and speakers at the Deutsche Bank Family Office Conference 2024 in London

The conference was all about broadening horizons with thought-provoking ideas. And who could make a better contribution than Todd Boehly, Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Eldridge Industries and owner of many storied sports teams such as Chelsea Football Club and the Los Angeles Dodgers?

In a conversation with Gavin Deane, Global Head of Technology, Media and Telecoms at Deutsche Bank's Investment Bank, he shared his enthusiasm for sports investing and talked about why the industry is so exciting. "There are very few things that people will program their lives around. And games, events, matches, are things that people will program their lives around. There's such a natural passion around these things," he said.

Boehly sees plenty of new growth opportunities in the field, including in women's sport. He also pointed out that enthusiasm among the public is not the industry's only strength, and expects that new technologies and innovations will provide new experiences for fans. "This is intellectual property that can basically go anywhere, and I think right now we're building immersive experiences," he said. "With the Dodgers, you're going to be able to feel what it was like to be in the stadium in 1988 when Kirk Gibson hit the home run."

Technology was in focus for much of the conference, including a panel dedicated to technologies that are creating entirely new industries. Archimedia founder and chairman John Hunt was joined by Anthony Geffen, CEO and creative director of Atlantic Productions, and Manish Pandey, a BAFTA winning writer and producer and the creative director of Jiva Maya Films, to consider the factors that make for a successful mindset in investing, as well as the potential in developments like Augmented Reality.

Real estate also received plenty of attention in a panel dedicated to identifying high-quality assets and businesses. The conversation brought together London & Regional Properties executive chairman and co-owner Ian Livingstone with Wolfgang Biederman, executive managing director and head of H.I.G. Europe Buyouts, and Anuj Ranjan, CEO of Brookfield’s private equity group and Brookfield Business Partners. 

Overall, said Nagarkatti, this was an event about “concrete, actionable ideas on how you can grow the assets that you manage over the coming months, the coming years, over the decades to come."