The Future of Your Family Office
Build a world-class family office with clarity and confidence.
The Future of Your Family Office
Family Office Initiative
Supporting the education, research, and network needs of current and future family office leaders throughout the world.
The Family Office Initiative at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is the preeminent hub for family office leaders across the globe.
Our mission is to establish a world-class family office program to serve the educational, research, and network needs of current and future leaders in the global family office market that capitalizes on the differentiated value of the university and our network.
By leveraging its close connection to Booth’s esteemed faculty and their cutting-edge thought leadership, the FOI will generate interest in family office research and support the development of research insights to benefit the global family office sector.
Robert (Bobby) A. Stover Jr. Joins as Inaugural Executive Director
Bobby serves as the Family Office Initiative’s inaugural executive director. He comes to Booth as a respected global thought leader, being recognized as a Family Capital Top 50 Global Family Advisor (2024) and Top 100 Global Family Influencer (2022). He has more than 30 years of experience advising family enterprises and family offices. In 2025, he retired from Ernst & Young, LLP as co-global and Americas family enterprise and family office leader.
Robert (Bobby) A. Stover Jr. Joins as Inaugural Executive Director
Gift from Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation to Booth’s Family Office Initiative
In recognition of this gift, the initiative’s faculty directorship will be known as the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation - Family Office Initiative Director.
Gift from Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation to Booth’s Family Office InitiativeRecap: Family Office Summit May 13–14, 2025
Family Office Initiative successfully hosted its inaugural Family Office Summit on May 13–14, 2025, at the David Rubenstein Forum on the University of Chicago campus. Centered on the theme “The Future of the Family Office,” the summit convened over 160 attendees representing 147 unique family offices from the United States, Canada, EMEA, and Latin America – demonstrating the FOI’s strong global reach and relevance.
The one-and-a-half-day event opened with a welcome dinner attended by more than 140 guests. The summit program featured remarks by Madhav Rajan, the Steven S. Wymer Dean and distinguished service professor of accounting at Chicago Booth, and Paul Alivisatos, AB ’81, President of the University of Chicago. The agenda also included a fireside chat exploring the summit’s central theme, accompanied by practitioner-led sessions addressing emerging trends and strategic challenges facing family offices.
One hallmark of the summit was its integration of Booth’s faculty and rigorous academic insight—a distinctive and intentional feature of the Family Office Initiative. Topics included research on the investment behavior and performance of family offices, what makes a successful CEO, and how to build stronger relationships through deeper, more meaningful conversations. These sessions were designed to encourage attendees to share their experiences, engage with colleagues and Booth faculty, and learn from other leaders of similar backgrounds in a media- and solicitation-free environment.
Booth students also played a meaningful role in the summit’s success. Through a dedicated student meet-and-greet with the Family Office Council, selected students from Booth and the College had the unique opportunity to engage directly with industry leaders and gain firsthand insights into the world of family offices. Additionally, student volunteers contributed to the event’s smooth execution while benefiting from behind-the-scenes exposure to the planning and thought leadership that defined the summit.
This milestone event marked a significant step forward for the Family Office Initiative, establishing a strong foundation for continued global engagement, collaborative learning, and research-driven thought leadership in the family office space.
Our Commitment to Current and Future Practitioners
The FOI is a new initiative at Chicago Booth. Our goal is to establish Booth’s Family Office Initiative as a world leader in family office research, education, and network, becoming a regular resource for family office leaders. Here’s how:
Connecting Family Office Leaders to Each Other
We bring current and future family office leaders together in many ways, including by organizing events where they can connect, learn, and network with each other, as well as through our Family Office Initiative Council. The council is a global network that features dozens of top practitioners in the sector, as well as Booth faculty members. Current and future family office practitioners can leverage our Family Office Initiative Council to learn, network, and grow.
Connecting Family Office Leaders to Each Other
Supporting Curriculum at Booth
We’ve developed a new course for MBA students—The Family Office. The course, available to MBA students starting in Winter 2025, will provide students with insights into the different roles that family offices play, effective leadership, the structure of these offices, the defining goals for investment and distribution, and other important topics. Additional MBA classes and Executive Education programs will be available in the future. Offerings could potentially cover family psychology and dynamics, risk management, asset allocation, governance, and leadership, among other topics.
Supporting Curriculum at Booth
Furthering Groundbreaking Research
The family office sector has seen significant growth in the last two decades, making it a prime opportunity for scholars and top institutions of higher learning to study. Booth’s renowned faculty have already begun to formulate early strategies around some of the most important topics in the family office sector. In the coming years, and with the support of the Family Office Initiative, Booth faculty will continue to investigate this space and publish groundbreaking research that will impact and benefit the sector in profound ways. Booth faculty members will leverage the Family Office Initiative Council members for research, and share findings with members as well.
Furthering Groundbreaking ResearchOur Booth Team
Booth Faculty in this Area
Emanuele Colonnelli
Joseph L. Gidwitz Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship
Emanuele Colonnelli
John C. Heaton
Myron S. Scholes Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation - Family Office Initiative Director
John C. Heaton
Steven Neil Kaplan
Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Steven Neil Kaplan
Pascal Noel
Singh Family Professor of Finance
Pascal Noel
Eric Zwick
Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Economics and Finance
Eric ZwickFamily Office Initiative Steering Committee
Andreas Angelopoulos, ’02
Former Senior Advisor
Pritzker Alternative Strategies
Paul Carbone, AB ’83
Co-Founder, President, and Chairman of the Investment Committee
Pritzker Alternative Strategies,
Co–Founder and Vice Chairman
Pritzker Private Capital,
Trustee and Head of Family Office Initiative Steering Committee
Ronald Diamond
Founder and Chairman
Diamond Wealth
Stuart Lucas
Co-Managing Partner
Wealth Strategist Partners
Quan Mac, '05
Co-Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chief Investment Officer
Bostwick Investment Consulting
Michael Montgomery
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Marshall Street Capital, Inc.
Stephan Roche
Partner, specialized advisory firm
Former CEO, Walton Enterprises
Bill Woodson
Managing Director and Co-Head
The Cynosure Group
Alex Dexeus, ’23
Vice President – Operations Management
Pritzker Private Capital
Malorie Flemming
Senior Associate Director, Strategy and Operations
Chicago Booth
John C. Heaton
Myron S. Scholes Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and
Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation - Family Office Initiative Director
Chicago Booth
Steven Neil Kaplan
Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Chicago Booth
Questions? Here’s How to Contact Us.
If you have any questions about Booth’s Family Office Initiative, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We would like to hear from you.