It is with great sadness that we say farewell to our dear friend and colleague, Mario Marconi, who passed away after a short illness in August 2022.
Mario was a senior advisor and partner at CFEG, based in Switzerland. He was an expert on family office design and management, trusts and wealth structures, impact investing and family philanthropy, and long-term wealth regeneration. With a background in wealth management, investment banking, and sustainable philanthropy, his focus was advising enterprising families globally on their financial strategies, be it for their private wealth or business needs.
Throughout his career, Mario recognized and explored the wider purpose and value of family wealth beyond financial capital, and enjoyed advising families on their social impact, philanthropy, and talent development. He was committed to finding ways to make the world a better place for everyone, including through corporate social responsibility and new forms of philanthropy.
Mario taught in private and university programs to educate families about designing the right wealth structure to meet their long-term objectives. He was an Executive-in-Residence at IMD, where he lectured with our colleague, Peter Vogel, in IMD’s program, Leading the Family Office. Mario also taught families globally in programs and private workshops through CFEG’s education and research division, Cambridge Institute for Family Enterprise.
During the year before his passing, Mario worked with Peter Vogel to co-author their forthcoming book, the Family Office Navigator. The book is being completed now and will be published with Mario as co-author, a good tribute to him as an educator and guide to families. It will be a significant contribution to the field of family offices and will help many families.
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Mario grew up in Milan, Italy before moving with his family to Geneva when he was 14.
Mario spent his career in the financial services industry. For more than 25 years, he held executive positions at UBS where he grew and led multiple areas of the private bank.
We at CFEG first met Mario at our offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2015 when he visited us as UBS’ Global Head of the UHNW Family Services Group to initiate a book on family offices that Cambridge and UBS would co-author, and which would be published one year later. The Family Office Compass went on to be a successful publication that was distributed to thousands of family offices worldwide.
At that time, Mario oversaw the family office team at UBS plus advisory on philanthropy, impact investing, and art banking. He had built UBS’ holistic wealth management area and established a number of services to help families manage all aspects of their wealth including succession planning, family office management, family governance, impact investing, and family philanthropy. Mario was an entrepreneur, even within UBS. He also launched the very successful annual UBS conference on philanthropy.
After his departure from UBS, Mario joined CFEG in 2017. He became the entrepreneurial leader of our family office and wealth strategy advisory division and became a partner in 2021. His entrepreneurial insight, courage, and determination was crucial in launching our new practice area. Mario also deeply enjoyed leading families through the process of developing their social impact and philanthropy strategies.
We offer to Mario’s family and loved ones our heartfelt condolences, with deep gratitude for knowing Mario and being able to share his journey at CFEG, and for all that Mario brought to our firm and our lives and the lives of families worldwide.
For more information, please contact CFEG at [email protected].
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