Oxford University research initiative launches world’s first series dedicated to large family-led organisations and impact

Ownership Project Insights is being published by the Ownership Project 2.0, housed within The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

A new, first-of-its-kind white paper series, Ownership Project Insights, will offer family-led businesses guidance, discussion, and case studies regarding how to scale their impact and address global challenges.

With family-led organisations now increasingly questioning whether and how their asset allocations can achieve strategic, impact-led goals, the publication comes at a crucial time.

Family capital, whether stewarded by a family office, family holding company, family foundation, or family business, possesses unique characteristics and potential to deliver significant, positive change to complex global challenges, such as climate change and pandemics.

The user-friendly Ownership Project Insights will deliver critical analyses, data-driven observations, thought leadership and playbooks for family offices and those working closely with them.

It aims to improve the scattered knowledge marketplace for family organisations, where networks and relationships play an outsize role in sharing information. This creates roadblocks and inefficiencies for those wishing to access peer-reviewed information about best practices and emerging phenomena relevant to them. 

Dr. Bridget Kustin, Senior Researach Fellow at Oxford Saïd and Director of Ownership Project 2.0: Private Capital Owners & Impact, said:

‘We are at a pivotal moment where the actions of family offices, holding companies, foundations, and businesses can significantly contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ownership Project 2.0 is the ‘critical friend’ to these organisations: we follow the data where it takes us and are committed to supporting families and their advisers with the tools and knowledge to scale their impact.’

The first publication in this series, Succession beyond the family: The future of philanthropy, according to new MBA graduates, features essays from 2023 Oxford Saïd MBAs, Anna Aden, Abhinav Verma, and Shanzeh Mahmood, reflecting key viewpoints from the next generation of professionals working with family-led organisations.

The Ownership Project 2.0 invites academics and professionals to contribute to this new series and provide actionable insights for family owners and the professionals working with them, on topics ranging from impact measurement, to catalytic capital and blended finance, to the ways that families can leverage the social, financial, and cultural capital they possess.

Bridget added:

‘We believe that more and better, information is needed, and we encourage innovative or underexplored topics that can provide new perspectives to our audience.’

Details on how to submit can be found here. Submissions are subject to a peer review process; submission does not guarantee publication.

About Ownership Project 2.0: Private Capital Owners and Impact

Housed within the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, this global research project is driven by dual imperatives: First, conducting high calibre research into family offices and family holding companies, and into the investment activities of family businesses and family foundations, and publishing it in top academic journals. Second, moving the needle on practitioner behaviour, using our research to drive conversations and influence the strategy and goals of family-owned capital. Their driving research question is how large family-led organisations can scale their impact to address global challenges.