Current news

• Banca March, the Balearic Islands Association of Family Businesses, the Family Business Institute and the University of the Balearic Islands have renewed the cooperation agreement under which the Chair was created in 2004.
• Key features of the brand new Banca March Chair of Family Business include the creation of a Family Business Observatory, exhaustive half-yearly studies and working breakfasts with business leaders and academics.
• Banca March CEO José Luis Acea said: "The fact that the Banca March Chair of Family Business has now existed for twenty years is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to training and to business-owning families and family businesses in the Balearic Islands."

The new features of the renewed Banca March Chair of Family Business include the creation of a Family Business Observatory that will analyse the key factors affecting family businesses in different contexts and at the global, national and regional levels, with regular publications of its findings, exhaustive six-monthly studies on key topics of interest to family businesses, and working breakfasts with business leaders and academics to discuss current issues of interest to the members of the ABEF and society as a whole.

Banca March CEO José Luis Acea said: "The fact that the Banca March Chair of Family Business has now existed for twenty years is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to training and to business-owning families and family businesses in the Balearic Islands." It is well-known that Banca March is a family business, the only Spanish bank which has been wholly family owned since its inception. We started out in Mallorca in 1926, so we are fast approaching our 100-year anniversary. Since then, in keeping with our philosophy of joint growth, we have positioned ourselves as the Spanish benchmark in Private Banking, Wealth Management and corporate advisory, with a core focus on family businesses and family business owners, delivering the expert, specialist advice that is a hallmark of Banca March's value proposition."

Inés Rotger, President of the Balearic Islands Association of Family Businesses, said: "I am honoured to begin my term with the renewal of the Chair, and even more so on such an important date as important as the twentieth anniversary. We are deeply grateful to Banca March for its unwavering commitment to the ABEF, creating this Chair that has helped us to study and rigorously analyse family businesses on the Islands and to create a clearer picture of the socio-economic ecosystem of our community, in which 9 out of 10 companies are family-owned."

Esteban Sastre, Director of Economy and Business at the Family Business Institute, said: "This agreement is a joint commitment by the University of the Balearic Islands, the Balearic Islands Association of Family Businesses, Banca March and the Institute of Family Business to improve their capabilities in research, dissemination and knowledge transfer around family businesses, and to better understand the positive impact of these businesses in the region.  Everywhere you look, in every economic sector, there are family businesses that shape the regions where they operate and are committed to their local environment. This Chair must help to build a better understanding of the conducts that set these businesses apart, as well as the difficulties they encounter in succession planning, among other issues. The renewal of this agreement is excellent news and will help to bring the academic and business worlds a little closer together. At a time when talent is becoming increasingly important, this type of agreement is a clear commitment to working together to seek solutions to shared challenges."

Jaume Carot, Rector of the University of the Balearic Islands: "It is a real honour for the University of the Balearic Islands to participate in the renewal of this Chair, which for two decades has been a benchmark in the study and analysis of family businesses in the Balearic Islands. I am deeply grateful to Banca March for its constant commitment to education and research, which are key factors in strengthening connections between the university and the business landscape. The Banca March Chair of Family Business not only promotes knowledge and understanding of family businesses, which are essential for our community, but also strengthens cooperation between the academic and business worlds, allowing them to tackle the challenges of the future together. Our congratulations to Professor Alfredo Marín on his appointment as the new Director and we are confident that, under his leadership, this Chair will continue to be a key driver of innovation and academic excellence."

A 20-year track record

The Banca March Chair of Family Business (CBMEF) is a joint initiative by Banca March, the Family Business Institute, the Balearic Islands Association for Family Business and the University of the Balearic Islands. Since its creation in 2004, the CBMEF has rolled out activities in three broad areas: university education, research into family businesses and the connection between the family business landscape and the university.

In the field of research, key projects have focused on analysing the importance of family businesses in the regional environment, human resources management at family businesses, the proportion of family directors on the boards of family businesses, financial constraints on access by family businesses to financing during the financial crisis and a study on business groups, to name just a few.

As for its activities in forging ties between the family business landscape and the academic world, in addition to the Director's participation in academic, professional and business conferences and events, the Conference of the Banca March Chair of Family Business is also a key initiative. This annual conference has allowed students and the general public to gain a first-hand insight into the business experience of leading Spanish family businesses, including González Byass, Puig, Catalana Occidente, Grupo Codorniu, La Farga, Grupo Cosentino, Reig Jofre, Grupo Antolin, Europastry, Grupo Jorge, Grupo Sampol, Carlos Pons Brand and Agromart.