Fabian Bernhard & Asher Noor on the board of directors of FFI

The EDHEC Family Business Center is pleased to announce the election on the Board of Directors of FFI of Professor Fabian Bernhard, associate professor of family business and member of the EDHEC Family Business Center, and Asher Noor, EDHEC Family Business GEMBA Alumni.

The Family Firm Institute (FFI) is the leading association worldwide for family enterprise professionals. For over a quarter century, FFI has been engaged in educating, connecting, and inspiring professionals who serve family enterprises.

Professor Bernhard specializes in the emotional dynamics in family businesses, the preparation of next generational leaders, and the psychological attachment to the family business. His research has been published in various academic and practitioner outlets. He is the recipient of several honors and awards for his work, including the 2011 FFI Best Doctoral Dissertation Honorable Mention for "Psychological Ownership in Family Businesses," which was later published in a book form. Since 2014, he has been serving on the editorial review board of the Family Business Review (FBR). Equipped with insights from his own family’s business, Fabian worked previously for several years in an international consultancy company in NYC.

As a member of the FFI Board, Professor Bernhard suggests the following statement of purpose:

"From my experiences as a family business member, consultant, and scholar I have learned that it is the people behind the family enterprises that make the difference. I am convinced that by better understanding the underlying emotional dynamics of wishes, desires, conflicts and attachments we can help building long-lasting multigenerational families in business. My hope is to support FFI in its efforts to provide meaningful research, education, and service to the field. By bringing in my ideas and experiences from working with the next generation of family business leaders, I truly believe we can make an impact together."

Asher Noor, CFBA, is the CIO and Group CFO for AlTouq Group, a sophisticated Saudi family office, and a sought after public speaker. Asher is based in Riyadh and has worked for PwC and Banque Saudi Fransi in the past. His last position was CFO for Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia. Asher is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and a Trusts and Estates Practitioner (TEP). He is the recipient of the 2014 Middle East CFO of the year award. Asher is an elected member of STEP’s business families’ global steering committee and an elected governor on the alumni board of EDHEC Business School in France. For FFI, Asher serves on the editorial board of The Practitioner, is a member of the planning committee for the 2017 Chicago conference, and a faculty member for the GEN 501 course.

Asher Noor will support FFI as board member, honoring his engagement:

"I aim to bring about my energy and obsession to deliver and further the cause, brand and outreach of FFI. If elected, I will strive to make FFI undeniably the global and most relevant network of family business practitioners and thought-leaders. I will do this by amplifying public awareness about FFI and its GEN programs, making the body of research that FFI owns more easily accessible, as well as ensuring that we all profitably learn and grow together through collaborations. In addition, my 15+ years of Middle Eastern work experience, should benefit us all. I promise to remain just one email or phone call away."

The EDHEC Family Business Centre congratulates them and wishes them the best of luck in their new role as members of the Board of Directors of FFI.