Family Office Succession Planning Drives Partners Group Founder Split

Urs Wietlisbach, one of the billionaire founders of Swiss private-equity firm Partners Group, is establishing an independent investment unit within PG3 AG, the family office that has managed the wealth of the firm’s three founders since 2013.

The family office succession planning move is seen as an early step in preparing for future wealth transition and governance changes.

Bloomberg reported that the new unit will be led by Jascha Forster, currently chief investment officer of Thomas Schmidheiny’s family office, Spectrum Value Management.

The family office succession planning initiative marks a departure from PG3’s shared structure with co-founders Alfred Gantner and Marcel Erni.

The development comes during a challenging period for Partners Group, which has faced fund withdrawals, a short-seller report and a roughly 30% decline in its share price this year.

The restructuring highlights how even some of Europe’s wealthiest entrepreneurial families are increasingly focusing on long-term succession and governance arrangements.