Inno­va­tion based on tradition

Do you believe that your back­ground as a member of the Prin­cely House means you are obli­ged to work harder on crea­ting a future worth living in?

I enjoy being commit­ted to Liech­ten­stein because I care about the coun­try and its citi­zens and because I like being entre­pre­neu­rial and inno­va­tive. So my moti­va­tion to work for a Liech­ten­stein worth living in does not come from a sense of obli­ga­tion or from my affi­lia­tion to the Prin­cely House, but out of joy and convic­tion in the cause itself.

You’re chair of the board of trus­tees of Lebens­wer­tes Liech­ten­stein, a foun­da­tion you initia­ted. How did this commit­ment come about? And why is the foun­da­tion needed?

Every coun­try and every society chan­ges over time – and in Liech­ten­stein, too, we have to ensure that the coun­try and its society deve­lop in a posi­tive direc­tion. Although our poli­ti­cal proces­ses work much better than those in other count­ries and we alre­ady have lots of good orga­ni­sa­ti­ons here, I believe that it made sense to set up a foun­da­tion that, on the one hand, is very open about the ques­tion of how to make the coun­try an even better place to live and, on the other hand, has the finan­cial and entre­pre­neu­rial scope to spark and support change. 

Sustaina­bi­lity is very important to your family. What does the term mean to you?

For me, sustaina­bi­lity is about doing things so that they work well in the long term, without limi­ting the possi­bi­li­ties open to future generations. 

The Prin­cely House is the owner of LGT. You’re its CEO. How do tradi­tion and family values – such as sustaina­bi­lity – influence the bank?

The family has a long and successful history in many respects. In this vein, it is only natu­ral that we try to preserve some of the family’s tradi­ti­ons and values and to trans­late them into the culture of family busi­nesses. These are a few values that I also try to embed within LGT: a holi­stic and long-term approach; respect, empa­thy, grati­tude and appre­cia­tion of colle­agues, espe­ci­ally those who are commit­ted to the bigger picture. The desire to keep deve­lo­ping and impro­ving on the basis of inter­nal and exter­nal oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges; the courage and entre­pre­neu­rial curio­sity to break new ground – not half-hear­tedly, but with clout; a certain tough­ness and disci­pline towards ones­elf and others so you can over­come the hard­ships that often stand in the way of progress; the ability to observe and listen, to enjoy and to laugh. 

What are you doing to elimi­nate green­wa­shing in your activities?

Preser­ving the envi­ron­ment is a cause very close to my heart; I am watching climate change, the decline in biodi­ver­sity and the rapid increase in envi­ron­men­tal pollu­tion in many areas with great concern. I try to address these major chal­lenges through a variety of diffe­rent measu­res. Commu­ni­ca­ting and promo­ting this commit­ment to the envi­ron­ment clearly and cleverly makes sense; misre­pre­sen­ting it simply does not help. From my perspec­tive, howe­ver, the lack of commit­ment to the envi­ron­ment is a much bigger problem than greenwashing. 

Do tradi­tion and inno­va­tion work well together?

Tradi­tion and inno­va­tion are not always easy bedfel­lows, but compa­nies should try to estab­lish a tradi­tion of foste­ring innovation. 

In 2007, you foun­ded LGT Venture Phil­an­thropy. What is the situa­tion with this initia­tive today?

LGT Venture Phil­an­thropy has done very well: most of the orga­ni­sa­ti­ons we support have gene­ra­ted a great deal of added value and the orga­ni­sa­tion itself has inspi­red lots of new initia­ti­ves. We are now trying to promote our diffe­rent orga­ni­sa­ti­ons even more actively so that we can raise more money and gene­rate an even grea­ter impact. 

Does your expe­ri­ence with venture phil­an­thropy influence the acti­vi­ties of the bank as a whole?

Perso­nally, I’ve learnt a lot about the world during my time at LGT Venture Phil­an­thropy, which helps me with all my commit­ments. Employees know that ten percent of LGT’s divi­dends are used for phil­an­thro­pic purpo­ses. And while employees don’t gene­rally get invol­ved in LGT Venture Phil­an­thropy them­sel­ves, they do contri­bute to its  phil­an­thro­pic enga­ge­ment, as it is finan­ced by LGT’s divi­dend, which is achie­ved through the successful coope­ra­tion of ever­yone at LGT.

The holi­stic approach will conti­nue to grow in importance.

S.D. Prince Max of and to Liechtenstein

What role do impact inves­t­ing and sustainable finan­cial products play for the future of the finan­cial centre?

Impact inves­t­ing looks at compa­nies’ value crea­tion in a more holi­stic way – and this holi­stic approach is a more modern stra­tegy, one that will conti­nue to grow in importance, even if there is resis­tance to it. The finan­cial centre should ther­e­fore support holi­stic, more sustainable invest­ment approa­ches. Conduc­ting one-sided valua­tions compa­nies based on their finan­cial success without adequa­tely evalua­ting their envi­ron­men­tal and social impact has led to massi­vely unde­si­ra­ble deve­lo­p­ments, like climate change. 

To what extent is the distinc­tion between phil­an­thro­pic funding and other forms of funding beco­ming blurred?

I welcome a flexi­ble approach, because the aim is to promote the right deve­lo­p­ments and orga­ni­sa­ti­ons in a capi­tal-effi­ci­ent and entre­pre­neu­rial way: phil­an­thro­pic orga­ni­sa­ti­ons are not always the best choice. Depen­ding on the area and approach, diffe­rent forms of orga­ni­sa­tion and finan­cing may be a more appro­priate way to achieve the desi­red objec­ti­ves in a capi­tal-effi­ci­ent manner. I have no problem with flexi­bi­lity and regu­la­tion in this respect. 

Is impact inves­t­ing an isola­ted issue? Or is impact an issue in modern-day inves­t­ing in general?

Incre­asing numbers of inves­tors are convin­ced that compa­nies should not only be judged in terms of their finan­cial success, but that the impact of a company should be asses­sed more holi­sti­cally. I firmly believe that this holi­stic approach to company valua­tion will conti­nue to gain in importance, not least because our envi­ron­men­tal and social problems conti­nue to increase shar­ply. Of course, not every company will welcome such chan­ges to their valua­tion. In the long term, though, they will lead to better and more sustainable value creation. 

To what extent should foun­da­ti­ons apply their objec­ti­ves to their invest­ment decisions?

In my eyes, foun­da­ti­ons should be consis­tent and their purpose should be adhe­red to at all times – and that goes for invest­ment decis­i­ons, too. Speci­fi­cally, I think it’s wrong for a foun­da­tion to work to combat climate change, for exam­ple, while also inves­t­ing in coal companies.

A foun­da­ti­on’s purpose should be adhe­red to at all times – and that goes for invest­ment decis­i­ons, too.

S.D. Prince Max of and to Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein’s size means that nothing is far away here. How does the loca­tion use this to its advantage?

The shorter distances faci­li­tate coor­di­na­tion and increase effi­ci­ency, while the country’s small size also increa­ses trans­pa­rency and leads to better decis­i­ons. These bene­fits play out at every level and for every stake­hol­der: they are a key factor in the success of small states. 

Do you see any risks asso­cia­ted with how closely networked the stake­hol­ders are? 

Yes – close networ­king can have a limi­ting effect in every respect. It is ther­e­fore important that we have a suffi­ci­ently broad network and that we design networks to be dyna­mic and open.

Are there any perso­nal topics or projects that are parti­cu­larly important to you in your phil­an­thro­pic work?

I love nature, I love free­dom and I enjoy getting invol­ved in areas that seem important to me. I also like expe­ri­en­cing the beau­tiful things in this world, espe­ci­ally along­side those that I care about. 

What do you think are philanthropy’s biggest levers to trig­ger social change?

If we want to find the best levers that phil­an­thropy could pull to bring about social change, we need to be clear about the direc­tion of social change that we are aiming for. I’d like our society to become more connec­ted to nature again, and for success to not be so closely linked to finan­cial and indi­vi­dual success, but for appre­cia­tion to be spread more widely, for commit­ment and progress in society, poli­tics, educa­tion, sport, culture, science, archi­tec­ture, cuisine, nature, and so on. 

How can Liech­ten­stein make the most impact in the non-profit sector?

With a broad-based, diver­si­fied, intel­li­gent and well-commu­ni­ca­ted commit­ment that has a strong impact in an array of areas both at home and abroad. 

What do you want for the next gene­ra­tion in Liech­ten­stein – both econo­mic­ally and socially?

Joie de vivre, and for the strong, varied commit­ment to continue.