generic speaker image
Grant Walsh - KPMG. ottawa, ON, CA

Grant Walsh

Director, KPMG Enterprise: Centre for Family Business | KPMG

ottawa, ON, CANADA

An international expert on family business succession planning. A pioneer in this field, Grant never fails to captivate his audience.

Social

Biography

Grant Walsh is the founder and Director of the KPMG Enterprise: Centre for Family Business. For the past 15 years he has dedicated his professional services solely to assisting family businesses. Grant has given presentations on various topics related to Family Business across Canada, New Zealand, South America and throughout the Caribbean and West Indies.

Grant’s unique approache to managing the all important family component has resulted in numerous family businesses taking concrete actions to deal with their succession challenges. Grant has also facilitated the establishment of family business academic programs within a number of Universities.

A selection of specific areas of experience includes: assessing the “readiness” of family businesses for the transition/succession process; helping families prepare for and navigate through the transition/succession process; providing options for both management and ownership succession within family businesses; facilitating family meetings (active family members) and Family Councils (broader family); developing family business “Codes of Conduct” or “Family Rules” to help prevent potential conflict among family members; assisting in the development of effective shareholder agreements that meet the needs of both the family business and the family (i.e., decision making, exit strategies, distribution policies, executive compensation); coaching individual family members as the family business evolves; analyzing current trends in family business.

Industry Expertise (10)

Food Distribution

Retail

Automotive

Real Estate Dev/Ops

Construction - Commercial

Manufacturing

Agriculture and Farming

Import and Export

Funeral Services

Wholesale

Areas of Expertise (9)

Developing Family Business Rules

How to Facilitate Family Business and Council Meetings

Family Business Strategies

How to Ensure A Successful Intergenerational Transition

Developing A Family Business Governance Structure Along With A Family Governance Structure

The Roles of A Family Business Practitioner

The Evolution of A Family Business

How to Manage Family

Grooming Family Business Successors

Accomplishments (2)

Director, KPMG Enterprise: Centre for Family Business (professional)

Assisted numerous family businesses to successfully transition from the founding generation to the 2nd generation and into the more complex and challenging 3rd generation while safeguarding family harmony.

Director, KPMG Enterprise: Centre for Family Business (professional)

Authored the following books: Family Business Succession: Managing the All Important Family Component and Managing the Multi-generational Family Farm. Co-authored The Family Business Book. Authored numerous articles published in local, national and international multi-media venues.

Education (2)

University of Ottawa: B. Com, Finance & Accounting 1976

University of Ottawa: Master in Health Administration 1993

Affiliations (2)

  • Family Firm Institute
  • CAFE (Canadian Association of Family Enterprise

Testimonials (1)

Mark Kippenberger, National Managing Partner, Business Advisory, KPMG, New Zealand | “Sustaining and growing New Zealand family business”, June 2010

We invited Grant to New Zealand to present at the inaugural Family Business Forum. The forum was a one-day conference hosted jointly by KPMG, the University of Auckland Business School, and the ANZ Bank. Approximately 100 people registered for the one-day event. There were four keynote speakers across the day and Grant Walsh was first speaker on the subject of “What makes family businesses grow and prosper: An international perspective”. Through his passion, skill and obvious experience gained over the last 15 years, Grant had the room engrossed. I believe that Grant was the most popular speaker as he brought both practitioner knowledge and solutions to the audience. He was exceptionally well received.

Event Appearances (6)

Family Business Matters

KPMG Family Business Seminar  St. Maarten, Caribbean

2012-02-28

The Business of Family Business

TEC (The Executive Committee) Ottawa Chapter  Ottawa, Canada

2011-11-23

Family Business Succession: Managing the All Important Family Component

KPMG Family Business Seminar   Bahamas, West Indies

2011-09-13

Family Business Succession: Managing the All Important Family Component

KPMG Family Business Symposiums   Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, Grenada (Caribbean and West Indies)

2011-07-20

Who Says the Family Business Won’t Make it to the Next Generation?

CAFE Victoria (Canadian Association for Family Enterprise)   Victoria, Canada

2011-05-31

A New Approach in Family Business Succession

2nd Annual Capital G Private Wealth Conference   Bermuda

2011-05-04

Style

Availability

  • Keynote
  • Moderator
  • Panelist
  • Workshop Leader
  • Author Appearance

Fees

500 to 1500 *Will consider certain engagements for no fee