The Strategy Group-México
While the scope of The Strategy Group is truly global, with engagements and business experience in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, and Europe, Latin America is an important area of sub-specialty. Alan Heath has been working in México since the 1980s and throughout Central and South America for more than a decade. Our special interest in having this sub-specialty is based on a number of factors, among which are, the rising importance of the Latin American economy in the world; the potential for economic growth and wealth creation in the region; the close link of many of the countries with the US, including personal connections of their people through joint citizenship, asset ownership and education; the prevalence and importance of family businesses; and the openness to and need for advanced succession and transition planning.
The Strategy Group has a deep understanding of and respect for Latin culture, particularly as it relates to the importance (and complications) of inheritance, both familial and monetary. We are well versed in dealing with language differences and cultural nuances, and have a passion for working with families in this part of the world.
The Strategy Group is well positioned to assist families throughout México, Central and South America. Certain of us have proficiency in the written and spoken Spanish and Portuguese languages and we have several long-standing relationships with partner organizations and outside consultants with additional expertise relevant to this area of the world.
We are uniquely positioned among firms in our field since we have a separate company in México that focuses primarily on Mexican assignments and that also assists with our work throughout South and Central America and, as needed, in other parts of the world. It is owned and managed by individuals with a long history and proven business track records in the Mexican and Latin American market. The principals and founders of our Mexican organization are:
Alan F. Heath
Founder, President and Managing Director
Alan is the Founder and Managing Director of The Strategy Group, Inc. He is a founder and principal of STG Family Transition Group, S.C. a Mexican firm specializing in family business and family office advisory. Alan has been advising families in business, including their CEOs and top management teams, for nearly thirty years as both a consultant and an active executive. He consults internationally to family businesses and family offices on issues of governance, organizational development, succession, exit strategies, internal capital markets and trust practices. He is also for over 10 years been a family facilitator and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program, Families in Business: From Generation to Generation, which examines pivotal issues facing family businesses. Before committing himself to the Strategy Group, he was practice leader for the Owner Managed Business Institute in Mexico, Central America and the Southern Cone of South America. From time to time he also serves as an Expert Affiliate with Cambridge Advisors to Family Enterprise where for many years he served as Managing Director and Partner
While he now works almost exclusively as an outside advisor to family businesses, Alan has years of executive suite experience in a number of industries, including as president of a multinational manufacturing company and as vice president of marketing for an $8.8B food-packaging corporation. Additionally, he has served as a director of a number of privately held family companies. Alan has frequently acted as an interim officer in companies with which he has consulted, holding positions such as COO, senior managing director, and vice president. Building on a career in global business. He has more than two decades of experience serving as an outside, independent, personal, lead trustee for several large multiple-family trusts. In this fiduciary role, he advises beneficiaries on broad wealth management issues and counsels the next generation regarding wealth responsibility and wealth management. He also is a member of the technical committee for a Mexican family trust and is a member of the investment committee of a Swiss family trust.
Mr. Heath received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from Kalamazoo College and his Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law. He did post-graduate work in finance at Western Michigan University and has completed the Corporate Boards course at Harvard Business School. He is a certificate holder in family business advising from the Family Firm Institute. Alan also serves on the Alumni Board of the University of Colorado School of Law in his third term, is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing; an organization dedicated to collecting, sharing and developing ideas that promote the prospering of families and is a member of the Purposeful Planning Collaboration. He is a frequent speaker on family business, family office and private trust company issues issues for organizations such as HSM, the Institute for Private Investors, Family Office Exchange, and at private family business events sponsored by global wealth management organizations, international universities, and others. He is also Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Wind River Trust Company, a regulated private family trust company, Chairman of the Board of Drumore LLC, a family office and an owner/principal of Evergreen Family Office Solutions, LLC. He is a member of the board of directors of the Boulder Colorado Community Hospital Foundation and serves on its Finance Committee. Alan has a working knowledge of Spanish.
Roman Edelmann
Roman is a founder and principal of STG Family Transition Group, S.C. a Mexican firm specializing in family business and family office advisory. Roman has more than 30 years of experience in international finance, having worked for the two most important Swiss banking groups. In this capacity he has advised multinational companies and family businesses, as well as their owners, on financial and strategic matters. After a successful career in Switzerland Roman was called to participate in UBS’s international expansion as part of its organization in Paris. Following completion he relocated to New York where he was given responsibility for the Mercosur region and transferring operations from Switzerland to the US. His main task consisted of developing business and relationships with the bank’s clients including multinational companies, the most important family business clients, financial institutions and governments. After the merger between UBS and SBC he headed the team in charge of managing and streamlining the bank’s USD$ 10 billion+ Latin American loan portfolio. Despite multiple emerging market crises Roman and his team reduced the bank’s exposure without any major loss. He then moved on to coordinate UBS’s high-yield business in Latin America.
Subsequently, Roman was a Co-Founder and Managing Director in a Madrid Corporate Finance Boutique. This entity provided advice to the owners of small and middle-sized companies, thus providing Roman in-depth exposure to the complexity of family businesses. At the same time he advised one of Switzerland’s most important family offices (Fortune 500) in the restructuring and sale of their banking operations in Central America.
Roman’s close family links with Mexico ultimately took him to Mexico-City in 2005. There he worked for both Credit Suisse and UBS, heading the latter’s Representative Office focusing on Wealth-Management services for ultra-high-net-worth clients. During this period he gained further knowledge about the pivotal issues facing family businesses in México and around the world.
Roman holds a Federal Advanced Banking Diploma and a Degree from the Swiss Finance Institute and an Executive MBA from the Instituto de Empresa (IE), Madrid where he is now a guest lecturer. He is fluent in Spanish, English, French and German. He lives in México City.
