Speakers and Chairs Bios

Philip Aminoff, MSc (Econ), MBA (INSEAD), is a Finnish entrepreneur. He represents the fourth owner generation in his family’s businesses, the so-called Cousin Companies.
 
Philip is Chairman of Helectron Oy Ab (audio-visual solutions) and Helvar Merca Oy Ab (lighting electronics and factory automation), Deputy Chairman of Veho Group Oy Ab (automotive trade), and a Member of the Board of LocalTapiola General Mutual Insurance Company. He is also Chairman of the Directors’ Institute of Finland, Vice Chairman of the German-Finnish Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Ambassadors Circle of Family Business Network International. From 2008 to 2012 Philip was President of European Family Businesses (EFB), the umbrella organization for national family firms’ associations in Europe.
 
The Cousin Companies have their roots in Mercantile, a trading house founded in Tampere, Finland, in 1901. They are involved in four types of businesses: technical trade (automotive, machine tools and robotics), technology (factory automation, lighting control and audio-visual solutions), real estate, and asset management. In 2015 the companies generated sales of 1,4 bn €, with 3,400 employees in 16 countries.
 
The Aminoff family manages its responsibility as ultimate owner through careful design of the boards of its companies and through continuous dialogue to ensure alignment in the aspirations of the owners, the boards and the executive teams of the individual companies. Typically, the majority of board members are non-family, with no family members employed in line management.