Pictet is an institution that well understands the importance of families retaining wealth - and the need to put paid to the Chinese saying that wealth does not pass three generations. Co-founded by the Pictet family in 1805, the bank is now in the hands of the eighth generation of family partners. Among the current eight partners, two are family members - Nicolas Pictet and Marc Pictet.

Headquartered in Geneva, the Pictet group has more than 3,600 staff and manages more than US$430 billion for clients. The minimum asset requirement for its private banking clients in Asia is US$3 million. It operates 26 offices in 17 countries in Europe and Asia.

Haberer has been in the banking industry for more than 30 years. The Frenchman, formerly with BNP Paribas, had worked in a number of departments at the bank's Paris headquarters, in addition to postings to Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. He joined Pictet in 2011 to take up his current role.

In his office at Chater House in Central, Haberer tells the how he guides his bankers to help family clients pass on their wealth to the next generations.

It is the tradition of our bank that we aim to act as the private bankers to wealthy families as we focus on a long-term banking relationship.

Many entrepreneurs believe their children will follow in their footsteps. But in fact, many children do not have the same ideas as their parents, especially when their parents pass away.

Even if you have a banking relationship with the founders, the son or daughter may not like to continue to keep their father's bankers. Nor would they keep their father's style of managing the business or their wealth. Many of those in the second or third generation sell the businesses once they inherit them.

It is very hard work but it is important that we help the family establish family rules. The first-generation founder usually is a smart person but they might not be good at having dialogue with their children. The children try to be as good as their father but then they may end up running the business in their own way.

We have family governance professionals to help the family set up their own rules. It is important the rules must be set and agreed by the whole family, including the children. It would not work if the rules were set between the banker and the founder of the business without involving the second or third generations.

That is quite simple. The only family rule that could be successful would be one that is agreed and followed by all members. All principles must be set out clearly, such as whether the eldest son would succeed to manage the business or whether the rules would let all children run the family business.

Some Western families have too many members, so they agree that no one from the family should run the business. They remain as shareholders but hire professionals to run the company. The family also needs to decide if the in-laws can join the management of the business.

It is not a one-size-fits-all situation and every family can have its own rules. But the key issue is to have all members agree to follow the family rules, or they need to be out.

It happens in many countries, not just Asia. In many Western families, the founders usually set up the business and they are very proud and successful. The second generation wants to repeat the success of the founders. They have their own ideas but at least they would respect their parents. Some third generations only want to enjoy their lives.

Communication is very important. I usually would advise my clients to have at least one meal every week with the whole family to discuss how to manage their business and wealth.

I want bankers with more than 15 years of experience to work for me as they have to influence our clients to accept our advice. I do not recruit fresh graduates as they are too young to serve family clients.

Externally, the regulatory environment is getting tougher. There is an increasing number of new rules covering money laundering, personal privacy and tax. The regulators tolerate zero mistakes from banks, which is why we have to keep our compliance department big.

Internally, the Hong Kong staff are very demanding of their boss as they want to make the back office work 24 hours a day! If there are any technical problems in the office, they demand that the boss fix the problem immediately to allow them to work smoothly. If there are new regulations, they want the boss to provide new procedures. They demand that the boss make sure there is no unclear situation in the office.

We are always expected to reply to staff requests immediately. If you do not do so, you could no longer be the boss in Hong Kong and might be made redundant by your staff!

Many French people like to come here as the European economy is not good. Mainland China and Hong Kong have better economic prospects. In addition, Hong Kong is a convenient city and the least polluted city in China. There is pollution here but it is much better than in Beijing and Shanghai.

I am the chairman of the Association Ricci, which published the , a 10,000-page Chinese-French dictionary and Chinese lexicon in seven volumes. Named after Matteo Ricci, the founding missionary of the Jesuit priests in China, the dictionary contains more than 300,000 entries with detailed explanations of the usage and history of the words that in many cases date back 3,000 years. I also play polo.