About us – Senior Advisors

Our Senior Advisors complement and support our consulting team with their extensive experience and network in matters of leadership and governance advice. They also have special sector expertise.

Members

Germany

Andreas Gräf

Andreas Gräf was born in Switzerland and raised in Germany. After a commercial apprenticeship to “Wirtschafts-Assistant” at Henkel KGaA he received his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Cologne. Andreas started his professional career in Market Research and Marketing at Henkel KGaA and later worked for several years in Marketing and Sales roles for the US-based family business Mars Inc. He was member of the Management Team in Germany, responsible for Marketing and POS Marketing, and additionally for the management of several European brands.

Afterward, Andreas Gräf joined the global management consultancy Egon Zehnder, where – over 25 years – he focused on clients in the Consumer Goods and Retail sector. As a Partner, he led the firm’s Dusseldorf office for several years, managed the Consumer and Retail Practice in Germany, and was member of several international practice groups. His special focus was on advising Family Businesses and owners at the interface of management and ownership. He worked on many leadership and succession challenges in management and boards, management appraisals, potential analysis, and the development of executives and organisations. As an advisor, he also drew upon his training as a Systemic Coach.

Today, Andreas is working as an independent Consultant, Coach and Mentor.

Germany

Dr. Alexander Koeberle-Schmid

Alexander Koeberle-Schmid was born in Germany on Lake Constance and grew up as part of an entrepreneurial family. He studied at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and earned his PhD on the topic of “Family Business Governance.” His areas of expertise are ownership strategy, succession, advisory boards, family governance, and conflict management. He has already supported more than 140 entrepreneurial families in these areas.

His work is based on the premise that conflict in family businesses is the norm. His goal is therefore to promote understanding among the parties involved, in order to support them in finding common solutions to conflicts – or to develop strategies and structures to prevent conflict from arising in the first place. Therefore, the focus of his work is the conscientious guidance of families in developing solutions that all parties can agree on, so that they can orient themselves in the same direction and find harmony. Alexander Koeberle-Schmid acts from personal experience and incorporates it into every case individually. This helps him to develop sustainable strategies with the families and to help them avoid future conflicts.

Since 2005, he has advised family businesses and entrepreneurial families as an ownership strategy consultant, mediator (BM ©), and family business coach (ICF), with tenures at KPMG and PwC as well as INTES Academy for Family Businesses, with which he continues to collaborate today. He is the author of eight books and numerous studies on the topics of succession, leadership, and conflict resolution.

Singapore

Davy Lau

Davy Lau was born and raised in Hong Kong. He then lived and worked for 16 years in Japan and 2 years in Australia before settling down in Singapore. He has a bachelor’s degree from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and a Master of Economics from Hitotsubashi University in Japan.

Davy has close to 30 years of successful track record running businesses in Asia Pacific, covering markets in China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. He has held various positions including the VP of Information Business at Citicorp, GM Far East at GTECH Corporation, and Global Partner/Singapore and MD at Egon Zehnder. While at Egon Zehnder, Davy recruited hundreds of CEOs and executives for multinational and Asian corporations, for some of them he also led management appraisals and board consulting projects.

Since 2011, Davy has served on the Boards of companies listed on NASDAQ, HKEX and SGX in sectors such as IT solutions & services, real estate investment and consumer goods & retail, as well as charities and education institutions such as Make-A-Wish Foundation Singapore and United World College of Southeast Asia. His Board responsibilities have been in chairing their nominating & remuneration committees and/or as their lead independent directors. He has also advised the business owners or majority shareholders of these companies in building leadership bench strength, succession planning as well as talent management and leadership development.

Germany

Maike Dörrenberg

Maike Dörenberg was born and raised in Germany and has lived and worked extensively in Asia, notably in Singapore, providing her with a unique cross-cultural perspective in her advisory work. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from the IBS – International Business School and an Executive Master in Organisational Psychology (Executive Master in Change) from INSEAD, Singapore. Her master’s thesis explored gender dynamics in succession processes, drawing insights from interviews with over 50 managing partners of family businesses.

With over two decades of experience working closely with entrepreneurial families, Maike is an accomplished expert in managing succession, governance, and conflict resolution in family-owned enterprises. Her advisory practice centers around helping families navigate complex emotional and strategic transitions, ensuring that both active and passive shareholders understand and embrace their roles. Maike leverages her training as a Certified Coach in Communication and Conflict Resolution from the Schulz von Thun Institute to address and resolve conflicts effectively, guiding family businesses towards harmonious and sustainable solutions. Maike also brings direct entrepreneurial experience through her role as Managing Director at OWL Holding GmbH & Co. KG, where she supported the founder in building a vibrant startup ecosystem and overseeing diverse investment activities. Additionally, her own international family experience — including managing family offices, raising her three children across Germany and Singapore, and actively engaging in multicultural environments — enriches her advisory work with deep personal understanding and empathy.

Her holistic approach to family business dynamics, combining organisational psychology, effective governance practices, and practical entrepreneurial insights, makes her an invaluable partner to family-owned businesses seeking clarity, stability, and future-oriented leadership solutions.

Germany

Klaus Hofmann

Klaus Hofmann was born and raised near Munich. He holds degrees in National Economy and Business Administration from Ludwig Maximilian University, where he began his academic career as Assistant Professor at the Institute for Human Resources Management and Organisational Development. As part of an international research project on cross-cultural leadership, he spent two years in Texas as an exchange professor, collaborating with Henley Management College (UK) and the University of Houston.

He later joined what is today the Airbus Group, where he held senior HR leadership roles for over two decades across the aviation, defense, and space sectors. Based in Paris for ten years, he served as CHRO and Board Member of Astrium N.V., the Group’s space division, and was also a member of the Board of Daimler Aerospace Holding. During this time, he led the development of international HR governance frameworks, represented the Group in national employer associations, and focused on leadership capability and organisational effectiveness in highly regulated, cross-border environments. In 2011, Klaus moved into the family business sphere as Executive Vice President Global Human Resources at Wacker Chemie AG. There, he was responsible for groupwide HR and talent strategies and played a central role in the separation and stock market listing of the semiconductor company Siltronic AG. His remit also included developing modern collective bargaining schemes and shaping the future of vocational and professional training as a Board member of the German Chemical Industry Employers’ Association. In 2015, Klaus returned to the space industry, joining the family-owned OHB SE as CHRO and Board Member. Tasked with building the first groupwide HR organisation in the company’s history, he aligned HR infrastructure with OHB’s dynamic growth strategy. This included developing top management structures, strengthening succession pipelines, and driving professionalisation of leadership and talent development across the group.

Today, Klaus advises mid-sized and family-owned companies on HR transformation, executive qualification, succession, and the design of modern people and governance systems. He also serves as a member of consultative boards in both the private and public sector, bringing decades of international leadership experience to strategic and operational questions at the intersection of people, organisation, and growth.

About us – Senior Advisors

Members

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About us – Senior Advisors

Members

Andreas Gräf

Dr. Alexander Koeberle-Schmid

Davy Lau

Maike Dörrenberg

Klaus Hofmann

We are Here for You

Request advice

Email us

Our Offices

Thought Leader­ship by AvS Advisors

Thought Leader­ship by AvS Advisors

Thought Leadership by AvS Advisors

Thought Leadership by AvS Advisors