Friends and colleagues from all over the world reunited in Seoul from 11 to 15 November 2024 for our annual Global Gathering. With an action-packed agenda, there was something for everyone at our flagship event. 

Audit, Tax and Corporate Finance

Day one saw the brightest minds from our Audit, Tax and Corporate Finance teams hosting service line-specific sessions.

Delegates attended a panel discussion about the PKF Audit Identity Project, a collaborative initiative driven by our member firms to enhance our audit services. With client experience at its heart, the project aims to showcase the strengths and global reach of our audit offering. This was a highly interactive session, where members shared their ideas to take the project forward.

Our Tax colleagues enjoyed a practical session led by PKF Smith Cooper’s Gavin West on Boosting Business Growth with VAT Strategy. Using a real-life case study, Gavin outlined how the firm adapted and expanded its services to address the broader advisory needs of a particular client. What’s more, he shared a business development tool created by PKF Smith Cooper which will be made available to all our member firms for promoting wrap-around services to clients. A fine example of collaboration in action!

Our global Corporate Finance team held an engaging workshop to focus on their future strategy. Team members presented updates, shared success stories and explored the technology trends shaping the future of corporate finance services.

Practice group meetings

Our gathering offered the perfect opportunity for some of our practice and focus groups to meet in person. Members of our China Desk, Private Capital Solutions, Sustainability and AI community groups met during the event to discuss strategic priorities and advance new service offerings.

Event highlights

One of the week’s most compelling sessions was our CSR-focussed presentation on Living Our Values. Antony Ranjan, Managing Partner at PKF Zambia, explored how our member firms are uniting to ‘be the change’, living our values to the fullest and working together to address the environmental and social needs of their communities.

Franck Glédel (PKF Arsilon), André Simmack (PKF Wulf Gruppe) and Raoul Kelly (PKF Durban) took to the stage to reflect on the humanitarian mission to Zambia this summer, where volunteers from their firms provided hands-on support to several charitable programmes. The resounding message was clear: through working collectively, we have a greater impact on the causes that are closest to our hearts. As announced at the end of the session, all fundraising from next year’s global events will be donated to Antony’s CSR projects in Zambia.

Another event highlight was Friday morning’s Leadership and Firm of the Future session, delivered by Julian Laski (PKF Argentina) and Cheryl Burke (PKF O’Connor Davies). Delegates were invited to consider the qualities of an effective leader, the impact of how we lead and the importance of fostering teamwork, developing empathy and encouraging open communication. Speakers outlined the merits of collaborative leadership, explaining the features of this leadership approach.

Belong together

Above all, our Global Gathering provided us with countless opportunities to network, collaborate and strengthen our relationships. We loved connecting with more than 200 members of our global community, including 89 individuals who were attending our Global Gathering for the first time.

Together we enjoyed 51 thought-provoking agenda sessions, five delightful dinners, four sightseeing tours, two PKF Fun Runs, one yoga class and infinite collaborative conversations.

The conference culminated with an unforgettable gala dinner at the spectacular Floating Island complex. Winners of our PKF Icon Awards were announced and we celebrated several member firms’ milestone anniversaries of joining our network. It was great to see everyone embracing the evening’s K-pop theme and celebrating in style.

Be the change

At PKF, our members are committed to bringing about positive change to our people and communities. Building on last year’s success, we’ve replaced delegate gift bags at our global events with donations to local charities.

The nominated charity for this year’s Global Gathering is the Autism Society of Korea (ASK), an organisation which empowers people with autism to live independently, provides family support and training, advocates for individuals and promotes understanding within the local community. We’re proud to have raised $8,500 for ASK, bringing the total amount donated through our regional events this year to $52,000. Thank you to our members for helping us make a difference.

Event partners

We were delighted to welcome Lucanet, DataSnipper and Bloomberg Tax as our event partners. Thank you for travelling out to join us and sharing insights with our members.

Thank you to our hosts

We're very grateful for the support of our host firm PKF Seo-hyun in putting this event together. Thank you for the warm welcome to the stunning city of Seoul.

Event feedback

Delegates have shared lots of glowing feedback with us both during and after the event.

Rekha Nambiar, partner in PKF O’Connor Davies’ Quality Management Group and member of the PKF Audit Identity Project team, said, ‘Thank you to the entire PKF Global team for an amazing experience filled with opportunities to learn, share, celebrate, reconnect with old friends and make new friends too. The Global Gathering allowed us to celebrate the wonderful people, talent and opportunities we have at PKF throughout the world and highlight our global values of being the change, belonging together and staying human. The event also gave us the chance to collectively visualise the amazing and bright future ahead.’

Theo Vermaak, PKF Global’s CEO, said, ‘As always, it was wonderful to unite our members and engage in productive conversations, celebrating our successes and addressing challenges together. I was thrilled to see so many new faces at the event, experiencing our Global Gathering for the first time and contributing to driving our network forward. We come away from the event with a clear vision about what we want to achieve and how we’ll go about it.’

Thank you to everyone who attended our 2024 event and made it a fantastic success. We look forward to announcing further details soon about next year’s Global Gathering in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from 28 to 31 October 2025.

Would you and your firm like to access the support, expertise and resources of the PKF Global network? Find out more about the benefits of becoming a PKF Global member firm here.