Livingstone’s Global Retreat 2025 in Milan

Each year, Livingstonians around the world look forward to one of our most cherished traditions: the Annual Global Retreat. After the gatherings in Stockholm and Amsterdam, this year we came together in Milan for an event organized by the Italian team, which joined us in June 2024.

More than 120 colleagues converged on Italy’s business capital for three days filled with connection, collaboration, and celebration.

 The retreat began on Thursday with meetings with a selected group of primary financial investors. This was an opportunity to discuss potential future collaborations and highlight Livingstone’s international presence in the Milan market. Later, we all gathered at Arca Milano for an after-work style event with food, music, and games such as table soccer, darts, and a tin can toss competition.

Friday brought the perfect blend of business and inspiration: colleagues joined sector panels that fostered cross-office collaboration and highlighted niche expertise, strengthening our ability to support clients through specialized international teams. At the same time, topic-specific workshops—from marketing to AI to Next-Gen—created opportunities to spark new ideas and teamwork.

Our plenary conference, led by Ralph Hagelgans and Andrew Isgrig, featured key company updates, LP results, a presentation of new partners and employees, a contribution from two colleagues who took part in the 2025 Livingstone Foundation program and an applied case study presentation from a guest speaker from AlphaSense, an AI-powered market intelligence platform currently being implemented at Livingstone.

After a day of learning, we traveled to the hills of Oltrepò Pavese for a vineyard aperitif and dinner under the stars at Cantina Calatroni, complete with live music. The night wrapped up with a Milanese touch at Club Tom, where we enjoyed a final moment of conviviality together.

On Saturday, the focus turned to creativity and competition. Teams presented the outcomes of their workshops before the spotlight shifted to the much-anticipated Deal of the Year presentations. As always, the stories of complex challenges and innovative solutions were a reminder of the talent and drive within our global community. This year, the award went to our German team for their work on the “Global Bridging” deal.

Later, we took to the streets with Conquer the City—a team challenge that saw us navigating Milan together through riddles and activities. That was a lot of fun exploring Milan as a city and solving tasks together in teams, which resulted in some funny pictures and videos. The evening concluded with a traditional Milanese dinner, combining local culture with Livingstone spirit.

Throughout the retreat, participants shared ideas, celebrated achievements, and built bonds that will carry us forward into another exciting year.

Milan 2025 was proof of how far we’ve come and the opportunities ahead. A heartfelt thank you to our Milan team for hosting this retreat, and to every colleague who played their part in making this year’s gathering a true success.

Here’s to another year of growth, collaboration, and shared success. Until next time!