Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2008 - (Page 34)

LUXURY MARKETS From top to bottom: Inside the Falcon 2000DX business jet; and luxury experience -- a client trains with real-life secret agents as part of a Quintessentially Escape spy program. Margetson-Rushmore continues: “With the advent of the latest small aircraft, customers are rightly choosing not to pay for jets larger than they need – the average group size is two to three people, so why waste money on acres of empty seats? Companies don’t want to spend Rolls-Royce money on BMW journeys.” The economic slowdown has coincided with the introduction of a new generation of entry-level business jets, generally termed Very Light Jets, or VLJs. The ﬁrst fully operational aircraft in this class is Cessna’s Citation Mustang. In June 2008, LEA became Europe’s ﬁrst Mustang ﬂeet operator. The company also operates a range of large cabin and super midsize aircraft, including the Embraer Legacy and Bombardier Challenger 300, which remain in demand among the wealthiest travelers. “P. Diddy may have gone back to scheduled airlines, but there are plenty who haven’t,” says Margetson-Rushmore. “The best-heeled customers are still prepared to pay for spacious cabins, advanced in-ﬂight entertainment and ample baggage storage. Once you’ve ﬂown at that level, you don’t want to go back – there would have to be a spectacular ﬁnancial meltdown before these customers considered queuing at Heathrow.” Beyond Luxury Goods No matter how big the yacht, or how pricey the jet, for many of the ultra rich, owning or having access to high-end goods may not be enough to deﬁne living in luxury. Sometimes, it’s all about the lifechanging experiences…that money can buy. For as little as £3,500 ($6,100) or as much as £20,000 per person, for example, one can live the life of a secret agent. Quintessentially Escape, a luxury experience company in London, can make all the arrangements: working with real-life spies on weapons training, driving, close-quarter battle, and countersurveillance. The client will be sent on a mission starting in London and ending in Morocco. “All my life I’ve wanted to be one of Charlie’s angels,” says Maria Strangeland, a Quintessentially Escape client who lives in Norway. “I received training by the best, was handed my own secret mission and chased a target all around London – armed with ear pieces, mikes, covert cameras and a proper backup team,” Strangeland recalls. “I was put in the middle of a hostage situation in an abandoned warehouse.” Jenna Bromage, Quintessentially Escape’s business development director, says request for experiences range from the simplest to the bizarre. Some would go for their suggested “travel escapes,” such as an exclusive surﬁng day with a British national surﬁng champion in the West Coast of England or a spa and sporting experience at the Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus. At certain times, however, they have been asked to go the extra mile. “We had one client who wanted to close the Taj Mahal down for a day,” Bromage says. “That would have been very expensive if he’d gone ahead with it, but he didn’t, because his wife changed her mind.” So far, Bromage says, the most expensive experience paid for by a client was a three-day “Wonders of Egypt” package for two. This included a private tour of the pyramids, an after-hours visit to the Egyptian Museum and a look at the only surviving artifact from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. At the pinnacle of the experience was an opportunity to stand at the feet of the Sphinx. The adventure also came with lavish accommodation, ﬁve-star meals, a luxurious, pharaonic massage and lunch on a traditional Egyptian sailboat. All for £50,000 per person. At the time of the interview, Bromage was working with a client on a request for a combination of experiences worth £1 million. 4 • Alpha Sponsored Report • October 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2008

Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor Longs & Shorts Pension Corner: Process of Evolution The Good Guys: Israel's Champion Interview: Fast Lessons for Hard Times Cover Story: Industry Under Siege The New Hedge Fund Economics Good-Bye, Easy Money Caging the Shorts Strategies: Bottom Fishing Profile: Cult of Personalities Research Center: Alpha Awards: Eye of the Storm Alpha Bytes: Funneling the Chatter Unhedged: Commentary: Attention, Hedge Fund Shoppers

Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2008

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