Monaco Boost is set to open its doors in April, but first it needs some businesses to house. So, the call has been put out for Monegasque entrepreneurs to take advantage of the Principality’s new business incubator, reserved exclusively for nationals.
Monaco Boost was launched in early January 2021 by the Prince’s Government, in consultation with the National Council, to accelerate the creation and development of new businesses created by entrepreneurs of Monegasque nationality.
Funded by the State, the incubator is located in the Fontvieille district and covers an area over 1,200 square metres and includes offices, shared workspaces, meeting rooms, a cafeteria and an outdoor terrace.
The aim is to provide not only a company address and work space at significantly reduced costs, but a site where companies can accelerate their growth and develop their contacts, eventually contributing to the Monaco economy.
“With Monaco Boost, and following a vote in the spring of 2020 by the National Council of a bill … to introduce the free domicile of an activity in a residential apartment, Monegasque entrepreneurs now have all the assets to start and develop their business,” said the National Council on its social media networks.
The call for applications is open until 26th February and the first entrepreneurs are expected to move in by April 2021. Monaco Boost can house a total of 108 businesses.
The Allocation Committee will be chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economy and will be comprised of representatives from the National Council, the State Property Authority, the Business Development Agency and the SAM Monaco Boost.
For start-ups who are not Monegasque nationals, the Principality’s first incubator, Monaco Tech, is due to put out its call for applicants by the end of March/early April.
Photo by Michael Alesi for the Government Communication Department
Prince Albert II and Monaco’s representative for the Vendée Globe sailing race, Boris Herrmann, have united for the first Ocean Decade high-profile event, A Brave New Ocean.
“It’s such an incredibly important but fragile relationship that we have with nature,” Prince Albert II declared during the first online event to kick off the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development on Wednesday.
They are simple yet powerful words from a man who has dedicated much of his adult life to the preservation of the environment, with a special emphasis on oceans. This is not surprising given Monaco’s maritime locale and traditional close ties to the sea, but the Prince’s interest runs deeper than that.
“Half the air we breathe comes from the ocean. We harbour so many different species, the vast majority of the species in the biosphere are in the ocean. For all these reasons, and we know this for a fact, to keep the ocean’s ecosystems in a healthy way, life on Earth will be healthier. Planetary health is essential to human health,” he told a global audience.
A Brave New Ocean brought together world leaders, scientists, UN agency heads and personalities who are engaged in ocean action.
Amongst them was skipper of the Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco Boris Herrmann, who just completed the around the world solo race the Vendée Globe. He spoke from the seaside, with his infant child strapped to his chest, stressing the importance of research and preservation.
“We collected ocean data on the boat for the fully-automated laboratory that pumps water from the keel 24/7 through a system that measures all sorts of things – salinity, the Ph, water temperature – and I believe it is … the first time that an entire trek around the world has been tracked in this nature, especially around Antarctica. There’s no shipping so there’s no data.”
He added on a more personal note: “Something for the Ocean Decade to go forward is to show the public how important the ocean is for us. We don’t want to tell our kids at the end of the decade that there won’t be any coral for them to see.”
The UN has an ambitious agenda for protecting and preserving the seas for their Ocean Decade. They are asking nations to help them meet the lofty goals of reducing or removing pollutants to create healthy and resilient oceans as well as supporting sustainability in fishing whilst protecting livelihoods.
“To reestablish the link between man and nature is vital for our survival,” Prince Albert, who was one of the first to back the concept of Ocean Decade, concluded in his message. “If we leave all the different ecosystems alone, they will rebound at a rapid rate.”
To watch the virtual A Brave New Ocean event, click here.
Photo compilation of Prince Albert and Boris Herrmann during the virtual A Brave New Ocean event by Monaco Life
"If Covid was a systemic wave, climate is a systemic tsunami"
Monaco Life talks to Damian Payiatakis, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing at Barclays Private Bank, about intergenerational wealth transfer: trust, shifting perspectives on sustainable investment, and the impact of Covid-19.
Monaco Life: How do the generations differ when it comes to sustainable investment?
Damian Payiatakis: Our research shows that in the last few years, the younger generation has had a significant influence in raising visibility and aligning the family across generations to invest more sustainably.
There is a clear difference historically in how older generations have seen and approached their investments, having tended to separate generating wealth from using it to do good in the world.
But what we’re all recognising is that our investments have an impact on the world and, moreover, the world has an impact on our investments. Given the different events they’ve seen, younger generations have more intuitively recognised that connection compared to older generations.
That being said, the Covid pandemic has shifted everybody’s visibility and thoughts about sustainable investing. Initially, there was a question as to whether Covid would dampen the momentum of this movement. That hasn’t happened; instead, it’s accelerated the growth.
We’ve seen previously sceptical clients, high net worth (HNW) families, who are now acknowledging the performance and flows of sustainable investing during this period of volatility. In some cases, they’ve missed out and are asking for guidance and opportunities to get involved now.
Many investors have been trying to pilot their family and their portfolios through it all and they’re having more discussions about what the future means; and we’re focusing on inter-generational wealth transfer more frequently than in the past. What exactly is sustainable investing?
Sustainable investing is investing intentionally to both protect and grow your assets and make a positive contribution to our world. Let me explain what that means a bit further.
It is intentional, because investors are actively thinking about what they want their wealth to achieve. This also means measuring and reporting on the impact the investments generate.
It has dual aims – financial and personal. First, we find including environmental, social, and governance factors helps to generate better financial returns by identifying associated investment risks as well as new opportunities for investment. Secondly, for many of our wealthy families who feel a responsibility to make the world a better place, investing to solve urgent social and environmental challenges can be tremendously satisfying and help bring the family together. When did you start noticing a shift towards sustainable investment in intergenerational wealth transfers?
I led the launch of our impact investing proposition within Barclays about five or six years ago. For a private bank, we started to be involved early; and even 12 to 24 months ago, awareness levels were much lower than today. Although we still have what we call a latent demand – people are interested in sustainable investment but not yet active in their portfolios. However, more of my conversations have shifted from “Should I invest sustainably?” to “How do I invest sustainably?”, which indicates an important shift in the market momentum. Photo source: Pixabay So how do you invest sustainably?
There are three stages where we tend to help clients navigate this field. The first one is education, so we spend time helping them to understand the rapidly evolving industry. We usually have to dispel some of the myths, for example around performance, and show how they can invest across their entire portfolio albeit in different ways.
For example, across all our discretionary portfolios we invest responsibly because we think it makes sense to assess all companies for environmental, social, and governance risks. Then we have a sustainable discretionary strategy which targets only companies whose products are providing solutions to UN Sustainable Development Goals. Either of these options could be appropriate for a client, though they take different approaches to sustainability.
Which is why the second stage is articulation. Just like understanding a risk tolerance, we’re helping families express the intentions around how they want their capital to be deployed, often assisting in the conversation to take place between generations. Of course, we also review the family’s specific interests in different sectors, which often relate to the family business.
Then the last stage is execution – deciding how and when to make the changes to their existing portfolio and finding the right, high-quality impact investments. While investors want to avoid poorly run companies, we’re also looking for companies with long-term growth opportunities. What issues arise with inter-generational wealth management?
Our research found that trust is an issue. About a third of the participants worry that the next generation is going to take more risk than the current generation. Having those conversations and articulating what matters to the family both on a legacy and wealth transfer basis is critical, as well as getting younger generations involved in the process.
For example, we had a next gen from a Hong Kong hotelier family who wanted a more active role in the family and wanted her family to engage more around sustainability. But the family’s chief investment officer and the older generations were initially not so open to it. So, we thought about the sustainability issues that would have implications for the family business as well as investment opportunities.
We landed on water usage in hotels, which has both a massive environmental and financial impact. She made the case to invest and implement some new technologies in the hotels, which gave more credibility to her ideas around sustainability. It helped her build trust in her decision-making so that over time she could take on a larger role within the family discussions. What is your experience with intergenerational wealth transfer in Monaco?
It’s the similarities between different types of families that I find interesting in Monaco. Given the nature of the Principality and its history, there are a number of families who have faced the challenges of intergenerational wealth transfer for many generations. They are familiar with the process and often the oldest generation has been through the tensions that naturally arise, so they can be more thoughtful about how they prepare the younger generation to inherit wealth.
Then there are newer first-generation families who have moved to Monaco and are now facing that challenge of succession for the first time. Wealth creators tend to be more risk averse with their capital. I hear many who are worried about the readiness of their children to take on the wealth and take forward their family legacy.
The difference is how we have conversations across the family. With a 5th, 6th, 7th generation family, they are usually thinking much longer term already – centuries in some cases. The idea of sustainability is more embedded into how they think about family and their wealth. In first generation transfers, the family has shorter legacy though it may loom larger given the presence of the first generation.
In both cases, it doesn’t matter which of the ‘next gens’ are inheriting the wealth, their interest in sustainable investment is similar. Where children are inheriting a legacy, they’re also thinking about how to sustain that in a way that is authentic to them and their generation. Prince Albert by Gaetan Luci / Prince’s Palace Do you find that awareness around sustainable investing is more prominent in Monaco, given Prince Albert’s very public environmental mission?
Having a role model like Prince Albert certainly helps to inspire others to take similar actions. Monaco is a small physical space which makes it relatively easier to be conscious of one’s environmental footprint. The size of the community also helps to motivate and focus attention on these issues.
Also, its proximity to the sea makes a difference. I do a bit of sailing, and when you’re on the water, especially offshore racing for days, you can’t help but feel connected to the ocean. With Monaco’s shoreline, and nearly always being in sight of the sea, it’s easy to make a similar connection with the environment.
Prince Albert’s advocacy to mobilise global initiatives and his message of responsibility of wealthy families to make a difference to our planet, our home really, is very visible and encouraging. How has the Covid pandemic impacted sustainable investing?
From an investment perspective, we have seen clients shift their mindsets around investment practices. For example, from our research we found two thirds of families now want to widen risk assessment to incorporate more environmental, social, and governance factors.
From a legacy perspective, it has increased recognition of the fragility of life and the economic position and connectivity that we have. Family conversations have been instigated around wealth transfer and how to ensure the family’s wealth reflects more of its values and the role it wants to play in society.
Finally, it’s demonstrated systemic risks that we face globally. I pose a question to clients that if they had known in December 2019 that Covid was going to happen, would they have invested differently. The answer, of course, is ‘Yes’. Climate change is a larger, and known, systemic risk. If we think Covid was a systemic wave, climate could be considered a systemic tsunami. So, we’re encouraging clients to learn from Covid and position their portfolios to be more sustainable for the risks and opportunities ahead.
Prince Albert watched on at Stade Louis II as AS Monaco beat cross-town rivals OGC Nice in the 100th Côte d’Azur Derby, making it their sixth straight victory in a row.
Wednesday was a banner night for the Red and Whites who played an at-home game against OGC Nice for the 100th time, winning two to one and making it six in a row for the team. To top it off, both Prince Albert II and Club President Dmitry Rybolovlev watched it happen from the Loge des Lègendes private box.
Coach Niko Kovac opted for the same 11 players as in Sunday’s game against Nantes. Things picked up rather fast, and in the 6th minute Team Captain Wissam Ben Yedder made the game’s first attempt with an assist by Kevin Volland. Though it didn’t hit the mark, it set the tone for the night, though no points were scored until almost the half hour mark.
At 28 minutes in, Ben Yedder put one between the posts, racking up his 10th goal of the season and sending the team back to the locker room at halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The second half proved more exciting with Nice’s Jeff Reine-Adélaïde’s attempt, picked up by teammate Pierre Lees-Melou who snuck past Benjamin Lecomte for the goal. The score evened up and the pressure was on for both sides, though not for long.
Just three minutes later, Sofiane Diop was fouled by Jordan Lotomba, resulting in a free kick that was taken by the star of the night, Ben Yedder. His brilliant kick found its way to the top centre of the posts, putting Monaco back in the lead at 2 to 1.
After this, both teams had a few more attempts, but no one was able to convert, so when the buzzer went off signaling the end of the game, Monaco was able to breathe easy.
“We wanted to win this 100th derby,” Coach Kovac said after the match. “It’s good for us, for the club, and for the supporters. We deserve this victory.”
Even with the win, Monaco is still three points off the top three in Ligue 1, and have some serious contenders to get past to reach the uppermost tier. For this reason, Coach Kovac isn’t ready to let the team rest of their laurels just yet.
“We must work on preserving this lead or even extending over the sixth-placed side. We are building a squad, a team. We have 15 matches left and we are progressing step by step. I don’t want to talk about the podium.”
AS Monaco’s next match is Sunday afternoon at the Stade des Costières against Nîmes.
(Monaco Life with AS Monaco press release, photo of Prince Albert and Club President Dmitry Rybolovlev by AS Monaco)
The Principality is taking its commitment to the environment one step further with the introduction of a fleet of 100% electric rubbish collection trucks.
Prince Albert II and Minister of Equipment, Environment and Town Planning Marie Pierre-Gramaglia were on hand in the Place du Palais Wednesday for the unveiling of the Société Monegasque d’Assainissement’s (SMA) newest vehicles. Rubbish collection in Monaco will now start to be more environmentally-friendly with the addition of several trucks that are 100% electric.
“From this week, four new electric rubbish trucks will run during the night and two to three in the morning. By the end of the first trimester, all household waste and all glass will be collected by 100% electric vehicles,” Thomas Battaglione, president of SMA, said during an interview with the government channel Monaco Info.
“They are really quiet, so you have to be careful,” joked the Prince, before saying, more seriously, that these new trucks “are better for the quality of life” in the Principality.
Rubbish collectors will be trained to handle the new trucks, as they differ slightly from the traditional ones.
Photo by Stéphane Danna for the Government Communication Department
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