More ultra-high-net-worth individuals have chosen to make Monaco their home, by population density, than anywhere else on Earth, with one in 39 homeowners being classed as a UHNWI, according to a new report by Altrata.
The term ultra-high-net-worth individual – or UHNWI for short – describes people with investible liquid assets of at least US$30 million (around €28.5 million), excluding personal assets, property, collectables and consumer durables. This rather strict definition excludes most of the world, but there are a few enclaves where people in this category are highly prevalent. Monaco is one.
According to a new report released by human data gathering specialists Altrata, one in every 39 homeowning residents in the Principality is a UHNWI.
The study, entitled ‘Residential Real Estate 2023: Spotlight on the World’s Leading Markets for the Wealthy’, took a “holistic view” of properties owned by these individuals, noting that many in this category own multiple homes, and that the report is not focused solely on primary residences.
Other interesting findings showed that London, New York and Miami were the top choices for UHNWIs to buy second homes. The top three main residence cities for this group are Hong Kong, New York and London.
In the US, the uber-posh Colorado ski resort Aspen has the largest number of UNHWI per density, with one in 69 falling in that classification.
“As we emerge from years riddled with uncertainty around a historic pandemic, social unrest, political discourse, and natural disasters, regardless of your age or demographic, luxury has made a monumental shift in the minds of the global population,” said Julie Faupel, Founder and CEO of REALM, which sponsored the report. “We are excited to partner with Altrata for a second time to examine how this shift is influencing how and where the world’s wealthiest individuals choose to reside.”
Analysis used in creating this report was done with Altrata’s Wealth-X Database, the biggest collection of focused research and intelligence on the world’s wealthy, as well as with their recently updated Wealth and Investible Assets Model, which launched in December.
Almost a decade of restoration and conservation works at the Palais Princier de Monaco will come to fruition next month with the grand reopening to the public set for 2nd April. Amongst the treasures that await visitors are a series of spectacular 16th century frescoes in the Throne Room, which have been painstakingly restored to their former glory.
Since last October, the Prince’s Palace of Monaco has been closed to the public. That is all about to change as the Palace has announced it will be reopening its doors on 2nd April to reveal some of the results of almost ten years’ worth of work, including the incredible restoration of 16th century frescoes, which had lain hidden beneath paint and plaster or had been clumsily repainted over time.
A team of 17 expert restorers have been hard at work, cleaning back the frescoes a square centimetre at a time. They do not expect to be completely finished by the April reopening, but there is a goal in mind.
“We have to deliver La Salle at the end of July for an event scheduled for September,” restoration team member Marion Jaulin told Monaco Matin. “No doubt it won’t be completely finished, but we have to move forward as much as possible, the whole team is mobilised, and we will probably recruit two additional people to honour this deadline.”
The job is painstaking; all done by hand and using only small tools for the delicate work. The centrepiece of the room, which was exposed between 2020 and 2022, is of Ulysses as he watches over his troops. A zodiac motif has also been found in the vaults; an exciting addition to the room’s overall charm.
A meticulous method that paves the way for future generations and techniques
The current team is fixing damage in plaster and glass, removing inelegant prior attempts at fresco and frieze repairs, and making hanging decorations look like new.
“Our work has been de-restoring in order to re-restore and today we can attack the pictorial reintegration,” Jaulin explained.
Yannick Bouillon, another of the restorers, added, “In some places, we found holes up to three centimetres deep, which we filled in with traditional masonry… Fine and smooth plaster like the original and without sanding. Sanding does not work very well with old-fashioned coatings; you have to have the perfect level right away that you adjust in the cool with water and with a sponge to smooth and do the entire finish.”
To give harmony to the overall piece, a method of filling in the cuts and holes is used by painting these areas in a shade just a hair off the original, giving the illusion from below that it is untouched. Interestingly, it is all being done in watercolour, which means it can be “erased” quite easily.
“With a wipe of the sponge, our work can be removed to leave the field free to other generations [and] for new restorations with new techniques in the future,” said Jaulin.
Sadly, some of the frescoes are too damaged to be saved, but in these cases, the team is considering using mobile panels that depict the ruined scenes as closely as possible.
The throne itself is also getting a makeover, with a canopy and other elements being cleaned and made perfect. This will be put back in place on 20th March in good time for the April reopening.
The team has also been on the lookout for clues as to who exactly the artist of such magnificent creations was. A 1547 receipt addressed to a Raphael acolyte, Nicolosio Granello, has solved at least part of the mystery, with experts agreeing that the Genoese painter’s style is indeed in line what they have found.
The public will be able to get a partial glimpse into all this hard work at the reopening, when they can also enjoy resumption of visits to the various state apartments of the Palace.
Monaco Life rounds up the best places to exercise outside and in, from the smart workout stations in Port Hercule and Fontvieille to the celebrity-taught yoga classes at the Metropole and the Principality’s raft of ultra high-tech gyms.
The legacy of well-being and wellness go back well over a century in Monaco, to when the first baths were built in the Condamine neighbourhood in the late 1800s. Then came a thalassotherapy centre in 1908, which would be developed and renovated throughout the 20th century to become what we know today as the luxurious Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo.
Today the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo offers a 6,600sqm space dedicated to wellbeing. Alongside its innovative spa centre – solarium, sauna, hammam, jacuzzi and cryotherapy treatment rooms – the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) establishment also boasts a heated, open-air saltwater pool that hosts various aquatic aerobic workouts. In the adjoining fitness centre, members can enjoy pilates and stretching classes as well as bike-based activities. There’s also the option to have a private session for an additional fee.
The famous Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo. Photo: SBM
This spring, the Hotel Metropole and its Spa by Givenchy are forgoing the “traditional” and offering a thoroughly modern take on the art of yoga. Rebel Karma Yoga, a method based on Yoga Sculpt and Power Yoga, incorporates weights into its positions to ramp up the effects of this popular discipline: it’s a “2.0 version of yoga”.
The classes are being led by celebrity trainer Val Kahl three times a week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – for €95 per session. She’s created two distinct workouts: the signature Rebel Karma Yoga, which she describes as a “punchy session that mixes Vinyasas, cardio, abs and core, calisthenics and pilates with weights”; and the gentler rhythmic Yoga Flow that follows a more contemporary style. Kahl moved to the region a little over a year ago and will continue her classes at the Hotel Metropole until mid-May.
Within the SBM portfolio are the health and fitness centres at Monte-Carlo Beach and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. Both offer personal training sessions for guests within their “next generation” facilities.
The Monte-Carlo Beach Spa is set to reopen in April 2023, when patrons can rediscover the unique setting of this address – between the sea and a peaceful pine forest – at private yoga, meditation and pilates classes. The outdoor Olympic-sized saltwater pool with two diving boards will open for business at the same time. Even if you’re not a guest, this is a brilliant place to spend an afternoon with friends and family.
The Olympic-sized saltwater pool complete with diving boards at Monte-Carlo Beach. Photo: SBM
Access to the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort sports facilities – a fitness room equipped with Technogym machines and weights as well as an indoor pool – are open to the public for a fee, but are free of charge for guests.
The indoor pool at Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. Photo: SBM
The sophisticated private gym at 39 Monte-Carlo (photos below) is fully dedicated to pursing peak performance, whether that be for someone embarking on their fitness journey or a professional athlete at the top of their game. Its trainers are all highly qualified in their respective areas and include figures such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu great Jerry Monier and former gymnast French Rudy Guillard. Group sessions are run alongside the high-spec gym and feature everything from HIIT to Ballet Barre, high intensity spin classes to mini-trampoline workouts, and boxing combined with strength training to conditioning circuits and bootcamp training.
Over at The Forge, the focus is on the body and not the machines. It calls itself a “personal training lab” with everything from kickboxing and traditional boxing to Tacfit and Flowfit. The Forge is the only certified centre in the region for the training of these two latter workouts. Yoga and ballet-inspired sessions are also a core feature of this site and many of these classes are taught by Anja Behrend, a former dancer with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
For something at the more modest end of the scale, down on the port is the publicly owned and managed Hercule Fitness Centre, which opened nearly five years ago next to the popular Stade Nautique Rainier III municipal swimming pool. It operates a busy programme of classes for all abilities – BodyPump, BodySculpt, spinning and HIIT, for example – with an annual membership costing €1,100 for adults, making it a cost-effective option for those commuting into Monaco and who want to fit in a quick session at lunch or after work. Concessions are available for students, public service workers and over 60s.
But if the great outdoors get your pulse racing, then head down to one of the two MonaMove fitness spots in Port Hercule and Fontvieille. These are digitally equipped smart spaces that allow users to, once they have downloaded the app, create their own workout according to their fitness level and track progress over time. Around 100 exercises, complete with video tutorial, have been designed by former professional rugby player Sébastien Chabal for these exact facilities, and have proved vastly successful with Monaco’s sporting population since they opened four years ago.
And let’s not forget the incredible geography of Monaco as a naturally hilly, coastal nation. Run from the beach in Larvotto up to the Prince’s Palace or take a route high up to the Tête du Chien in La Turbie for a stunning panorama of the French Riviera. A fitness trial near the Jardin Exotique provides gym equipment along its route while the more dedicated urban trial runner might want to take on the task of Course des Escaliers in Beausoleil. This race, taking place on 18th March, calls on runners to tackle 427 steps on five staircases in a demanding 350m challenge.
Every day until 12th March, Nice Airport is offering people the chance to play a fun game online and win plane tickets to a number of exciting destinations across the globe.
The innovative marketing campaign involves an interactive online game that people can play each day after registering. People simply have to have a quick hand and click on some very fast moving travel-related images.
They are then entered into a draw to win plane tickets departing from Nice to Atlanta with Delta Airlines, Montreal with Air Transat, a destination of the Volotea network of your choice, London with British Airways, New York with United Airlines, Athens with Aegean, Reykjavik with Icelandair, the Antilles (via Paris) with Air France, a destination of the easyjet network of your choice, or Istanbul with Turkish Airlines.
Two plane tickets are up for grabs every day. Winners will be contacted by email.
Twelve nations, over 300 sailors and three classes gathered for the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, a classic on the regatta calendar since it was launched by Prince Albert II in 1985.
The event, which also doubles as the fourth and final Act of the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series and concluded on Sunday 3rd March, brought together 15 Smeralda 888s, a dozen Longtze Premiers and over 50 J/70s.
Idyllic conditions continued to the final day with a steady eight knots more than enough for teams to get the maximum potential from their boats. In the J/70, YCM’s Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio’s G-Spot appeared all but unbeatable in the first four races before conceding final victory to the Italians on Alice. “The level was high, first given the presence of so many boats in the Monaco J/70 Class Association, but also top Italian and Swiss teams,” noted the G-Spot helmsman.
Alessandro Molla’s Viva completed the podium. In the Corinthian (amateur) category, the Swiss on Aiola snatched top spot ahead of the Brits on Brutus and the Swiss on Rhubarbe-3Nuits.com.
Smeralda 888: victory for its President
Sailing is often a family affair as evidenced by father and son, Vincenzo and Achille Onorato from YCM, who were racing against each other at the helms of Smeralda 888s for six hotly contested races. Achille’s Canard à l’Orange finally got the better of his father on Mascalzone Latino who came 2nd. Recognised as an excellent sailor, Class President, Charles de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles (Vamos mi Amor) added another trophy to his impressive record by winning the event.
Longtze Premier: Swiss role out a red carpet
No surprises in the Longtze Premier that was again dominated by the Swiss led by a faultless performance from Jarmo Wieland’s Shensu to win all six races. Torsten Muller’s crew on Le Petit Frère d’Emile Bleu and Stefen Schneider’s Outsider were 2nd and 3rd.
10th Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series: winner announced
Launched 2013, this series of monthly regattas from November to March is the ideal opportunity for international teams to prepare for the upcoming season. Overall winner of this 10th anniversary season after 24 races was Ludovico Fassitelli (Junda), followed by Samuel Poons (Charisma V) and Graeme Peterson (Moonlight II), all three are members of YCM.
Under the aegis of the collective ‘Monaco, Capital of Advanced Yachting’ approach, high level sports events continue to take centre stage at the Yacht Club de Monaco. Next up on 25th and 26th March is the first Women Leading and Sailing, an all-female regatta on J/70s.
SNCF train services will be severely disrupted on Wednesday 8th and 9th March as workers join unions’ calls for daily strike action against France’s pension reform.
After workers across the country walked off the job on Tuesday 7th March for a highly publicised national strike, unions are calling on participants to keep up the pressure on the government and continue to hold the country at ransom.
The unions are calling on women in particular on International Women’s Day, 8th March, to rally and openly denounce the reforms that they argue will be more “unfair” for them. Female-led demonstrations are planned in 150 cities across the country, around three times more than previous years, while strike action will continue across transport, school and fuel sectors.
Train services will be severely disrupted with only one in three/four intercity trains operating on Wednesday, including the busy Nice to Monaco line. The SNCF warns that the strike action will continue into Thursday 9th March.
