La Belle Classe Superyachts Economic Symposium at its 8th edition

La Belle Classe Superyachts Economic Symposium, an event analysing and discussing trends and developments in the global luxury yacht market, saw its 8^th annual edition take place at the Yacht Club de Monaco on January 21^st.
During the private evening, several key decision makers of the nautical industry and high profile yachts owners met with eighty professionals from across the superyacht supply chain, who presented their insights.
Speakers across the evening included Gaëlle Tallarida, Managing Director of the Monaco Yacht Show, Edouard Mousny of Cluster Yachting Monaco, Perini Navi’s Burak Akgül, Farouk Nefzi, Feadship Marketing directonr, Richard Lambert of Burgess, Paris Baloumis of Oceanco, Kevin Bonnie of IYC, Paul Betts of the Financial Times, Michel Buffat, Head of Aviation Finance Client Relations, Credit Suisse Zurich, and Laurent Perignon of PV. Partners.
Paul Betts positioned the industry in a global context, giving his analysis of the economic challenges ahead, saying that the sector is facing a period of economic transit to a low growth environment: the “top of the superyacht 70m+ market is a rarefied world of some 150 to 200 yachts and people who own them (…) can weather passing financial storms.”
Michel Buffat observed that sales remain stable in the top segment (+90m) as they do for private jets. He noted the arrival of new nationalities (Scandinavians, Indians…) and that 290 new billionaires have more cash at their disposal to spend on new purchases. He also noted there had been no defaults on payment since 2014.
The general opinion is that the superyacht market is holding up well in construction, sales and the second-hand market.
As foreseen at last year’s symposium, the charter sector is doing well due to a drop in prices and a still strong showing by the Americans thanks to the strong dollar. Figures for 2015 are approaching those of 2007-2008 before the crisis.
According to Laurent Perignon, a total in excess of 2,100 yachts is available for charter over 24 metres. Some key statistics highlighted through Perignon’s presentation concluded that over 4,000 weeks of charter have been totalled over the course of 2015, though prices are still down.
Gaëlle Tallarida, Managing Director of the Monaco Yacht Show, also gave a compelling update regarding the new developments we can expect at this year’s edition of the show, while Edouard Mousny of Cluster Yachting Monaco gave an overview of the company of which 80 Monaco-based companies are currently members.