“Even People From Stable Countries Are Looking For Options”: Investment Migration People in the News This Week

Investment migration people in the news this week included:

• Judi Galst and Sarah Nicklin of Henley & Partners
• Murat Coskun of Get Golden Visa
• Siva Shanker of Rahim & Co.
• Paul Khong of Savills 
• Jean-Philippe Brunet of Galileo Partners
• Kristin Surak
• Marco Cerrato of Maisto e Associati
• Marco Palanca of Simmons & Simmons
• Yash Dubal of A Y & J Solicitors

The Wall Street Journal – The Rise of Luxury Doomsday Prepping

Montreal immigration attorney Jean-Philippe Brunet said his office has received an increase in inquiries from both Democrats and Republicans about moving to Canada, at least temporarily, following the November election.

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“One ‘uniting’ worry seems to be possible concerns about the postelection scenarios,” said Brunet, founding partner of the law firm Galileo Partners. “Canada may be a way to find peace of mind and security.”

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Judi Galst of Henley notes her clients span the political spectrum and cite various concerns: rising antisemitism, vaccine requirements, school shootings or political instability. 

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Few clients want to leave the U.S. permanently, Galst said. Most hope they will never have to activate their alternative citizenship. “People insure their house for fire and hope it never burns down.” 

Commercial Observer – Golden Visas — Long a Way for Investors to Live Large Overseas — Face Global Backlash

An estimated 128,000 millionaires are expected to relocate internationally in 2024, eclipsing last year’s record of 120,000, according to Sarah Nicklin, head of public relations at Henley & Partners, a British-based global advisory practice for investment migration, which has raised more than $12 billion in foreign direct investment since its founding in 1997. COVID-19 was a huge driver — Nicklin said the firm’s applications to help facilitate this kind of relocation jumped 60 percent between 2020 and 2021 — but the search for a safe haven amid uncertainty remains the key driver.

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“Some people seek a second residency or citizenship as a Plan A for relocation, while others see it as more a Plan B for future security,” said Murat Coskun, founder and managing partner of Get Golden Visa, a company that does exactly what it sounds like. “Even people from stable countries are looking for options.”

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It’s also truly a global phenomenon, said Kristin Surak, a sociology professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of “The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires.” The most popular programs are actually in the Global South, including places like the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Panama. While the U.S. hands out about 10,000 golden visas annually, the UAE hands out 50,000.

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“If competently implemented, investment migration frameworks can contribute significantly to the well-being of local citizens while yielding the host state a wealth of development benefits,” she said. “As such, we believe the number of programs will continue to grow and expand.”

South China Morning Post – Are Chinese nationals really ‘flocking’ to Malaysia over new visa scheme?

There is no publicly available data to quantify total foreign ownership of properties in Malaysia, which makes any estimate of Chinese demand pure guesswork, according to Siva Shanker, chief executive of the estate agency at property consultant Rahim & Co.

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“The problem is nobody has any [overall foreign ownership] figures, and even if they give any numbers it cannot be verified,” Siva said.

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Beijing’s planned investments, anchored by the public declarations of stronger economic and cultural ties by leaders of both nations, feed into a positive outlook for Chinese foreign property ownership in Malaysia, according to Paul Khong, group managing director of international property consultancy Savills Malaysia.

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Malaysia, along with other Asian destinations such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand, “now commands [a] significant share of interest due to advantages such as proximity, affordability, and the presence of many highly ranked universities”, ICEF Monitor said in a July research note.

Reuters – Italy retains appeal for super-rich new residents despite tax hike

“Italy’s government, whilst in favour of the (flat tax)regime, also needs to avoid that the arrival of many new high net worth individuals triggers a political discussion about its fairness,” said Marco Cerrato, a partner at tax law firm Maisto e Associati.

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Italy is expected to be the top 2024 European destination for globally mobile millionaires, British investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners said, ahead of Switzerland, Greece and Portugal.

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Marco Palanca, a partner at international law firm Simmons&Simmons who heads its Italian tax department, said the changes could prompt some of their clients who work in the European fund management industry to reconsider Italy as a destination, given the fluctuating nature of their foreign earned income.

Financial Express –  UK’s Global Entrepreneur Programme helps grow your business beyond borders

Yash Dubal, Director & a Senior Immigration Associate at A Y & J Solicitors, London, United Kingdom says, “The Visa route for GEP (Global Entrepreneur Programme) is the innovator founder visa, which is very specific. In order to be eligible an applicant must have a business idea endorsed by a specific endorsing body and must be different from anything else on the market, whereby under the self – sponsor route and entrepreneur can set up any type of legal business in the U.K. as long as when they sponsor themselves for a skilled worker visa they meet the requirements of the visa.”