HOOKE in London.
The Rise of Private Longevity Clinics
Bespoke preventative healthcare offerings for UHNWIs and families have fast become the norm.
In a townhouse just off Grosvenor Square in London’s Mayfair you can have a full body assessment that promises to help you on the journey to live not just longer - “but more importantly healthier and happier”.
Welcome to Hooke London, one of a flurry of new medical concierge clinics springing up across the world designed to help the worried-well learn more about their bodies.
With the aim of allowing them to make better informed choices about how to look after themselves, and to provide advice on the best medical professionals to meet their needs.
Access to a central townhouse filled with doctors, nurses, physios and other medical professionals doesn’t come cheap.
Hooke London membership starts at £14,550-a-year ($19K) which gives clients “unlimited access to an elite team of medical and healthcare experts, expedited referrals and 7-day a week concierge support”. The enhanced Healthspan+ membership, which includes “an annual investigation and nutrition and fitness plan”, sits at £28,500 ($38K).
The clinic is the brainchild of Lev Mikheev, a Moscow-born theoretical physicist turned hedge fund manager, who became fascinated in “health optimisation” after suffering burnout.
“He was surprised by how much of a difference it made to his fitness and wellbeing,” his daughter and Hooke London’s chief executive Kate Woolhouse tells us in conversation. “He started running marathons and cross country skiing, doing things he didn’t think he was capable of.”
Like many other very wealthy people Mikheev’s interest quickly turned to “longevity science”. But, he didn’t take it anywhere near Bryan Johnson, the tech entrepreneur spending about $2 million-a-year on a strict scientific diet and exercise "blueprint" regime that he hopes could reverse the aging process and allow him to extend his "don't die" philosophy for as long as possible.
“We’re not here to help people live to 100 or 150 - it’s about allowing them to live well and healthily for as long as possible,” Woolhouse says in one of the plush consulting rooms in the Brooke Street clinic…
ICYMI: we’re now doing podcasts. Okay, not producing our own, but rather distributing those that produce quality content on crucial family office themes.
This means a new opportunity to learn from industry experts - and for brands to reach a growing family office community.
The Family Office Concierge
"Trust is built far more through consistency than through standout moments."
Ben Vaschetti
More wealth means more ultra-high-net-worth families with complex lifestyle demands. This is fueling significant growth in concierge services, an approximately $750 million market that is expected to top $1 billion by the end of decade.
At the same time, lavish spending on experiences has become increasingly popular, with travel and wellness of higher priority than collectibles like cars and watches.
Increased visibility is certainly a factor. The more wealth is showcased on social media, whether publicly or within private circles, the stronger the pressure to spend and show off.
For family offices and wealth management firms, there’s an extensive opportunity in adding concierge-style services to their offering, either directly or through a preferred partner.
We met Benjamin Vaschetti, founder of family office concierge partner Maison Benjamin, for a coffee to find out how this works.
As a former chef, his experience in Michelin-star restaurants and working with billionaire families on superyachts exposed him to the demands of wealthy families…
UHNW living news
Lake Tahoe’s house prices rocket thanks to Cali billionaire tax. Californian billionaires are buying up properties in exclusive Nevada communities just over the border from California to escape California’s proposed “billionaire tax”. The Wall Street Journal reports house prices have rocketed, with the median house price in the tiny community of Crystal Bay (population 305) straddling the California-Nevada border on the shores of Lake Tahoe now $14.9M.
Art Basel Hong Kong signals recovery. After a period of uncertainty about Hong Kong’s position in the international art market, Artlyst reports that the start of this year’s prestigious gathering suggested a market functioning across its full spectrum rather than concentrating nervously at one end.
The 50 greatest Porsches ever, ranked. The team at Robb Report have followed up their recent 50 Greatest SUVs with a list of the best cars from the Stuttgart automaker. Is there a more iconic automobile shape than the 911? From that to a few lesser-known legends, these are the greatest Porsches ever made.
Highland estate owned by Russian vodka tycoon listed at $89.5M. A Scottish estate that at 21,768 acres is larger than the entire island of Manhattan, is up for sale with an asking price of £67M ($89.5M). The Tulchan Estate, which includes luxury lodges, multiple salmon beats and driven grouse moors, is being sold by Russian billionaire and vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler. He bought it for about £25M in 2017 - Spear’s
A glut of old fine wines is available for the drinking now. There's probably never been a better time to buy and drink vintage wine, which is to say, wine with five or more years of age on it. Bloomberg reports that thousands of cases are coming onto the market at the height of drinkability, at prices that seem rather modest.
And finally…
As you can see, we’ve decided to give Living Large its own space to grow and evolve!
This doesn’t mean we’re removing the highlight from the weekly BUZZ news roundup, but rather this monthly newsletter allows us to focus on UHNW lifestyle and related themes of luxury and collectibles in more detail each month.
If there’s a theme you’d like us to explore, or someone you think we should interview, please hit REPLY and let us know.
That’s all for now!
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