A new platform is changing the face of concierge by enabling vetted, curated and high-quality personal relationships via the internet. In a digital age, roiled by pandemics and social change, this highlights how business models are changing.

There is a famous Groucho Marx quote to the effect that he wouldn’t want to join a club that would admit him as a member. When it comes to gaining access to the most exclusive hotels and homes, or acquiring the most sought-after luxury goods and experiences, they’re unlikely to be available on an open market. 

That creates a problem for the concierge firms who serve high net worth and ultra-HNW clients. There are an estimated 9,000 family offices in the US alone, and yet how many people skilled in the art of finding luxury goods, experiences and property can do the job of serving all these clients? Relying on Google or existing internet-driven concierge offerings means that some of the richest people have the nagging doubt that the best opportunities are “off-market.” What can be done about it? 

Rey Flemings, who has worked in this space for years, reckons he has found the answer. Flemings is co-founder and chief executive of a new online platform and community for ultra-high net worth individuals called Myria. Based in Los Angeles, this is a private marketplace where people seek goods and services that aren’t listed or placed in any public market. Only 300,000 people can be members of the platform. 

Flemings said that off-market sellers have demands beyond money, including only showing offers to pre-vetted, qualified buyers, charity and impact entities, buyers with personal brands that add value to the seller, and only working with buyers who are trustworthy, easy to work with and considerate. Flemings’ background is in sectors such as luxury and family offices. He helped to create a services firm, The Blue, catering for about 50 family offices, concentrating on non-financial services (excluding areas such as investment, bill payments etc.). 

His experience led him to conclude that there were significant problems in the concierge industry and the way in which it works: “I believe that the concierge model was broken for the most successful people in the world,” he told Family Wealth Report in a call. 

The rise of such a business draws on a number of themes: bespoke luxury with a preference for dealing with considerate, socially aware people; a desire for privacy when suitable, and convenience and access. The “concierge” industry today takes various forms, with businesses such as Quintessentially, One Concierge, John Paul Group and Alberta La Grup offering packages at one end, while family offices on the other hand – depending on their size and resources – may have people, either staff or outsourced, who can help with accessing exclusive events and objects. 

The pandemic emphasized the need for digital channels; the interruption to aviation and travel was a blow to the industry, but as conditions have eased so has the desire to enjoy life again – at least for those who can afford it. One report states that the global concierge services market size stood at $537.6 million in 2018 and was slated to grow at the compound annual growth rate of 5.3 per cent from 2019 to 2025 (source: Million In$ights). 

The state of the luxury goods and services sector can be a bellwether for the health of the wider wealth management sector, highlighting the level of confidence in the economy and business. Concierge and related services are also an important area for private banks, family offices and other entities serving an HNW and ultra-HNW clientele. Private banks, for example, have developed concierge offerings over the years, although there are some question marks over how effective these are for winning new clients. For example, a BNY Mellon Wealth Management private banking study in 2021 suggested that concierge services aren’t enough to lure wealthy clients over to a new banking provider. Rather HNWs are more concerned about preserving and protecting their wealth than using concierge offerings and lifestyle gifts, a study of 300 wealthy individuals with at least $5 million in total assets found. 

Raising the game
Flemings’ experience in working with A-list celebrities and figures in sports, media and entertainment led him to realise that more is needed to support a first-class concierge offering.

“The best of every category is always off-market…for the seller is selling far more than just the money,” Flemings said. 

For example, the most exclusive homes will not be listed in a realtor’s website, and the same goes for tables at the most exclusive clubs and restaurants. These cannot be found via a Stubhub, Open Table, or other such platform. 

“The world’s top doctors have a four-year waiting list for patients,” he said, giving an example from the medical side. The sellers are interested in whom they are selling to. It is not just who can pay. Sellers want to have buyers who are vetted; who are nice and easy to deal with and whom they can work with for the long term,” Flemings added.

All of those who join Myria platform undergo KYC and AML checks; they are also vetted to establish whether they have the level of wealth they claim. “This encourages people to be on their best behavior,” Flemings said. Further, a seller can decide at what level they want to deal with people.

“Not everything in the world is coin operated,” he continued. Sellers might want to interact with a buyer because the latter has a strong personal brand, he said. 

Fine-tuned
The platform gives sellers the ability, for example, to earmark certain items and services for buyers, based on what they know of the passions and interests of a buyer (such as reserving a new sports car for a buyer who is a sports car enthusiast).

“It is the seller who makes the rules [on the platform] and not the buyer,” he said. 

The Myria app shows what other really successful people are doing, such as where people are vacationing or what they are doing in philanthropy.

Sellers are banned from listing products/services on the platform in other places. This is to ensure that transactions are exclusive. Buyers can be rated for their conduct and, if necessary, a buyer can be removed from the platform. Buyers and sellers can rate each other with scores after their interactions; the higher the score, the more opportunities for repeat business arise.

Family offices
The Myria platform has a strong appeal for family offices because, out of an estimated 9,000 FOs in the US alone, there aren’t enough experienced and connected people with concierge experience to work in all of them at a suitable level. That creates a big gap, which a platform such as Myria can help to fill.

Myria offers information and knowledge which would otherwise be opaque online. The networks of successful people are not achieved by their assistants searching Google: "We believe that the best stuff cannot be Googled…we really require this emphasis on behavior and this requires also a redefinition of success,” he said. 

Setting up Myria required months of hard work. One of the lessons from the tremendous success of Airbnb is how the business was able to build and develop a range of rooms/homes for rental via the platform so that when the business started there were good choices, and the network effect kicked in. In order to persuade sellers of highly exclusive items and services to join a platform, they have to be assured of the caliber and conduct of buyers – hence the curation of the platform, the ability to remove bad actors, and so forth, Flemings said. 

In an age where there is more focus on inequality, sustainability and the treatment of particular groups in society, this platform’s membership is not just full of the very richest, or about those who want to engage in conspicuous consumption, its members are people who want to make a positive impact, who set high standards in how they act, Fleming added.

The internet has been transformative, Flemings concluded: “No human can have such a network.”