In the latest edition of The Superyacht group’s Digital Dialogues, Martin Redmayne speaking with Martin Baum, managing director of Pantaenius Group, about the lessons he has learned about the superyacht industry during the pandemic, as well as the areas in which he believes the market still needs to improve.

Pantaenius Yacht Group is a traditional family-run insurance group with its headquarters in Hamburg and 12 subsidiaries. As well as being the managing director of the group, Baum is the chairman of the board of directors and has specific responsibility for global sales and the developments of new markets, as well as the overseeing the overall yacht group strategy. Baum has been a keen yachtsman since his childhood and has proved to be one of the market’s most astute commentators.

“One of the important lessons that I think people have learnt throughout the pandemic is that sometimes they want too much,” says Baum. “They want to be cruising through all of the marinas, doing the latest site-seeing tours on top of the last restaurant trip. I think this year has seen people return to the roots of yachting, people are happy to be on a yacht full stop. In other words, you didn’t need the St Tropez stop, you were happy lying in the bay, dropping anchor and enjoying the water. Sometimes less is more and I think people are starting to see that again.”

Indeed, Baum outlines how well the German boating industry has performed in 2020, with many smaller-boat dealers having completely sold out of their stock. Equally, those who own bigger boats have chosen to use them in 2020, rather than renting them out on the charter market. He believes that this return to yachting’s core values bodes well for the industry’s resilience and future growth.  

However, while there are several positives to be drawn from the industry in 2020, Baum concedes that there remain many areas for improvement.

“There is one particular element of the market that continues to frustrate me. As an industry, we are not in a position to have precise data available on all the accident and damages that are happening on yachts,” continues Baum. “It is very hard for the industry to develop and learn from its mistakes if there is no common data available.”

Baum’s opinion is one that echoes about the superyacht industry within several sectors. There remains a fundamental lack of the type of bankable data that is desperately required for the superyacht industry to grow, whether that be amending insurance policies or attracting investors.

Elsewhere within this Digital Dialogue, Baum and Redmayne discuss potential solutions to the issue of data, as well as exploring a host of other fascinating topics. To hear more about Baum’s views on the insurance industry and the wider market, watch the full video here.

The One to One series is a collective campaign for change and industry improvement, and we welcome participants from all sectors. If you would like to take part or contribute your thoughts, please contact Eleanor Shepherd.

You can view the ever-growing archive of Digital Dialogues here.

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