Consumers Invest in Assets, Transumers Invest in Experiences! Wealthy people today do not only invest in assets- but in experiences. Experience is becoming more important than ownership. ‘Fractional ownership’ is a shared-ownership structure that allows people to buy only part of a costly item. Today there are many ways to have a fractional lifestyle. One such service, www.bagborroworsteal.com, sells the use of a revolving array of designer handbags and jewelry that can cost thousands to own but $20 to $175 a month to use.
Buyavineyard.co.uk sells partial titles to some French vineyards; and several luxury hotel companies, including Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons, offer fractional ownership of some properties they own or manage around the world.
Transumers are consumers driven by experiences instead of the ‘fixed’. They are those persons driven by entertainment, by discovery, by fighting boredom, who increasingly live a transient lifestyle, freeing themselves from the hassles of permanent ownership and possessions. The fixed is replaced by an obsession with the here and now, an ever-shorter satisfaction span, and a lust to collect as many experiences and stories as possible. The past is, well, over, and the future is uncertain, so all that remains is the present, living for the ‘now’.
Why agonizingly wait for years (or even forever) to save up your hard earned cash to purchase the latest boat you’ve always promised yourself when you can have access, based around fractional ownership. Being part of a fractional boating club is growing in popularity not just because members can get on the water on some truly special boats , but membership gives you the lifestyle and exclusivity usually reserved for the privileged few.
Partnerships in luxury assets are not always smooth sailing. If you are already in a partnership that’s been loosely managed, chances are its been a rocky road. Some of the problems heard of include:
• Diverging budgetary preferences
• Competition for planning & management control
• Simplistic and inflexible scheduling agreements
• Differences in willingness to do maintenance
• Poor asset care and use
• Lack of communication between owners
• Improperly managed expenditures
Thus to conclude, you are seeing it in recreational vehicles, you also see it in helicopters. Just about every luxury asset you can think of can and will be fractionalized.