Pandora Mather-Lees is a proud owner of a business training company, Pandora Art Education and artonsuperyachts.com. Both companies aim to bring awareness to the value and importance of preservation towards aspects such as art objects to superyacht crew and towards those in household management or to those who work on behalf of art collectors.

Ms Mather-Lees goes on to explain that is it very important to appreciate art as well as enjoying and understanding the concept. She believes it is very important that art collectors know art preservation and practical care.

Opening horizons and appreciating art…

Usually consisting of morning or afternoon session, which are a minimum of four hours. The workshops offer art appreciation training, preparing crews for specific objects- the art market, placement of art, conversation as well as logistics and so much more. Consultancy appointments are also offered where onboard assessments take place, researching and identifying the gaps and risks of the environment. This is usually between the art collector and the captain of the yacht. Alternatively, workshops for the captain can also be offered, with inclusivity of export sanctions risks being taught too.

Excelling within the industry…

To excel within this given industry, Pandora feels that collaborating with respected professionals in the field have helped her immensely. She was lucky enough to be assisted by an ex-stewardess (now an art conservator), as well as networking with the Yacht Art Management in Hamburg. She has also formed close associations with others in the industry such as the Arts and Yachts Management at Rosemont Family Office, alongside the VIP Service School in Palma.

Considering the factors that have helped Pandora excel in this industry- she finds it a pleasure to work with people of professional mannerisms and with those of which you can share and develop ideas. Giving the tell-all on some very exciting news, Ms Mather-less informs us at Relawding that she has some new upcoming collaborations in the pipeline as she has partnered with people beyond the yachting arena such as Art In Offices to assist with training and art appreciation for those who wish to have new art programmes put into their offices.

Tips from the professional to help you succeed in your business…

“Public speaking!… Speaking at conferences gets you in front of a lot of people as an expert and helps you to clarify your way of thinking and ideas”. With all encouragement, Pandora believes that public speaking can take you to many great places!

Seek attention and get yourself noticed- once you get noticed, you become a reliable source. “This helps with raising your profile and also for social media content”, Mather-Lees continues.

“Often it is the unusual or sensationalist aspects that can generate exposure- sometimes even the most unusual combinations. I have often been approached for jobs or projects because of a mix of skills, ranging from commercial experience to being an art historian”.

Predicting the role of art in society, alongside the rapid growth of technology and AI…

It is not possible to substitute for the real tactile presence of art, although there are some pieces of art which have been made deliberately as a digital medium.

“AI, VR and all types of digital art are a new, exciting way to enjoy and learn- they are vital for trading too”.

Pandora informs us of one of her clients who use technology within their business- Arius Technology. The ground-breaking technology company uses a method of deep scanning in 3D, which is used for recreating exact replicas of the work but also to inform the condition of the work before the human eye sees any deterioration- meaning technology can be used to preserve cultural heritage thousands of years old.

Ready to launch your own business?

If you’re a young entrepreneur who is ready to launch their initial business, Pandora advises that you keep your end goal clearly in mind at all times, keep your focus, believe in yourself, seek a mentoring coach, know your milestones and never give up!

Although the pandemic has prevented a lot of businesses from soaring high, Pandora has told us here at Relawding, that the pandemic and aftermath should not prevent those with ideas to continue as there is so much to engage and learn with. As long as you remember your priorities and continue to learn- this can help the post-pandemic technology and business world.

We would like to thank Pandora Mather-Lees for her time and we wish Pandora Art Services and ArtOnSuperYachts all the best in the future.

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BlackRock has a market capitalization of $109 billion and provides investment and technology services to both institutional and retail clients worldwide. BlackRock operates in 30 countries with 70 offices and clients in 100 countries. The company is among the big three, including Vanguard and State Street, in index funds, which dominates America’s corporate sector. In early 2020 BlackRock announced that it would begin divestment from thermal coal and make its assets more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Their purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. They are dedicated to helping their clients, employees, shareholders, and communities achieve financial security, economic mobility, and financial freedom.

The firm offers various funds and portfolios investing in vehicles such as equities, money market instruments, and fixed income. Clients look to BlackRock for access to mutual funds investments focused on objectives related to retirement income and college savings, and exchange-traded funds. BlackRock is the parent company for the iShares group of ETFs, the largest global provider of ETFs. BlackRock reports as a single business segment, deriving most of its revenue from investment advisory and administrative fees charged to its clients. In Quarter 3 of 2020, BlackRock earned $1.5 billion in net income on $4.4 billion of total revenue. As compared with Quarter 3 of 2019, this represents a year-over-year increase in net income of 35.6%. Operating income for Quarter 3 of 2020 was $1.8 billion, up 17.0% YOY. Revenue grew 18.3% in Quarter 3 of 2020 compared to the same quarter a year ago.

BlackRock derives most of its revenue from investment advisory and administration fees levied over time and typically based upon Asset under Management (AUM) predetermined percentages. BlackRock’s business category includes fees related to the firm’s equity, fixed income, multi-asset alternative, and cash management services. In Quarter 3 of 2020, this category accounted for $3.2 billion in revenue or about 74% of total revenue. This was up 8.2% YOY. In contrast with administrative fees, performance fees are assessed to certain types of BlackRock accounts when performance exceeds a predetermined threshold. Performance fees accounted for $532 million in revenue or more than 12% of total revenue in Quarter 3 of 2020. This was up 339.7% YOY, making it the fastest-growing part of BlackRock’s business by far.

BlackRock offers a range of technology systems, risk management, and other digital distribution tools to select insurance companies, banks, pension funds, and asset manager, clients. Technology services accounted for $282 million in revenue for Quarter 3 of 2020 or about 6% of the total. This figure was up 8.9% YOY. BlackRock levies fees associated with the distribution and service of its various products and support services related to investment portfolios. In Quarter 3 of 2020, this category accounted for $288 million in revenue or nearly 7% of total revenue for the quarter. This was up 6.7% YOY.

BlackRock also separates a category of revenue associated with its advisory services for global financial institutions, regulators, and governments. These fees are set at a fixed rate. In Quarter 3 of 2020, this category accounted for $42 million in revenue or about 1% of total revenue. This was down 32.3% YOY. In late March, the U.S. Federal Reserve tasked BlackRock with helping to carry out the central bank’s bond-purchasing program as part of its broader response to the COVID-19 pandemic. BlackRock was instructed to purchase agency commercial mortgage-backed securities on behalf of the New York Federal Reserve. BlackRock was also tasked with managing two large bond-buying programs: a Fed-backed facility for purchasing new investment-grade bonds from U.S. companies; and another facility for purchasing investment-grade bonds that have already been issued.

BlackRock has also been a significant beneficiary of the Fed’s ETF-buying program. The Fed bought $1.58 billion in investment-grade and high-yield ETFs between May 12 and May 19. Almost half of the Fed’s purchases went into BlackRock funds, as BlackRock operates many of the largest investment-grade and high-yield ETFs.

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Surprisingly, considering the extensive media coverage surrounding Zoom (in April 2020 Zoom featured in over 195,000 stories whilst Skype featured in just 50,000), Skype had a successful 2020. The video conferencing app saw an increase in users of around 70%. Skype now has around 40 million registered users actively using the app every day and saw an increase of Skype-to-Skype calls by 220%. Figures released from Microsoft (the owners of Skype) indicate there were 200 million Skype users in the first 6 months of 2020. Despite these impressive stats they pale in comparison to those of Skype’s new contemporary Zoom. Currently, Zoom has been downloaded more than 477 million times.

So why has Skype lost so severely to Zoom? The answer is quite simple: quality. Skype was originally renowned for its high video quality which was consistent around the world. However, after Skype was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 it underwent a transformation in 2017. Now laden with features from social media apps, such as temporary video stories, the quality of the basic service Skype was intended to supply decreased. The re-design was divisive amongst tech fans and the average reviews on app stores for Skype lowered to 1.5 stars. Users complained about a complicated interface and poor video quality. Skype started to stagnate, and Microsoft confirmed their own issues with the app by releasing Teams.

Microsoft still has plans for Skype. Although, some of the latest updates seem to play catch up with other videoconferencing apps (Zoom), such as custom backgrounds and a grid mode to display all users in a video call at the same time. Microsoft is also adding their Together Mode, a popular feature on Microsoft Teams, to Skype. Up to 5 users will be able to appear in the same virtual space with only one participant needing to have Skype installed on their computer, the rest can access the call through a Meet Now link.

The recent WhatsApp backlash could also benefit Skype. WhatsApp is set to change its privacy rules concerning the selling of data to third parties. To continue using the app users will have to agree to the new terms. Due to this, there has been an online campaign by WhatsApp users to move to other messaging apps, with the two frontrunners being the relatively new app Signal and the older Skype. Microsoft has encouraged this tweeting they don’t share users personal data with third parties.

However, this optimism is to be short-lived, as Microsoft has confirmed they are officially retiring Skype for Business on the 31st of July 2021. Instead, users will be migrated to Teams for all their corporate videoconferencing needs. This announcement is unsurprising as Microsoft confirmed back in 2017 that they would be replacing both Skype’s business-focused and consumer versions with Teams. For some, this will be an inconvenience, but they will be in the few. In April 2020 Creative Strategies performed a survey of 1,110 US companies and found only 15% used Skype, 18% used Teams and 27% used Zoom. These figures show that for many companies the move away from Skype has already happened.

High-quality video calls without any glitches are what consumers expect. The pandemic has caused an increase in users who are less tech-savvy to use videoconferencing. They need an app that is easy to navigate and can host large numbers of users in one call. Skype cannot guarantee these qualities. Whilst it is sad to see a company shut down, with Skype this seems to be the inevitable end.

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The motivation behind the goal of moving was because the finance and banking sector wanted to better the position and increase competition. This was all based on the inclusion of financial service providers in the market that would offer customers more options by designing new financial products and services. It represents a secure banking model where third party institutions can access customers’ financial information with their permission. Having access to such data allows third-party developers to create more financial products and services for consumers and also, open banking is set to increase competition and reduce barriers to entry for financial technology (fintech) start-ups and encourages greater efficiency in the banking system.

Evolving the world of finance to be more open…

One could say that the most important change in favour of the customer that comes with open banking is the “democratisation of data”. The customer will be able to make the smartest choice by seeing the expenses or costs received by banks on a single platform. With this transparency, it is not difficult to predict that the competition between banks will increase and there will be an evident preference for customers. There are so many benefits for users of open banking as this technology opens many digital innovations, such as facilitating online shopping, speeding up credit, and personalized wealth advice. All this comes down to an ultra-simplified process that can be carried out in a few seconds on a mobile phone.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) is introducing an open banking policy to advance digital innovation in the financial services sector. Saudi Arabia’s central bank said the plan is for open banking to go live in the first half of 2022. Through the initiatives in the policy, the goal is to foster the advancement of digital technologies and create new financial services and products. Open banking, which is used across numerous countries, facilitates the connections and permissions between users’ banking data and third-party financial platforms. It enables the secure sharing of financial and other data to enable seamless digital payments and money transfers.

Aside from providing banking customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a way to securely manage and share financial data, open banking will also give people access to custom products and services. The policy is also intended to improve trust among all stakeholders in a financial relationship. Open banking is anticipated to increase competition in the country by lowering the barriers to entry for new participants.

Through the development of new financial products customised to specific customer segments, the initiative is also intended to bring about financial inclusion in Saudi Arabia, according to a report. The central bank’s move “is set to revolutionise how customers, merchants and financial institutions augment the value they reap from accessing financial data,” Tala Al Jabri, Saudi venture capital investor based between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, told CNBC.

Open banking will enhance trust both in customers and market participants, namely banks, financial technology, other financial players, and their stakeholders, all of which have a pivotal role to play in this journey towards innovation and financial inclusion. Open banking results in greater efficiency in the banking system. Customers can instantly share their bank data with a third party.

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One feature that most people seem to agree on for the definition of a start-up is a focus on growth. The purpose of a start-up is never-ending growth, it requires innovation and creativity. The process never stops after the establishment of the company. It is a non-stop world and this world has a huge hunger for innovation. If the entrepreneurs have not adopted the innovative approaches, then some other company would have their place.

Some start-ups become big and they become unicorns, which is in reference to a term in the business world that indicates a privately held start-up company valued at over $1 billion. The term was coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, choosing the mythical animal to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures. The largest unicorns included Uber and Airbnb. They have shaken many industries and changed the game as they have broken the rules of many traditional companies. Although the company of Airbnb does not physically own any hotels, it is currently the world’s largest hotel chain. Alongside Uber, who does not own a single taxi, but is still the largest taxi company to this day.

Airbnb is a vacation rental online marketplace company based in San Francisco, California, United States. The company was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia. It provides a platform for hosts to accommodate guests with short-term lodging and tourism-related activities. It is accessible to consumers on its website or via an app. Through the service, users can arrange lodging, primarily homestays, and tourism experiences or list their properties for rental. Airbnb does not own any of the listed properties; instead, it profits by receiving commission from each booking.

Uber Technologies Inc. is a ridesharing, taxi cab, food delivery, and transportation network company which is based in San Francisco and has operations in over 900 metropolitan areas worldwide. It was founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in the year 2009. During its growth, Uber has met aggressive resistance from the taxi industry and government regulators.

In 2014, taxi drivers in London, Berlin, Paris, İstanbul and Madrid performed an extensive protest against Uber. The case was overhead by Europe’s top court in December 2016. Uber lost its licence to function in London where the business had 40,000 recorded drivers in October 2017. On June 26, 2018, a London judge reversed the ban, successfully letting Uber operate under a 15-month licence along with conditions. In October 2019, an Istanbul court had ordered Uber to halt operations in Turkey and blocked access to its applications on charges of unfair competition. But finally, on the 24th of December 2020, the earlier court overturned a ban on access to Uber’s mobile application and website.

A start-up requires patience and resilience. Entrepreneurs often feel stressed. As mentioned above, start-ups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure. A 2014 article in Fortune estimated that 90 per cent of start-ups ultimately fail, however, this process is very natural for all start-ups. So coping with stress is very critical for the entrepreneur’s well-being.

For a successful start-up, one needs to understand the market, their customers and their competition. That’s the golden rule. You need to look for the need and determine the best product to sell. It is also very important to understand how to choose the right business model for his market and customers. Money does not come just because you have got a great idea, but instead, it is due to the customers are willing to pay for what you have to offer.

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