Hanna Derrien was kind enough to speak at one of our Asset & Wealth Management luncheons toward the end of the year. It was the perfect opportunity to discuss with her the entrepreneurial dynamics of the Principality, the JCEM’s pivotal role, and the emerging synergies between finance, innovation, and international leadership.
Monaco is attracting a new generation of entrepreneurs, investors, and international executives. How is the JCEM currently helping to transform this appeal into a real driver of economic development and concrete opportunities?
Monaco naturally attracts talent and investors, but our role at the JCEM is to transform this momentum into concrete economic opportunities. We do this through two major initiatives: the Business Creation Competition and Monaco Inspire.
The Business Creation Competition, which we have been organizing for several years, has become a true talent showcase. It attracts innovative project leaders, challenges them, supports them, and offers them unique visibility within the Principality. For many of them, this competition serves as a springboard into Monaco’s ecosystem: access to experts, initial funding, links with institutions, and connections with key economic players. It is one of the most effective ways to transform Monaco’s appeal into the actual creation of business and jobs.
With Monaco Inspire, we create a special meeting space for entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors. The goal is simple: to bring together those who are shaping Monaco today and those who will shape it tomorrow. Through innovative formats, we highlight inspiring stories, share best practices, and foster cross-sector collaboration. This event has become a networking accelerator, but above all a catalyst for ideas and concrete projects.
By combining these two initiatives, the JCEM acts as a true engine of attraction and economic transformation: we attract talent, we empower them, and we integrate them sustainably into Monaco’s entrepreneurial fabric.
Inauguration of Monaco Inspire by H.S.H. Prince Albert II
The challenges of structuring, succession, and growth are now central for business leaders. What are the most common needs you observe among the executives you support, and how does the JCEM help them address these needs?
The entrepreneurs we meet express three recurring needs:
• Structuring their business model in a highly competitive international environment;
• Building a support network, as the isolation of the leader remains a reality;
• Accessing the network they lack, whether for financing, growth, or recruitment.
The JCEM addresses these challenges by combining support through targeted workshops and networking sessions.
We connect business leaders with experts, organize workshops focused on growth, innovation, or digital transformation, and foster a supportive yet demanding community that helps everyone navigate critical milestones.
In short, we create an environment where business leaders can exchange ideas, learn, and grow with confidence.
The Principality boasts a unique ecosystem blending private banks, family offices, asset managers, and entrepreneurs. In your view, what bridges still need to be strengthened to foster greater collaboration, mentoring, or co-investment among these different communities?
Monaco brings together top-tier financial and entrepreneurial players, but there are still bridges to be strengthened to foster smoother collaborations, particularly in mentoring and co-investment. It is in this spirit that we launched our internal think tank dedicated to private equity.
Its role is to bring together entrepreneurs, family offices, private banks, and investors around a shared vision: to better understand one another, share market dynamics, and identify opportunities where expertise and capital can converge.
Through this work, we are creating more natural and structured connections between the various communities, paving the way for more strategic exchanges, partnerships, and a culture of co-investment that is more firmly rooted in the Principality.
We will also share our insights at a breakfast conference we are organizing next year.
Monaco is part of a highly international dynamic. In what ways does the global JCI network serve as a strategic lever for young leaders seeking to grow their businesses, access new markets, or open up to foreign investors?
Monaco is part of a highly international dynamic, and the global JCI network represents a major strategic asset for our members.
With a presence in over 100 countries, it provides direct access to markets that young leaders could not have reached on their own, to potential partners, to foreign investors, and to opportunities for multinational collaboration.
As a global platform built on action and trust, JCI enables our entrepreneurs to test their ideas across borders, understand local challenges, and connect with international leaders who can accelerate their growth.
It is a powerful tool for raising Monaco’s profile and for the companies that choose to grow there.
If you had to define a “new competitive advantage” for Monaco to attract and retain talent, entrepreneurs, and families on the move, what would it be, and why will it be decisive for the next decade?
If I had to define a decisive new competitive advantage for attracting and retaining talent, entrepreneurs, and families, it would be Monaco’s ability to offer an “intensive ecosystem”: a place where everything is close at hand, responsive, and interconnected.
In a world where time is becoming a scarce resource, Monaco offers unparalleled agility: rapid decision-making, accessible institutions, a dense network, security and quality of life, and a multicultural environment.
This “Monaco effect” allows us to move faster and further, minimizing the friction typically found in major economic hubs.
This is what I believe will make the difference over the next ten years: the ability to support entrepreneurs in achieving growth that is efficient, sustainable, and people-centered.
