“There was a time when people really flaunted their wealth – now they do not,” David Forbes, head of the private office at the property agent Savills, said. “People’s priorities over the years have shifted. Now right at the top of the list, it’s security.”
Few feel the pulse of global wealth like David Forbes, who possesses perhaps the most enviable contacts book in world property (having more than 600 offices with 30,000 people in 60-plus countries at your fingertips can’t hurt). "You have to be a complete chameleon, doing what I do,’ he tells Spear’s. ‘You have to be as comfortable dealing with an old duchess in Tuscany or someone from the music industry in St Tropez or someone from the film business in Los Angeles and New York. You have to tune in to people. One size doesn’t fit all."
