Marine spotlight: Altea Llakmani, CEO of FGI Yacht Group, on substance over spectacle
Altea Llakmani, chief executive of FGI Yacht Group.
Altea Llakmani is CEO of FGI Yacht Group, a company she launched with Frank Grzeszczak Sr. in 2020. FGI is a bespoke brokerage specialising in superyacht sales, charters, and new construction, with a growing global footprint.
“Being a woman leading in a traditionally male-dominated industry, I don’t take the CEO role lightly,” says Altea Llakmani. “Building FGI from the ground up has been a deliberate and ambitious process. Every day, I lead with clarity and conviction to ensure we aren’t just selling yachts – we’re building long-term relationships. Ultimately, we guide our clients through one of the most significant lifestyle decisions they’ll make.”
Here, Llakmani opens up about pausing aggressive expansion, prioritising long-term value and modernising the brokerage market as clients shift their focus to substance over spectacle.
What were the pivotal moments in your career?
Early in my career as an auditor at Deloitte (2014), one of my managers taught me the importance of treating everyone — from CEOs of companies to interns — with the same respect and care. That lesson stuck with me. To this day, I strive to foster a cohesive team environment with open communication, drawing on that principle of respect and equality.
As a chartering/post-fixture controller for Astron Maritime SAM (2018) I handled the financial side of operations, but I felt a strong pull toward the bigger picture of the business. That’s when I realised I needed an industry that was more dynamic, international, and personal. This insight set me on the path to yachting and ultimately led to co-founding FGI, where I could have that broader impact.
What’s driving FGI Yacht Group at the moment?
Our driving force right now is what I call strategic personalisation. In a crowded brokerage landscape, we set ourselves apart by building deeper relationships and tailoring strategies to each client’s lifestyle, investment goals, and long-term vision. Yachting is never one-size-fits-all. Every client has a unique story. Whether they’re acquiring their first yacht or chartering across the Med with family, our job is to listen first, and then guide them with insight grounded in real-time data — not assumptions.
Internally, we operate as a single cohesive advisory unit — brokers, charter managers, and marketing experts working as one. We don’t hand clients off, we build a team around them.
With our investment in advanced tools to track global trends and buyer behaviour, we’re not just reacting to the market, we’re anticipating it.
How does that fit into the current climate?
The current market is transitioning, and we are evolving with it. In Q1 2025, total yacht sales declined to 169 (from 251 in Q1 2023 and 220 in Q1 2024). At first glance, that may suggest a slowdown, but we see it more as a market recalibration. Buyers are being more measured and intentional in their decision-making.
Meanwhile, the average yacht length hit a six-year high of about 35.8 metres, and average asking prices continue to hold above €10m. This isn’t a retreat, it’s shifting toward quality over quantity, with buyers prioritising long-term value.
What’s exciting in the marine market?
We’re witnessing a meaningful shift in what today’s yacht buyers and charterers truly value. There’s a rising demand for substance over spectacle, for vessels that can go farther, do more, and reflect a more conscious way of exploring the world.
Explorer yachts, support vessels, and hybrid-capable builds are gaining momentum, not just as a trend, but as a response to how clients want to live and travel.
Additionally, interest in sustainability, range, and long-term usability is on the rise. More buyers are prioritising technical range, fuel efficiency, and innovative propulsion.
Questions like “Where can this yacht take me?” and “How adaptable is this platform for future technology?” are becoming central to the purchase decision.
At the same time, there is renewed curiosity about remote cruising grounds — from the Arctic to the South Pacific — and clients are seeking vessels that can navigate these regions safely and comfortably. This is influencing how shipyards design their next-generation offerings and how brokers like us position opportunities to meet a new kind of demand.
What’s happening with your workforce?
We’ve always believed great companies are built by design, not by accident. At FGI, we hire with intention — seeking individuals who bring deep industry expertise and the confidence to challenge convention. We look for team members who raise the bar, strategic thinkers who bring fresh perspective and redefine what a yacht brokerage can be.
This deliberate approach has paid off: in the first quarter of 2025 alone, our team closed over 100 meters in sales, expanded our presence across key international markets, and secured some of the most competitive listings in the brokerage space.
What makes our workforce different is that we don’t just fill roles — we build culture. There’s a shared sense of accountability, creativity, and excellence that runs through the company. And while titles and resumes matter, what we value most is how our team shows up for one another — and for our clients — every single day.
What changes would you make to the market, if you had a magic wand?
If I could change one thing, it would be to bring greater clarity and consistency to the client experience in brokerage. For an industry built on relationships and reputation, there’s still far too much opacity — whether it’s around pricing, negotiation strategy, or even what a client should expect from their broker.
Today’s yacht buyers and sellers are incredibly informed. They’re used to data-driven environments, seamless transactions, and advisors who act as true partners.
Yet too often, the brokerage process feels outdated — transactional rather than strategic, guarded rather than transparent. That disconnect erodes trust.
If we want this industry to evolve, and if we want to attract the next generation of UHNW [ultra high net worth] clients, we need to demystify the process. That means raising the bar: more open communication, clearer value at every step, and a shared standard for how we show up as professionals. Transparency isn’t just good practice, it’s good business. Ultimately, it’s what will drive longevity and growth in this market.
Describe a hard decision you’ve had to make
As CEO, one of the most difficult decisions I have made was to pause aggressive expansion in order to reinforce our foundation — focusing on our people, processes, and systems.
Back in 2024, we had incredible momentum. Demand was high, opportunities were everywhere, and the path to rapid growth was wide open.
Saying “no” to growth at that moment felt counterintuitive. But I also knew that without the right infrastructure in place, scale could lead to fragmentation — and that’s not the kind of business we set out to build. I had to ensure we grew with integrity, not just speed.
Holding back on expansion wasn’t easy, but it taught me that leadership isn’t just about saying yes to growth — it’s about knowing when to say “not yet”.
Real scale isn’t about how fast you can grow; it’s about growing with purpose.
Now, in 2025, we’re seeing the impact: a stronger, more aligned team, improved performance across departments, and a company culture that’s not just preserved, but elevated. In hindsight, pressing pause was absolutely the right decision for the long-term health of the company.
Describe a mistake and how you’ve recovered
Earlier in my leadership journey, I made the mistake of not defining expectations clearly enough. I assumed that just because everyone on the team was ambitious and capable, we were automatically on the same page. I quickly learned that shared ambition doesn’t equal shared understanding.
Things fell through the cracks because I hadn’t explicitly outlined roles, responsibilities, or how we would measure success.
I definitely learned from that experience. Today, I’m very deliberate about communicating expectations up front, whether it’s how we serve a client, how our team collaborates, or what success looks like for a project. I’ve put more structure into onboarding new team members and more transparency into how we evaluate performance. The shift has been transformational. The team is more aligned and, importantly, more empowered. When people know exactly what’s expected and feel supported, they perform at a higher level. That lesson fundamentally reshaped how I lead.
What’s been your proudest moment?
The past year has been one of the most defining in FGI Yacht Group‘s history (and in my own career). We achieved roughly 25 per cent team growth, expanded into new markets, opened new offices, and forged strategic partnerships that boosted our global presence. I also stepped into the role of CEO during this period of momentum. It wasn’t a sudden pivot for the company, but rather the next natural step in our evolution, which made the transition feel seamless.
Each of those milestones is significant, but what I’m most proud of is how we accomplished them intentionally and without losing our identity.
We didn’t chase growth for vanity’s sake; we grew with vision and purpose.
The best part has been watching our team rise to the challenge and then surpass it. They took ownership of their roles, made smart decisions, and advanced the brand, all while staying true to who we are. That’s when I knew our culture was truly working. Anyone can grow in numbers, but growing in a way that preserves your company’s soul is something special. That, above all, makes me incredibly proud.
What needs to change in how the brokerage industry presents itself to the next generation?
I believe the next generation of yacht owners — and aspiring yacht professionals — want relevance over tradition. They expect transparency, efficiency, and advisors who understand their pace, values, and priorities.
Unfortunately, our industry is often still perceived as old-school: too transactional, too opaque, maybe even a bit inaccessible to newcomers. That image doesn’t resonate with younger clients or emerging talent.
To shift that perception, we as an industry need to modernise how we present ourselves, to both clients and potential team members. At FGI, this has become a core focus. It means being more digitally fluent, culturally inclusive, and generally more in tune with what younger generations value. We have to show that we can operate with the same transparency and innovation they’ve come to expect in other sectors.
Ultimately, it’s about building long-term trust over short-term gain. If we can do that — if we can demonstrate that yacht brokerage is as forward-thinking and client-friendly as any modern industry — we’ll not only attract the next generation of yacht owners, but also the next generation of brokers, marketeers, and innovators who will keep this sector thriving.
