Family offices have long been interested in investing in the concept of longevity as it relates to health care. The market is booming now, with everything from full-body MRI scans and concierge medical services to weight loss drugs. Andrew Cohen spoke with industry experts about the nuances of this burgeoning sector and heard where they actually see the real opportunities.
Now that the summer is upon us, we’ve rounded up a list of the most outstanding kids clubs for jet set families. The modern-day high-net-worth family doesn’t mind traveling with kids in tow, so long as they can have a meaningful experience for themselves and for their kids. Be sure to read on to see which kids clubs made the list.
As always, we appreciate any comments, ideas and insights that would make this newsletter more useful. I look forward to growing this family office community with your help. Please email me at [email protected].
HANDPICKED: Investors target longevity, from cancer and vaccines to AI-driven care
By ANDREW COHEN
As U.S. life expectancy has fallen below that of most other developed countries, high-net-worth investors have targeted longevity and anti-aging solutions in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. About one-third of family offices have portfolios overweighted on health care investments, according to a 2023 study from Goldman Sachs.
The Food and Drug Administration does not classify aging as a disease but, rather, a natural process. This challenges physicians seeking FDA approval on trials to slow or reverse the aging process, as they don’t have defined criteria to measure whether their anti-aging drugs or therapies are working. So they instead need their drugs and trials to target a specific disease recognized by the FDA.
“It doesn’t mean folks won’t do trials, but what you’re going to be measuring is still a key question,” Dr. Daniel Kraft, a Stanford- and Harvard-trained physician-scientist and managing partner at Continuum Health Ventures, told Crain Currency. “It does make clinical trials more challenging if you’re going to do one. We know there are diseases associated with aging — cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, dementia, etc.”
Jason Stelmaszyk, a senior adviser at GenTrust, said the lack of FDA approval has exposed the anti-aging industry to pseudoscience. “The problem with the longevity space is you just see a lot of people pitching ridiculous diets and exercise routines, things that are very clearly not rooted in science,” he said.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Stelmaszyk fits his anti-aging investment strategy into two categories: longevity and quality of life. The longevity side consists mostly of companies innovating to solve cancer, heart disease or neurological disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Quality-of-life investments are geared toward companies working to keep people active — usually through enhancements in mobility, vision and hearing.
Investment opportunities mentioned by Stelmaszyk include the vision therapy company Unity Biotechnology and the mRNA vaccine technology company HelixNano.
On the cancer front, innovators include Cancer Check Labs, a blood test screening company founded by Sumit Rai of the Dallas-based Rai single-family office. CourMed, a private health concierge used by family offices and other high-net-worth individuals, counts Cancer Check Labs among its at-home services.
“What his company can do is identify cancer in very early stages, almost at stage zero,” said CourMed CEO Derrick Miles. “It's done through a blood draw. We utilize a concierge service to come to your own home and take the blood; then it undergoes analysis, and over 200 types of early cancer can be detected, [with] a 90% chance of survival.”
CourMed members are charged $995 per test, which Miles said is lower than the standard Cancer Check Labs test priced around $1,295.
It's common for family offices to fund causes that are personal to them, with one example being Rai's founding Cancer Check Labs after he lost his sister to the disease. Many blockbuster drugs and therapies are developed for decades before reaching breakthrough success — an investment timeline that family offices can afford.
“Family offices are patient capital. It’s been 14 years in the making of finally getting this technology out to the masses,” Miles said of Cancer Check Labs. “Family offices have worked out all the issues around legal, accounting and insurance. They’ve solved the lion's share of issues; now they’re looking for a competitive advantage,” he added, explaining why family offices sign up for CourMed’s at-home health care service.
Prime examples of patience paying off in health investment are GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro. Given the growing problem of obesity and its ties to heart disease, Stelmaszyk considers these weight loss drugs as investments in longevity.
“The real paradigm-shifting drugs and therapies out there are absolutely 10-, 20-year plays,” he said. “The first GLP-1s were starting to be issued in the early 2000s, back in 2002, 2003. This technology has been around, but it took another 20 years for it to really take off.”
While current GLP-1s are mostly injected, companies are racing to produce these weight loss drugs in pill form. Pfizer was making a twice-daily weight loss pill but stopped development in December after trial patients experienced high rates of side effects. Pfizer does plan to release data this year of a once-daily version of the pill still in development.
“I think whoever comes up with the pill form, tablet form, that’s the next big company,” Stelmaszyk said of weight loss drugs. “I don’t know who is going to do it first because everyone is working on it, but that is huge. Because there’s a lot of people who don’t want to inject themselves but absolutely would take a pill.”
At 89 years old, venture capital pioneer Alan Patricof recently launched an investment fund focused on longevity. Retro Fitness founder Eric Casaburi, himself a chair of Tiger 21’s ultra-high-net-worth peer group in Orlando, Florida, has launched Serotonin Anti-Aging Centers in cities across Florida, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Missouri and North Carolina.
Continuum Health Ventures, backed by investor Howard Morgan among other family office limited partnerships, funds health tech and health-span-focused companies and typically invests between $500,000 and $1.5 million.
“We’re not going after a particular disease. We feel like the world’s a little bit overindexed on sick care," said Ricky Mehra, Continuum Health Ventures' managing partner. “I’m an advocate for whole-body MRIs, multicancer screening. The more we could look inside, the earlier we could detect, the better the outcome.
"We’re letting too many people get sick, and then we’re spending a lot of time and money figuring out how to solve for them.”
Continuum’s portfolio companies include the obesity management software platform Enara and the biotech company Immunis, which is working on drugs to reverse sarcopenia and other muscle atrophy diseases associated with aging.
“[Muscle atrophy] starts to hit human beings somewhere in their 30s in some sort of noticeable amount," Mehra said. "But really we start to see that muscle degradation problem happen in our 50, 60s and 70s. This might get worse if the GLPs continue to prove that some of the weight loss associated with Ozempic and Wegovy is also associated with muscle degradation.”
LONGEVITY AND AI
Much of Continuum’s investments leverage artificial intelligence, including the humanoid robot company Sanctuary AI, the infectious disease database Biotia and the health care data collaboration startup BeeKeeper AI.
“I think AI will have a huge role in drug discovery, in expediting how fast we get from an idea, disease to a solution,” Mehra said. “I feel strongly that we’re going to start to see this concept of a ‘doc and poc’ — a doctor in your pocket — where we can have pushes and nudges with a medical AI agent that sits in our earbuds — or our smart glasses, phones or watches — that’s constantly monitoring and looking for challenges that are impacting us in a negative way.”
Kraft, Mehra’s founding partner at Continuum Health Ventures, said he sees a future where AI — whether through a phone, smart ring or other wearable device — will analyze a user’s voice to detect depression, anxiety, neurological issues or even high blood sugar.
“If you can stay healthy and active for the next 10, 20 years, a lot of these emerging true technologies that are going to extend health and reverse aging might start to come online,” Kraft said, “whether it’s xenotransplantation of organs to vaccines for Alzheimer's or cancer.”
The most outstanding kids clubs for jet set families
By ALYSSA SHELASKY
Once you’ve stayed at a hotel with a stellar kids club, it’s hard to travel anywhere else without one. With the right engaging activities, arts-and-craft projects, cultural education programs and enthusiastic counselors, well-traveled kids can and will frolic for hours while their adults, well, adult.
Here are 10 luxury hotels that boast exceptional kids clubs, with offerings ranging from horsemanship to gardening to Spanish lessons and more.
Brush Creek Ranch in Wyoming is where celebrities and elite travelers flock to connect with mother nature and — for several hours a day — disconnect from their parenting responsibilities. Their unparalleled Li’l Wranglers program incorporates a vast variety of exciting activities carefully tailored to each kid. One of the most striking parts about the program is that The Lil’ Wranglers club passionately introduces children to dude-ranch culture and truly opens their minds to the concept of the American Wild West. Think: horsemanship, ranch ecology, organic baking, goat play, country music, folk art and more. This is truly one of the best, most thoughtful kids clubs in the world, set within an unspeakably paradisiacal environment.
At the luxurious waterfront Cape Cod hotel the Wequassett Resort & Golf Club in Harwich, Massachusetts, an award-winning children’s center offers educational, innovative and whimsical programming for children ages 4-12. The center is equipped with an array of video gaming systems (hard yes from the kids), high-level crafts and an outdoor amphitheater for children to put on plays and performances to showcase to their new friends and well-relaxed parents. Additionally, the outside area features a nautical-themed pirate ship playground with a splash park, ball pit, slides and picnic area.
The Kids For All Seasons kids club program at the Four Seasons Resort Nevis is known to be one of Four Seasons’ best places ever for kids. In general, Nevis is a magical place for the young and the young at heart. But with this clubhouse, the island takes on a whole new level of parental joy and chillness. Their well-orchestrated, high-level programming ranges from cultural to environmental to educational; but mostly, it’s just plain fun for the kiddos. With an indoor rock-climbing wall, a movie screening room and snacks right off the beach, this hotel just screams happy family.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the independence of Grenada, making it an ideal time to visit Mount Cinnamon Resort & Club, an authentic and super-special Caribbean boutique hotel with 36 hillside suites and villas above Grand Anse Beach in Grenada. But most relevantly, Mount Cinnamon has a complimentary Kids Club for 3-12-year-olds. Unlike some of the more standard kids clubs, Mount Cinnamon offers a variety of sports and instruction, including football and cricket lessons from staff at the resort who used to play for local Grenadian teams. Other options include chocolate-truffle-making for kids and garden “pick and taste” lessons. A truly authentic experience for the little world travelers.
At the One&Only Mandarina, nestled within an intimate and chic coastal community and set upon a rare undeveloped stretch of coastline along the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico, in-the-know families are obsessed with the kids’ programming. Their fabulous KidsOnly club has children immersed in rugged nature and adventure, with a spectacular 42,000-square-foot fantasy jungle featuring an outdoor amphitheater, butterfly sanctuary, cinema, game room and nature trails ready for exploration. On top of that, the resort has miles of nature trails winding through flatlands and rainforest, as well as whale-watching, surfing, snorkeling and ziplining.
At the Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya — where guests can escape reality with a secluded beachfront, lush vegetation and wild nature everywhere — there’s also the terrific Kimbo Kids Club, a complimentary service for children ages 4 and up. The Kimbo Kids Club teaches children about meditation, yoga and the Spanish language. There’s also a host of kid-friendly offerings, including an eco-cruise around the Mayakoba lagoon, pinata-making lessons, water games and Mexican candy tasting.
If you want the high-end Andaz experience but are looking at Costa Rica, their Peninsula Papagayo property offers the Cambi Day Club and Camp Jaguar for teens, both of which are focused on the discovery of Costa Rica’s natural wonders by offering fun-filled explorations tailored for mini adventurers. We’re talking nature meditation, pottery painting, treasure hunts, color therapy, recycled turtle arts and crafts, and more.
If Portugal is on the wish list, the stunning Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts is increasingly famous for its family-friendly programming. Truly, if any brand goes above and beyond for parents with kids of all ages, it's Martinhal, with a collection of four luxury boutique hotels and resorts in Portugal, from the center of Lisbon at Martinhal Chiado to the South West Algarve at Martinhal Sagres. At each of their hotels, Martinhal offers dedicated kids menus, including baby menus. Martinhal also has a "baby concierge" service across the properties that helps guests prearrange their stay with lifesavers like door protectors, potties, bottle sterilizers and safety gates, all free of charge. All Martinhal hotels are designed with baby-proofed furnishings — think Portuguese cork coffee tables with soft rounded edges to avoid bumps, step stools in the bathrooms and highchairs placed in the apartments. The kids clubs are meticulously designed and complete with interactive sensory toys and child care professionals who provide ultraprofessional day care so parents can enjoy their gorgeous surroundings and vibrant culture.
Just the mention of Sardina, and a sleep-deprived, stressed-out parent drifts into extreme daydream mode. Fortunately, at the Abi d’Oru Beach Hotel & Spa, families can visit with their kids and get exactly la bella vita escape they’re dreaming of. Because as the parents enjoy the beach and the food and spritzes, for the kids, there are splash pads, a pool, playgrounds and, most important, a recently renovated indoor/outdoor "Bee Happy" kids club. The club includes time in the water, Italian cooking classes and gardening with local Sardinian flowers and plants.
Out east, the famously woozy and dreamy Gurney’s is the ideal choice for families looking for a magical Hamptons experience. Their kids club is open during holiday weekends during the school year and daily through the peak summer season. There, kids can enjoy crafts, time at the beach and an indoor pool, and guided entertainment. Activities include crafts such as lava-lamp decorating, culinary activities like cookie decorating, and field days. The kids club also features "Kids Night Out" activities and family-friendly movie nights supervised by staff, along with “Dive in Movie” nights at the Seawater Pool.
From this writer's POV, there has never been a kids club as successful as the Jungle Jam Kids Club at The Shore Club Turks & Caicos. For one, the hotel is impossibly chic while still evoking those low-key Caribbean vibes you desperately crave. For the kids, the club is hopping, with a daily combination of nature, discovery and exploration exclusive to Caribbean culture, as well as physical activities, crafts and creative play all day long. This is where lifelong friendships are made, shells collected and kites flown, with kids beaming with joy at the end of the day. It will keep you returning from year to year, as a wonderful family tradition, as long as you coordinate with the kids’ new besties and their families to come join you.
LOOSE CHANGE
Four Seasons private jet experiences announced for 2026: The luxury trips via private jet include stops across Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and Australia.
What are we reading, watching and listening to: April Rudin: The founder and CEO of the global wealth marketing firm The Rudin Group shares her interests.
LuAnn De Lesseps helps launch Hamptons outpost of RingMyBelle: The company provides on-demand hair and makeup services to those living and summering in the region.
Help us with a story: We’re working on a story about investing in space. If you have any comments on the topic, reach out to [email protected].