Another insightful, business-focused interview by IMGlobalWealth.com
In the lead-up to the Investment Migration Forum 2026, taking place in Paris from 9 to 12 June, the global investment migration sector is navigating a period of political uncertainty, regulatory scrutiny, and shifting investor priorities. For more than a decade, the Forum has served as the world’s largest gathering of investment migration professionals, a meeting point for governments, advisers, law firms, due diligence providers, wealth specialists, and other leading figures in the field.
As a historic and cosmopolitan metropolis, Paris offers a unique backdrop for the Investment Migration Forum 2026. From its renowned cuisine and architecture to its status as an influential global hub, the city promises attendees a memorable and valuable experience.
In this exclusive interview with IMGW.news, Editor-in-Chief Ray de Bono speaks with Samuel Spiteri, Cert (IM), Stakeholder Relations Officer at the Investment Migration Council (IMC), about the role of the Forum, the importance of credible networks, and why in-person dialogue continues to matter in a sector built on confidence and long-term relationships.
The discussion also explores why Paris itself offers a fitting setting for this year’s Forum. Framed by the French ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, the city reflects many of the themes shaping investment migration today, from global mobility and opportunity to responsible investment and international cooperation.
Q&A
1. Your role as Stakeholder Relations Officer seems to sit at the heart of the IMC’s work, connecting governments, practitioners, advisers, academics and service providers. How would you describe what your work involves, especially in the lead-up to the Investment Migration Forum in Paris?
My role sits at the intersection of relationship-building and long-term stakeholder alignment. It involves engaging governments, advisers, practitioners, academics and service providers to ensure dialogue is continuous, purposeful, and informed by evolving policy and market realities.
In the lead-up to Paris, the focus is on making sure conversations are meaningful before participants even arrive. Much of the work involves ensuring that the right people are in the room, expectations are clearly understood, and discussions can lead to practical collaboration rather than remain at the level of introductions.
It is also worth noting that within residence and citizenship by investment, a substantial proportion of business originates through referrals rather than direct approaches. Trusted introductions remain central to how the field operates. That makes participation in high-quality gatherings such as the Investment Migration Forum especially important.
2. The Investment Migration Forum brings together many of the leading voices in global mobility, investment migration, due diligence, wealth management, law, tax, real estate and government. What does it take behind the scenes to turn so many conversations into meaningful collaboration?
Bringing so many senior people together is only the first step. The real work is creating the right conditions for useful conversations to happen, by understanding who needs to meet whom, where interests overlap, and which discussions have the potential to continue beyond the Forum.
Behind the scenes, this means careful planning, thoughtful introductions and proper follow-up. A good conversation at the Forum can become a working relationship, a policy exchange, a referral, or a longer-term collaboration. That is where the real value lies: not only in what happens during the Forum, but in what develops afterwards.
Anyone looking for the right networking opportunities in investment migration will recognise that attending the Forum and its many activities is key.
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝑴𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉.𝒄𝒐𝒎 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔
For readers of IMGlobalWealth.com considering attendance at this year’s Forum in Paris, the Investment Migration Council is pleased to extend a preferential 8% reduction on the standard delegate fee of €1,600. By using the code IMGW8 at registration, participants will receive an immediate saving of €128 at checkout, bringing the total fee to €1,472. Book Now >
3. This year’s Forum in Paris is framed around the French motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. From your perspective, why is this such a relevant framework for the future of investment migration?
The French motto provides a useful framework for reflecting on mobility in a modern context. Liberty speaks to the individual’s ability to access opportunity across borders. Equality points to the need for transparent and consistent standards across jurisdictions. Fraternity reflects the importance of cooperation between states and private actors in managing mobility responsibly.
Together, these principles show that investment migration is not only a technical or legal field. It also reflects wider expectations around fairness, access and international cooperation.
“The Forum should be seen as more than a convening event. For more than a decade, it has served as the world’s largest gathering of investment migration professionals”
4. Stakeholder relations often require both structure and empathy. How important is trust-building in a sector that deals with governments, investors, professional advisers and increasingly complex regulatory expectations?
Trust is central to every layer of engagement. While the IMC is not a regulator, it has established credibility among governments, practitioners and the wider public as a convening body that promotes lawful and ethical standards. This credibility is reinforced through due diligence on members, helping ensure that participation in IMC platforms is associated with professional integrity.
In a field shaped by cross-border complexity and regulatory scrutiny, trust cannot be assumed. It has to be built through consistency, transparency and sustained work over time.
5. The Forum is not only about formal sessions, but also about networking, private meetings, dinners and informal conversations. Why are these moments so important in an sector built on relationships and reputation?
Formal sessions provide structure, but informal settings often carry equal, if not greater, weight. Conversations over dinners, side meetings and networking moments allow for a level of candour that is not always possible in public sessions.
These interactions are often where ideas are tested, relationships are strengthened, and future cooperation begins to take shape. In a relationship-driven sector, such moments are not secondary; they are essential.
6. Investment migration continues to face scrutiny, but also growing demand in a world shaped by uncertainty, geopolitical risk and cross-border opportunity. Why is it important for the sector’s leading professionals to meet in person at gatherings such as the Paris Forum?
Despite technological advances, in-person interaction remains critical where nuance, confidence and long-term cooperation are involved. Regulatory pressures and geopolitical uncertainty require a depth of understanding that is difficult to replicate remotely.
Events such as the Investment Migration Forum create space for direct exchange, stronger relationships, and more immediate discussion of differences or shared concerns.
7. For someone still considering whether to attend the Investment Migration Forum 2026, what would you say makes this gathering essential, not just as an event, but as a meeting point for the people shaping the future of this important business?
For more than a decade, the Investment Migration Forum has served as the world’s leading meeting point for investment migration professionals. It brings together many of the sector’s foremost practitioners, policymakers, advisers, due diligence specialists, wealth professionals and service providers to discuss the future direction of global mobility.
Its strength lies in both scale and credibility. Held under the IMC, a non-profit organisation with established due diligence processes for its members, the Forum offers a trusted setting for serious exchange. While the IMC is not a regulator, it is widely recognised as a credible platform supporting ethical practice, lawful cooperation and professional standards across borders.
For participants, the value lies not only in the formal programme, but also in the access it provides to the people who matter in the field. In a business where opportunities often arise through referrals, trusted introductions and long-term relationships, the Forum and its related activities offer one of the most important networking opportunities in investment migration.
Final Observations
In a world marked by war, geopolitical tension, economic fragmentation, and growing pressure on traditional mobility routes, investment migration is becoming part of a wider conversation about security, diversification, and long-term optionality. Emerging markets across Africa and South America are also becoming more visible in global mobility discussions, adding new perspectives to a field once dominated by a smaller group of jurisdictions.
Against this backdrop, the Investment Migration Forum 2026 arrives at a timely moment. Hosted in Paris under the themes of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, the Forum offers more than a conference setting. It remains the sector’s central global meeting point, the place where those shaping the future of residence and citizenship by investment gather to exchange views, test ideas, and build the relationships that often define the field’s next chapter.
𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚
