Conclusions from reading so many interviews? The interviewees love
1) Property
2) BMWs
The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com
Published on Oct 07, 2012
Precious lesson from sale of parents' flat
Profit made and later sales experience sparked Andy Tan's interest in investment
By Magdalen Ng
Mr Andy Tan, a senior executive at a fund management company, says a background in electrical engineering proved to be ideal in preparation for the industry.
"It covers everything from management, to accounting, legal and social studies. We had to cover the whole spectrum," said Mr Tan, 43, who has been in the industry for nearly 20 years.
He studied electronics engineering at the National University of Singapore.
Mr Tan has invested and managed different portfolios across Asia, Australia and Europe in real estate investment, asset management, business development and fund management.
He is the chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (Aprea) Singapore, an association for institutional investors, fund managers and professionals in Asian real estate.
The multinational members, which include sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and fund managers, collectively manage assets in excess of US$1 trillion (S$1.21 trillion).
Aprea actively seeks to represent and promote the best practices in the institutional real estate asset class in Asia.
Mr Tan's wife, Liane, is a visual artist and a part-time lecturer. They have two children, Zion, nine, and Zoe, three.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
There is only so much I can spend on eating, wearing and shopping before they start eating into me. But I will not hesitate to spend the time and money to enjoy comfort food.
While working in London, I would drive for more than one hour up north to this place called Oriental City to enjoy authentic Asian food in a food court setting. I would also freely spend to enjoy good French food with my wife because it is an artistic feast for the eyes and a gastronomic enjoyment.
On average, I save about half of my earnings.
Most of it goes to our children's education, food, travel, giving to our parents and church.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge about 25 per cent of the amount I earn to my credit card monthly, and pay my bills in full each month.
To be honest, I don't charge as much as I would like to because quite a number of places still demand cash or only accept Nets.
I don't keep a very close eye on how much I spend, not in detail. I just look at my monthly account to make sure that my salary is in, then I roughly know what is left from the previous month.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
I am covered for more than $3 million, so I think my family will be well covered in the event of my death, critical illness or total and permanent disability by a few millions, given our simple lifestyle.
I am a strong believer in real estate, especially when the global financial crisis taught us that even blue-chip companies and stocks can become worthless overnight. Real estate makes up about 70 per cent of my portfolio.
Having said that, I do diversify across stocks, exchange-traded funds and also trade in derivatives as and when the opportunities arise.
Q: Money-wise, what were your growing up years like?
I grew up with my parents and two younger brothers in an old attap roof house in a kampung village. My father worked as a lorry driver while my mother worked at home by taking on contracted assignments from nearby factories to recycle used paper bags into clean bags. She also doubled as a restaurant waitress in the night.
I would help her out with the paper bags in the afternoon after school and study at night. Those were challenging times because we had to save as much as we could to prepare for relocation to an HDB flat as part of the Government's land acquisition programme.
I therefore learnt early the value of hard work, saving, courage and most importantly always being hopeful.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
My parents' first HDB flat made me see the power of investing. It cost about $15,000 which they subsequently sold for more than $200,000.
During my secondary school holidays, I worked as a salesman to sell chocolates or any product that was available. For each box of Mozart chocolate that I sold for $12, I earned a $3 commission.
Later, I moved on to selling luxury Cezanne watches during the holidays. For each watch sold, I earned at least $40 commission. On average, I earned at least $1,600 a month by selling two watches a working day.
Those were my first lessons on investment and doing business.
The first stock that I owned was probably SingTel, which was the first big market cap stock on the Singapore Exchange. The Government started to educate people on investing and also allocated some shares to us.
Q: What property do you own?
I have a few freehold condominium units which I bought over the past eight years. They are located centrally, and all more than 3,000 sq ft.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
It is definitely the BMW which I bought more than two years ago. I paid more than $200,000 for a depreciating asset.
But I did buy it when the certificate of entitlement (COE) price was relatively low before it started to shoot through the roof again.
More importantly, my family really enjoyed the ride thoroughly, which is what matters.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I remember that former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said that the day your mind starts to stand down, you are on a slippery downhill slope. So I do not even think about it.
My retirement plan is therefore to live each day to the fullest.
Q: Home is now...
A 1,400 sq ft condominium in Serangoon Gardens, which was bought about eight years ago.
Q: I drive...
A titanium BMW 5 Series.
songyuan@sph.com.sg
-----------------------------------
Worst and Best Bets
Q: What is your worst investment to date?
I invest in fundamentally sound blue-chip or government-backed companies and assets. I have not made any losses so far.
Q: What is your best investment to date?
Without a doubt, it has to be my wife and children. My wife is my lover, friend, adviser, counsellor, motivator and a self-sacrificing mother of two children.
Children are blessings to be loved, embraced and enjoyed. They reflect our blind spots and mould our character, not the other way round. They share your joy and pain and that is what makes it all worthwhile and meaningful.
How do you measure all these blessings? You cannot because the best investment is immeasurable.
In terms of my monetary investment, I have done the best when trading in derivatives, which are not really an investment.
The risk-return profile is very high but, to trade, you need time. If you don’t have the time, you can’t be trading constantly.
1) Property
2) BMWs
The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com
Published on Oct 07, 2012
Precious lesson from sale of parents' flat
Profit made and later sales experience sparked Andy Tan's interest in investment
By Magdalen Ng
Mr Andy Tan, a senior executive at a fund management company, says a background in electrical engineering proved to be ideal in preparation for the industry.
"It covers everything from management, to accounting, legal and social studies. We had to cover the whole spectrum," said Mr Tan, 43, who has been in the industry for nearly 20 years.
He studied electronics engineering at the National University of Singapore.
Mr Tan has invested and managed different portfolios across Asia, Australia and Europe in real estate investment, asset management, business development and fund management.
He is the chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (Aprea) Singapore, an association for institutional investors, fund managers and professionals in Asian real estate.
The multinational members, which include sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and fund managers, collectively manage assets in excess of US$1 trillion (S$1.21 trillion).
Aprea actively seeks to represent and promote the best practices in the institutional real estate asset class in Asia.
Mr Tan's wife, Liane, is a visual artist and a part-time lecturer. They have two children, Zion, nine, and Zoe, three.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
There is only so much I can spend on eating, wearing and shopping before they start eating into me. But I will not hesitate to spend the time and money to enjoy comfort food.
While working in London, I would drive for more than one hour up north to this place called Oriental City to enjoy authentic Asian food in a food court setting. I would also freely spend to enjoy good French food with my wife because it is an artistic feast for the eyes and a gastronomic enjoyment.
On average, I save about half of my earnings.
Most of it goes to our children's education, food, travel, giving to our parents and church.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge about 25 per cent of the amount I earn to my credit card monthly, and pay my bills in full each month.
To be honest, I don't charge as much as I would like to because quite a number of places still demand cash or only accept Nets.
I don't keep a very close eye on how much I spend, not in detail. I just look at my monthly account to make sure that my salary is in, then I roughly know what is left from the previous month.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
I am covered for more than $3 million, so I think my family will be well covered in the event of my death, critical illness or total and permanent disability by a few millions, given our simple lifestyle.
I am a strong believer in real estate, especially when the global financial crisis taught us that even blue-chip companies and stocks can become worthless overnight. Real estate makes up about 70 per cent of my portfolio.
Having said that, I do diversify across stocks, exchange-traded funds and also trade in derivatives as and when the opportunities arise.
Q: Money-wise, what were your growing up years like?
I grew up with my parents and two younger brothers in an old attap roof house in a kampung village. My father worked as a lorry driver while my mother worked at home by taking on contracted assignments from nearby factories to recycle used paper bags into clean bags. She also doubled as a restaurant waitress in the night.
I would help her out with the paper bags in the afternoon after school and study at night. Those were challenging times because we had to save as much as we could to prepare for relocation to an HDB flat as part of the Government's land acquisition programme.
I therefore learnt early the value of hard work, saving, courage and most importantly always being hopeful.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
My parents' first HDB flat made me see the power of investing. It cost about $15,000 which they subsequently sold for more than $200,000.
During my secondary school holidays, I worked as a salesman to sell chocolates or any product that was available. For each box of Mozart chocolate that I sold for $12, I earned a $3 commission.
Later, I moved on to selling luxury Cezanne watches during the holidays. For each watch sold, I earned at least $40 commission. On average, I earned at least $1,600 a month by selling two watches a working day.
Those were my first lessons on investment and doing business.
The first stock that I owned was probably SingTel, which was the first big market cap stock on the Singapore Exchange. The Government started to educate people on investing and also allocated some shares to us.
Q: What property do you own?
I have a few freehold condominium units which I bought over the past eight years. They are located centrally, and all more than 3,000 sq ft.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
It is definitely the BMW which I bought more than two years ago. I paid more than $200,000 for a depreciating asset.
But I did buy it when the certificate of entitlement (COE) price was relatively low before it started to shoot through the roof again.
More importantly, my family really enjoyed the ride thoroughly, which is what matters.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I remember that former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said that the day your mind starts to stand down, you are on a slippery downhill slope. So I do not even think about it.
My retirement plan is therefore to live each day to the fullest.
Q: Home is now...
A 1,400 sq ft condominium in Serangoon Gardens, which was bought about eight years ago.
Q: I drive...
A titanium BMW 5 Series.
songyuan@sph.com.sg
-----------------------------------
Worst and Best Bets
Q: What is your worst investment to date?
I invest in fundamentally sound blue-chip or government-backed companies and assets. I have not made any losses so far.
Q: What is your best investment to date?
Without a doubt, it has to be my wife and children. My wife is my lover, friend, adviser, counsellor, motivator and a self-sacrificing mother of two children.
Children are blessings to be loved, embraced and enjoyed. They reflect our blind spots and mould our character, not the other way round. They share your joy and pain and that is what makes it all worthwhile and meaningful.
How do you measure all these blessings? You cannot because the best investment is immeasurable.
In terms of my monetary investment, I have done the best when trading in derivatives, which are not really an investment.
The risk-return profile is very high but, to trade, you need time. If you don’t have the time, you can’t be trading constantly.
