Category: International Finance

Me & My Money: Making investments simple and fuss-free so there’s more family time

Ms So Sin Ting keeps her investing experience uncomplicated by choosing portfolios that are already designed and monitored.
JUN 30, 2024

So Sin Ting

SINGAPORE – Financial sector executive So Sin Ting has learnt one big thing over her 15 years in the wealth management game – keep it simple.

Ms So, 36, keeps her investing experience uncomplicated and automated by choosing portfolios that are already designed and monitored, allowing her more time for something far more valuable: her family.

“I also set up monthly recurring investments which also help me deploy my investments in a disciplined manner and grow my portfolio over time,” she adds.

“The old adage never rings truer here – it is ultimately time in the market, and not ‘timing’ the market, that is important to building wealth.

“This approach saves me a lot of time and effort, and allows me to focus on my family priorities and enjoy my child’s growing years.”

Ms So is the chief client officer at Endowus, a fund investment platform and fiduciary adviser that serves around 200,000 individuals, family offices, charities, endowments and institutions.

It is also the first digital adviser in the region to span private wealth and public pensions, so it covers Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions here.

Ms So was part of the founding team of Endowus in 2017, a fact she is proud of when she looks at how far the company has come as the largest independent wealth management platform in Asia.

“We had a clear vision to make holistic advice and institutional quality investments accessible to everyone at a low, fair, and transparent cost,” she says.

“I was incredibly excited about our mission because I really wanted to make a tangible impact, and fundamentally change the traditional wealth management business model so that we could bring better financial outcomes to everyone.”

This mission also stemmed from Ms So’s personal experience. “I always found it challenging to manage my personal wealth in a holistic manner.

“It was difficult to access institutional quality investment products as an individual investor, and I saw the difference between how banks would advise their clients to invest, versus how I would personally invest for my life goals.”

She adds that this was one of the inherent problems of the traditional wealth management industry in Asia – that the client’s best interests did not always align with the advice offered, which could also be layered with hidden fees.

“We are leading the industry by introducing greater transparency so investors can keep more of their returns and compound their wealth. That said, in many ways, we are still at the beginning of our journey and have much more that we want to do.”

Ms So believes aligning her investment decisions with her life goals also remains vital, especially with her two-year-old daughter in mind. “Becoming a mother has also definitely given me a new perspective in balancing work and family,” she says.

“Not only do I want to give my child the best in life, but I hope to be present and to be emotionally and physically available to her all through her formative and growing years.

“This also means that my money needs to work much harder for me in the background, and my investment mindset needs to encapsulate much longer-term goals.”

Ms So’s husband also runs a fund management company. The family includes three children from his previous marriage.

Q: What is in your personal portfolio?

A: My investment choices and asset allocations are based on my life goals, which help me understand how much I need to invest, the amount of cash flow I need, and the level of risk I can take. The bulk of my assets are with Endowus, via equity in the company and invested on the Endowus platform.

I invest my CPF Ordinary Account and Supplementary Retirement Scheme account. I also invest cash across three main “buckets” – a short-term liquidity bucket concentrated on cash management funds, a mid-term bucket with fixed income funds, and a longer-term bucket that comprises an equity-heavy Flagship Portfolio.

My long-term bucket with the Flagship Portfolio holds the majority of my funds, and has an asset allocation of 80 per cent equities and 20 per cent in fixed income.

On top of these three buckets, I have a small satellite portfolio invested in China funds, which unfortunately has been challenging over the last few years.

When you go through major life events, it is also an opportunity to revisit your investment plan. I have definitely changed my investing strategy since starting Endowus and having a daughter. As a mum and entrepreneur, time is my most precious commodity. It is always such a challenge carving out and dedicating time to different parts of my life.

As for further investment plans, I am thinking of allocating some money to multi-strategy hedge funds and private market funds for additional diversification and lowered volatility, for instance.

However, given that a significant part of my investments is already invested into my company and my husband is also heavily exposed to illiquid investments, I also want to be careful about adding more semi-liquid investments to my portfolios.

My financial plan goes beyond my personal investments and ensures that my family’s well-being and future are covered. We have insurance policies in place for the family, but I personally prefer to separate investments from insurance so we do not own any investment-linked insurance products.

Q: What was your biggest investing mistake? Which was your best investment?

A: Like many of us, I have made my fair share of investing mistakes. At the beginning of my investment journey, I invested in some “fad” stocks that friends recommended, which lost most of their investment value. I am not sure why we thought that we could outsmart the market!

In the last few years, some of the private venture companies that my husband and I invested in have been written down to hardly anything. Thankfully, we had put in smaller amounts of money. The big learning for me is that it is important to right-size your tactical investments. It is also important to always understand what you are invested in.

My best investment is equity in my own company. Many of us have poured in our life savings to grow Endowus, as we are in it for the long game and believe we are building the wealth management experience of the future.

Ms So Sin Ting and her two-year-old daughter, Alexandra Lauren Moey. Becoming a mother has given her a new perspective in balancing work and family. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Q: Describe your lifestyle.

A: I own a four-bedroom apartment near Orchard with my husband. I also drive a second-hand grey Mini Cooper Clubman.

Retirement planning is extremely important to me, and is another crucial bit of education that we impart to our clients, especially women. Women statistically outlive men, and that makes saving up for retirement even more important and challenging.

That being said, I think the concept of retirement will look very different for our generation versus our parents’ generations. To me, saving enough for retirement is about having the freedom to choose when I stop working for a pay cheque, and having the freedom to pursue work that I am passionate about while being able to spend quality time with loved ones.

A lot of my values around money are shaped by my family. My father was and still is extremely frugal – you can count on two hands the number of shirts he owns. He is a strong believer in spending within his means and taught me the importance of saving for a rainy day.

However, education has always been extremely important to him. The one thing I was always allowed to spend money on growing up was books. My siblings and I have amassed a large collection of books in my parents’ home, and we hope to pass down our collection to our children one day.

Her top three investing tips:

Arm yourself with knowledge: Gaining financial literacy will really give you the confidence to take control of your financial well-being.

Invest with intention: Adopt goal-based, long-term investing strategies.

Set up automated investments: It helps keep us disciplined and takes the emotion out of investing.

Quote of the Week

You have the Barons, who perceive change as a risk to their fiefdoms and personal importance. You have the Creationists, who feel comfortable with things as they are and distrust evolution. And you have the Romantics, who hark back to some imagined Camelot, when every subject in the kingdom was happy and prosperous.

~ Friedman, on the three camps that resisted change in Goldman Sachs

Economists warn of deep recession for Singapore if euro zone breaks up

Singapore could sink into a deep recession if Greece’s debt crisis leads to a break-up of the euro zone and causes another global downturn.

The warning came from economists on Wednesday who outlined a range of nightmare scenarios that, while appearing unlikely at present, remain possible if events spiral out of control.

The downbeat assessment also dovetailed with a new survey on Wednesday showing that Asia’s top companies are less optimistic about their business outlook.

Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde painted two gloomy narratives that could result in the European monetary union falling apart in the coming months.

The first is one where Greece leaves the grouping but contagion to other European countries is limited; the second involves Greece leaving and contagion spreading.

If this second scenario transpires, Mr Prior-Wandesforde said Singapore would likely experience a deep recession by the year end with the economy contracting 4.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.

If this happens, the economy would be down 0.6 per cent for the whole year, similar to the 1 per cent fall in gross domestic product experienced in 2009 following the financial crisis.

Singapore is officially expected to grow between 1 per cent and 3 per cent this year, the Trade and Industry Ministry has said, although it too has warned of rising risks over the euro zone crisis.

‘This scenario assumes the most immediate impact, through the trade channels and exports to Europe and the United States,’ said Mr Prior-Wandesforde yesterday.

‘There are likely to be other negative implications as well. These include a drying up of trade finance, as witnessed during the financial crisis, as well as a withdrawal of funds from the Asian region to shore up European balance sheets.’

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin agreed, saying his model showed that an ‘ugly bear case’ could mean a 1 per cent contraction for Singapore’s economy this year.

‘We are worried about the financial contagion channel, which could see credit freeze up and affect many businesses,’ he added.

Mr Prior-Wandesforde was also less optimistic on the prospect of a quick recovery this time as governments have less financial power for another huge stimulus.

In 2010, Asia saw a quick and remarkable V-shaped recovery from the 2009 recession.

Singapore grew at a rapid 14.8 per cent that year, more than making up for the 1 per cent contraction.

Capital Economics noted that Asian governments are better placed than their Western counterparts to pump prime their economies this time but the region also has less firepower than in 2010.

It noted that both Hong Kong and Singapore have the healthiest fiscal positions in Asia, with large surpluses and reserves.

‘However, as trade-dependent economies with big financial sectors, they are the two places in Asia most vulnerable to a crisis in the euro zone and most exposed to another global downturn,’ it said.

‘As a result, even expansionary fiscal policy is unlikely to prevent these two economies from falling into a deep recession if exports slump.’

Fortunately a Greek exit is unlikely to happen in the next six months. Credit Suisse puts the probability at about 20 per cent while Swiss bank UBS says the chances of Greece leaving the euro zone are less than 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, a recent survey showed that Asia’s top companies are now less upbeat about their business outlook than in the first quarter.

The Thomson Reuters/Insead Asia Business Sentiment Index fell to 69 last month from 74 in March.

A reading above 50 indicates an overall positive outlook.

Of the 177 companies polled, 78 said their business outlook for the next six months was positive, while 87 said it was neutral, and 12 said it was negative, Reuters reported.

The poll was conducted between June 4 and 15.

Asked what the biggest risk factor they faced was, 111 companies said global economic uncertainty, and 28 cited rising costs.

‘Things are looking tougher with what’s happening in the global economy. Asia is not fully insulated but will still do relatively better, given that most governments in the region still have leeway to stimulate domestic economies,’ Aberdeen Asset Management Asia investment manager Kristy Fong told Reuters.

‘Cost pressures are another issue, such as rising inflationary pressures in Singapore (and) infrastructure and logistical bottlenecks in India.’

OCBC Investment Research analyst Carey Wong noted that consumers were turning more cautious in placing orders.

‘As long as customers don’t give them very clear order indications, sentiment won’t be that good. As a business owner, you can’t plan ahead, such as planning capital expenditure.’

The Carrian Group

The Carrian Group was a Hong Kong conglomerate founded by George Tan, a Singaporean Civil Engineer working in Hong Kong as a project manager for a land development company. The Group’s principal holding company Carrian Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 1977.

In January 1980, the group, through a 75% owned subsidiary, purchased Gammon House (a commercial Office building, now Bank of America Tower) in Central District, Hong Kong for $998 million. It grabbed the limelight in April 1980 when it announced the sale of Gammon House for a staggering HK$1.68 billion, a price that surprised Hong Kong’s Property and Financial markets and developed public interest in Carrian.

In the same year, Carrian capitalized on its notoriety by acquiring a publicly listed Hong Kong company, renaming it Carrian Investments Ltd., and using it as a vehicle to raise funds from the financial markets.

The group grew rapidly in the early 1980s to include properties in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Japan, and the United States. At its peak, the Carrian Group owned businesses in Real Estate, Finance, Shipping, Insurance (China Insurance Underwriters Ltd), Hotels, Catering and Transportation (A Taxi fleet that was the largest ever in Hong Kong).

Carrian Group became involved in a scandal with Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad of Malaysia and Hong Kong-based Bumiputra Malaysia Finance. Following allegations of accounting fraud, a murder of a bank auditor, and the suicide of the firm’s adviser, the Carrian Group collapsed in 1983, the largest bankruptcy in Hong Kong.

Watch your money grow

Watch your money grow
Buying the right timepiece can pay off quickly
Peter McGarrity
SCMP Jan 09, 2011

jaeger_lecoultre

Buying a new watch is in many ways similar to buying a new car – a premium is paid for the latest models and once you take it out of the dealer’s showroom its value will likely drop by around 30 per cent.

However, in certain circumstances it is possible to make money from buying watches. At the top end of the market, it is easier simply because you can buy more exquisite pieces, the supply of which is strictly limited by the manufacturer.

For example, at a recent Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong a 2009 Patek Philippe diamond and platinum perpetual calendar sold for HK$2.1 million, handing the owner a healthy HK$500,000 profit on the purchase price in under a year.

Now before you rush out and buy an expensive watch – and try to justify the purchase to your spouse as a wise investment – there are certain factors to consider. In the middle range of the market (HK$40,000 to HK$100,000) it is considerably more difficult to make money from your collection.

Vanessa Herrera, head of the watch department at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, said: “If you want to buy a watch as an investment in this sector of the market, you should focus on brands that have an established history and are able to tie in their newer pieces to that history, creating a narrative that purchasers can relate to.”

Certain brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex and Cartier have been very successful at this, and so it is no surprise that their watches do particularly well at resale. For example, Patek has created an aura of timelessness and nostalgia by implying that their watches are heirlooms to be passed down to the next generation and the current owner is just a temporary custodian.

Panerai is another brand that uses this technique with great success. The company, which originally made military instruments for the Italian navy, now makes huge diving watches. The advertising features the company’s military connections and the connotations associated with this: precision, robustness, manliness.

These factors, plus an ever-increasing demand (often from desk-bound businessmen) for larger and more rugged timepieces, have helped add to the desirability factor of the watches.

As a result, select Panerai titanium models from only five or six years ago are now selling for more than double their original price.

Herrera’s other suggestion for those buying in the middle range is to buy recently discontinued models of successful brands that have been replaced with updated versions.

“In the short term, when a new model of a successful brand is launched, people will be looking to buy that model, but during this time the recently discontinued pieces are neglected and so the price drops. I recommend you take the opportunity to pick up one of these watches during this time because when the novelty of the new model has worn off, the price [of the discontinued model] will go up again,” she said.

If you are interested in investing, Hong Kong is as good a place as any in the world to start. China is the largest market in the world for Swiss watches, accounting for more than 25 per cent of total worldwide sales.

Hong Kong-based international finance lawyer Neil Campbell has been buying for about 15 years and his collection includes six Rolexes, two Jaeger-Le Coultres, two Cartiers, a Panerai and a Franck Muller. His primary motive for buying watches is pleasure – he enjoys looking at them and above all wearing them.

However, Campbell, who has never sold one of his watches, is also an astute reader of the market. Many of the watches in his collection have gone up in value and most, if not all, have at least maintained their value.

He considers one of his best purchases to be a Jaeger-Le Coultre with a rose gold case and a black dial. Jaeger no longer makes this watch with a black dial and has no plans to do so in the near future.

“A dealer in Switzerland told me to hang on to this watch as it is in much demand and that if I lost it I would be unlikely to be able to get hold of another one,” he said.

Another of his successful purchases is a Rolex Daytona – again with a black dial. “This watch retails at HK$73,000 but it is almost impossible to buy a new one from a Rolex dealer. I picked this one up for HK$82,000 a couple of months ago and it is already retailing on the second-hand market at HK$95,000.”

For would-be investors, the watch market is a highly visible one as manufacturers publish the recommended retail purchase price for models and authorised dealers are bound by this recommendation. The internet has also transformed trading. It is now easy to purchase watches from dealers around the world and compare prices.

However, as with buying anything on the internet, there are issues to consider. One of the main stumbling blocks is that the seller is unlikely to be an authorised dealer and any warranty it gives will not be backed by the original manufacturer.

Other common problems include the difficulty in confirming whether you will receive the watch’s original case, tools and receipt – the absence of which will affect value if you try to resell. There are also many fakes.

Most serious collectors avoid the internet simply because there is no substitute to seeing your purchase first hand. Campbell cites an example of how he once saw a Rolex Milgauss with a green sapphire crystal (it gives a greenish hue around the edge of the dial) on the internet and was not particularly impressed. But later when he was shown one by a dealer, he liked it so much, he bought it on the spot.

If you are uncertain about the value of the watch that you want to buy or sell, you can always contact an auction house. Sotheby’s, for example, has a database on watch prices and tracks sales around the world. Even if you have no intention of bidding at an auction you will be able to speak to an expert and access some top quality advice free of charge.

When you are purchasing a watch with a view to resell, it is important to remember that even though the watch market is global, there are some regional variations. There is a strong preference in Asia for new pieces, whereas in Europe a vintage or antique watch that has obviously been worn and reeks of old money can command a premium. Even flaws such as the discolouration of the dial – a common occurrence on certain types of vintage and antique Rolexes – can add value to the piece.

According to Julian Chow Shum of David Watch, “the trend in Western markets is for solid, durable, practical watches which are suitable for everyday use. In the Asian market, we like more luxury, more diamonds, rose gold and complications”.

International watch dealer Marc Djunbushian said of the vintage and antique market: “It is difficult to make money in this sector of the market if your budget is under HK$100,000.

“If you have a bigger budget, there is money to be made, especially in minute-repeating watches and enamel watches, because both require the attention of master craftsmen. What I have learned from my 15 years’ experience as an expert is that perfection, rarity and complication will always bring a profit.”

Djunbushian recommends “watches from the ’70s that use different materials and have unusual designs” as more affordable investments. Already dealers in Europe are holding on to these pieces in anticipation of future demand.

Another tip from both Djunbushian and Herrera is pocket watches. These types of European watches are in high demand in China (especially the ones in gold) and good pieces can still be picked up for a reasonable price.

If you are thinking purely in terms of investment, few would dispute that there are much easier ways of making money than in the watch market, especially if your budget is limited. However, if you are interested in watches, then it seems that if you follow a few simple principles it is possible to combine your interest and either maintain the value of your collection over time or even realise a healthy profit.

Hugh Hendry

Maverick fund manager shares his contrarian views, obsession with China

The New York Times in London
Jul 25, 2010

Hugh Hendry has a big mouth, as Hugh Hendry will tell you.

With a sharp wit and a sharper tongue, Hendry, a plain-spoken Scot, has positioned himself as the public contrarian thinker of London’s very private hedge fund community.

The euro? It’s finished. China? Headed for a fall. President Barack Obama? “If there was a way to short Obama, I would,” says the man who runs Eclectica Asset Management.

It is an old-school macroeconomic fund company with a think-big, globe-straddling style more akin to the Quantum Fund, of George Soros fame, than to the hi-tech razzle-dazzle of Wall Street’s math-loving quant analysts.

At 41, Hendry is emerging from the normally secretive world of hedge funds to captivate fans and foes with a surprising level of candour.

Last May, on British television, he verbally sparred with Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and perhaps the best-known economist writing on developmental issues.

Before that, he took on Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate, about the future of the euro. “Hello, can I tell you about the real world?” Hendry interjected at one point. It was a huge hit on YouTube.

His verbal pyrotechnics have won Hendry a reputation for challenging the economics establishment. He is regarded and appreciated by many as overly pessimistic about, well, just about everything.

His big worry lately has been China. Like James Chanos, a prominent hedge fund manager in the United States, Hendry says he believes China’s days of heady growth are numbered. A crisis is coming, he insists.

Hendry has made – and sometimes lost – money for his investors. Eclectica’s flagship fund, the Eclectica Fund, is up about 13 per cent this year, besting by far the average 1.3 per cent loss among similar funds.

But returns have been erratic – “too much sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll” for some investors, he concedes. In 2008, the Eclectica Fund was up 50 per cent one month and down 15 per cent another. Hendry plans to change that.

The firm bet correctly that the financial troubles plaguing Greece would eventually ripple through to the market for German bonds, considered the European equivalent of ultra-safe US Treasury securities. But the firm lost money betting on European sovereign debt in the first quarter of last year.

Last week, Hendry was musing about the financial world in his office behind a scruffy shopping mall in the Bayswater section of London. No Savile Row here: He was sporting a white oxford shirt, jeans and blue Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, along with a three-day stubble and hipster horn-rim glasses.

His latest obsession is China. He likens the country to Starbucks: good at growing quickly but not so good at creating wealth. “The idea is that things would happen today that are commonly thought of as impossible, most notably a significant reversal of China,” Hendry said.

Maps cover the walls of his office. On one, blue magnetic pins plot his recent trip through China. He filmed himself there in front of huge, empty office buildings and giant new bridges in the middle of nowhere – signs, he said, of a credit bubble.

Hendry is devising ways to bet on a spectacular deterioration of China’s economy. He declined to divulge any details.

His outspokenness has won him both fans and detractors.

Marc Faber, the money manager known as Doctor Doom for his bearish views, calls Hendry “a deep thinker”. “He has strong views and expresses them, not to get publicity but because he has a great understanding of the markets,” Faber said.

Some London investors are less charitable. Two declined to comment on Hendry, saying they did not want to “get into a fight” with him.

Hendry certainly does not fit the stereotype of a discreet London moneyman.

The son of a truck driver, he was the first in his family to attend a university – Strathclyde, in Glasgow, not Oxbridge. He studied accounting and joined Baillie Gifford, a large Edinburgh money manager.

Frustrated that he could not challenge the investment strategies of his bosses, he jumped to Credit Suisse Asset Management in London. There, a chance meeting with an equally opinionated hedge fund manager, Crispin Odey, led to a job.

Before long, Hendry struck out on his own.

The inspiration for his investment approach comes from an unlikely source: The Gap in the Curtain, a 1932 novel by John Buchan that is borderline science fiction. The plot centres on five people who are chosen by a scientist to take part in an experiment that will let them glimpse one year into the future.

Hendry calls the novel “the best investment book ever written” because it taught him to envision the future without neglecting what happened leading up to it, a mistake many investors make, he said.

More Ayn Rand

aston_martin_one_77_images_001

“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title.

Do not lose your knowledge that man’s proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach.

Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”

~ Part Three / Chapter 7 This is John Galt Speaking