Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

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Wow, seems she's really in the top echelon of our society - everything she mentions is in 6-digits or "millions" Tongue, certainly I find it hard to relate! Plus, she has so many Mercedes that she can't even put a number to it - chauffered in a different-coloured one each day? Smile

And I think 2003-2006 wasn't a very good time period to compare your returns - any monkey throwing darts could have picked winners in a rising market. Incidentally, Jurong Technologies was one of the companies which later went into financial trouble and was suspended, from a a high of about $1.50 (if I recall correctly).

And the news perpetually mxes up "Trading" and "Investing". It's quite clear she's a trader.

*For the full article, please visit the website.

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Aug 26, 2012
'I enjoy making money but I don't obsess over it'

Keen investor Crystal Leahy reads the financial news, takes courses and talks to industry experts

By Joyce Teo

Former banker Crystal Lim Leahy considers stock trading her hobby and it is one she takes seriously.

That means no outside help. "Because I take such an active interest in investing and financial planning, I tend not to rely on private bankers who, by and large, just push products," says Ms Leahy, 32, who trades Asian equities in the day and US equities as well as VIX futures at night. These are futures contracts that track the volatility of S&P 500 stocks.

She reads financial news, discusses views with her network of friends and experts in the financial industry and takes courses on financial planning.

"My relatives always ask me for tips but I have learnt not to give them advice for their own sakes.

"The problem is that even if I am able to tell them when and what to buy, the most important thing is when to sell. And I cannot be monitoring other people's positions for them," she says.

"Most investors would do well to just pick index tracker funds which are less risky, tend to outperform the majority of managed portfolios and have lower fees."

Money, says Ms Leahy, allows her to do what she is passionate about. "I enjoy making it, spending it and, most of all, giving it to good causes but I don't obsess over it."

She is well aware of possible criticisms of her view.

"You could argue that it's because I'm relatively well-off... but I also know many people wealthier than I am who are racked with anxiety over money issues and the question of 'how much is enough'.

"They get their self worth mixed up with their net worth," says Ms Leahy, who recently founded The Legacy Retreat, which runs holistic retreats.

"I think it's also important to have faith, not necessarily religious faith, but some kind of belief in your place in this universe, that you are meaningful and that you will be held and supported by the world."

Married to banker Mark Leahy, 44, she has a stepson, Sean, 13, a five-year-old son, Finn, and a three-year-old daughter, Dylan. They split their time between Singapore and Australia.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I think of myself as an investor. But if pressed to choose between the two, I'm more of a spender.

I'm not very good at saving but I've been blessed with a husband who is as tight as a squirrel with a nut in winter.

I spend the most on housing as we pay a monthly rental of $24,000 for a bungalow in the Holland area. If you add running costs, we are paying more like $30,000 a month.

We have no debt. My husband, despite being regarded as an expert in the Asian debt capital markets, is completely allergic to personal debt.

We paid upfront in full for our house in Australia and our cars.

We have also given away about 10 per cent of our income over the past year to various charitable causes in Singapore and Australia.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

The normal expenditure on our personal and business expenses can range from $25,000 to $50,000. It is paid off in full every month.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

Mark and I have joint bank accounts. He trusts me completely to manage the money.

As we are bearish on the markets, half of what we have is in cash. The rest includes the 25 per cent that we have set aside for property investments, as we are looking to invest in Irish and European commercial real estate, the 15 per cent in equities and the 10 per cent in commodities, bonds and other products.

Mark is a veteran fixed income banker while I have a background in investment banking and equities, so we make a well-hedged team.

Generally, we discuss our macro-economic views by geography and asset class. Once we agree on the big picture, it is up to me to decide what and when to buy and sell.

I have a much higher risk appetite and am good at making quick decisions while he provides balance with his conservative outlook and aversity to debt.

I love investing over many different asset classes. Our portfolio size varies a lot. It has ranged from almost nothing to $750,000 in the past year but most of our assets are still in cash - Singdollars, Australian dollars and yuan (through a bond fund).

In Asia, people have traditionally viewed real estate as a sure-fire way to get rich and I have bought and sold three properties at significant profit in the past, but I've also seen lots of people get scalded by bad property investments.

We sold our bungalow in the Holland Road area for $8.88 million when we moved to Australia in 2009. We bought it in early 2006 for $5.1 million, after we sold our terrace house near Sixth Avenue.

The only property we invested in was a new development - Balmoral Hills. We bought a unit in 2006 and sold it in 2007 for a $1 million profit.

I also have a UOB precious metals saving account for gold and silver.

I always keep some gold bars in the safe deposit so that if the world has a systemic crisis or some sort of massive technology breakdown, I will have a contingency plan.

Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

I was raised in very modest HDB flats, first in Owen Road and then Telok Blangah.

My father was training as a doctor while my mother was training as a teacher and earning $380 a month, of which $360 went to my babysitter.

As my father was a spendthrift, we didn't have much cash to spare. My mum once saved for a month to buy me a $20 Fisher-Price pull-toy.

I am the eldest in my family, with two brothers.

Mum taught me the importance of a strong work ethic and persistence. She insisted on having her financial independence and slogged long hours at work, then rushed to eat her lunch at the wheel while driving me and my brother to our after-school activities, and somehow managed to cook dinner every day.

My father, now a consultant anaesthetist in private practice, influenced my attitude towards money and I get my shopaholic tendencies from him. He taught me that money and life are to be enjoyed.

He's a Zouk icon and still goes clubbing there. He doesn't care about what people think of him and that's what I've learnt from him.

He has always told us that there's not going to be a penny left for us to inherit to spur us to make our own money in life.

I tell my kids the same thing - that I'll donate most of what we have to charity - so that they will learn independence and not get complacent.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

I started investing when I was 21. As I didn't have a trading account then, I asked my mother to help me buy NOL shares at 60 cents a share.

I sold them a few months later at 88 cents a share and thought I was a blooming star. I was hooked.

I love trading equities so much that when I talk about my trading ideas, my eyes light up and I go into a rapid-fire patter. A friend who runs a bond hedge fund suggested that I could be addicted to trading.
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Q: Home is now...

Singapore, where we rent a 10,000 sq ft bungalow and Australia, where we own a 10-acre vineyard and farm. We choose to rent for the time being as we took a view that housing prices would soften due to worsening economic conditions.

It may be $300,000 a year on rental, but that's much better than the alternative of being down $1 million to $2 million in negative equity if we had bought then.

Q: I drive...

In Australia, I drive a champagne-coloured BMW 3 series diesel hardtop convertible.

Here, I'm chauffeured in one of those standard Mercedes cars which we bought because it would hold up its value relatively well.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg
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WORST AND BEST BETS

Q: What's your worst investment to date?


It was in Bakrie Brothers, which roughly halved in value from when I bought it in 2004. I would have invested about $50,000.

What I learnt was that you should never buy what you don't understand based on a tip. When you lose money on investments where you have misjudged the timing, pricing or fundamentals, you can at least learn a lesson from what you have done wrong. But when you lose money based on some other guy's tip, you haven't learnt a darn thing.

Q: And your best ?

When I was an equities broker from 2003 to 2006 - the glory days in the small mid-cap markets, I invested in small midcaps like Hyflux, CSE Global, Jurong Tech and KS Energy, some of which went up by as much as 100-300 per cent. My equities portfolio from 2003 to 2007 returned a five-year compound annual growth rate of 35 per cent, outperforming the STI returns which were in the high teens over the same period.
My Value Investing Blog: http://sgmusicwhiz.blogspot.com/
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Wow I guess Deutsche and Nomura have been paying the hubby very well. Find it kinda contradicting to say she's not very good at saving and is blessed with a husband who is tight as a squirrel, yet the husband trusts her completely to manage the money.
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(26-08-2012, 10:00 AM)Muck Wrote: Wow I guess Deutsche and Nomura have been paying the hubby very well. Find it kinda contradicting to say she's not very good at saving and is blessed with a husband who is tight as a squirrel, yet the husband trusts her completely to manage the money.

Ya, was also curious where the millions were coming from... Their LinkedIn profiles,

Crystal Lim Leahy
Mark Leahy

Nowadays, with internet, very easy to satisfy curiosity... Be careful what you share of yourself if don't want millions of prying eyes... Tongue
Luck & Fortune Favours those who are Prepared & Decisive when Opportunity Knocks
------------ 知己知彼 ,百战不殆 ;不知彼 ,不知己 ,每战必殆 ------------
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(26-08-2012, 10:09 AM)KopiKat Wrote:
(26-08-2012, 10:00 AM)Muck Wrote: Wow I guess Deutsche and Nomura have been paying the hubby very well. Find it kinda contradicting to say she's not very good at saving and is blessed with a husband who is tight as a squirrel, yet the husband trusts her completely to manage the money.

Ya, was also curious where the millions were coming from... Their LinkedIn profiles,

Crystal Lim Leahy
Mark Leahy

Nowadays, with internet, very easy to satisfy curiosity... Be careful what you share of yourself if don't want millions of prying eyes... Tongue

I think it's possible for her husband to trust her if she is spending the money she makes herself. Not her husband's.
WB:-

1) Rule # 1, do not lose money.
2) Rule # 2, refer to # 1.
3) Not until you can manage your emotions, you can manage your money.

Truism of Investments.
A) Buying a security is buying RISK not Return
B) You can control RISK (to a certain level, hopefully only.) But definitely not the outcome of the Return.

NB:-
My signature is meant for psychoing myself. No offence to anyone. i am trying not to lose money unnecessary anymore.
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Nothing wrong with trading imo. But its different from investing, much higher tempo and a different skill set. I made most of my money from trading oil in commodity firms but now im an investor in my retirement.
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(26-08-2012, 10:15 AM)Temperament Wrote: I think it's possible for her husband to trust her if she is spending the money she makes herself. Not her husband's.

haha... Ok. If viewed from that angle, I guess I can accept it Smile
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(06-08-2012, 12:03 AM)KopiKat Wrote:
Quote:I own stocks back home, while here, I continue to build up my shares in CIT.

Sounds good till I went to check SGX,

No. of shares held after the change 10911

No, I double checked, I didn't miss out 3 zeroes....and after close to 4 years with CIT.... Rolleyes

He ought to thank me... His interest just went up by close to 50% to 15,911 now... or are they saving on Cash Bonus?? Big Grin
His boss must have seen my post and they have started a new initiative to award stocks to their employees...
Luck & Fortune Favours those who are Prepared & Decisive when Opportunity Knocks
------------ 知己知彼 ,百战不殆 ;不知彼 ,不知己 ,每战必殆 ------------
Reply
*For the full artice, please refer to the website.

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Sep 02, 2012
Angel investor, daredevil approach

Tigris Capital founder has a healthy risk appetite, indulging in local tech start-ups

By Joyce Teo

Norwegian William Klippgen came to Singapore in 2003 to do a master's degree in business administration and hasn't left.

Armed with a huge risk appetite, he went on to found Tigris Capital, where he is managing director. He has been investing in local tech start-ups.

His high risk approach to professional investing explains why he keeps to properties, corporate bonds and blue-chips when it comes to his own investments.

Mr Klippgen, 43, developed an interest in becoming an angel investor after he co-founded Kelkoo.com, a popular European price comparison service that Yahoo bought in 2004.

"I thought it looked so amazing to be like the venture capitalists that came to our board meetings," he said. "I thought they never had to stay up late and do so much hard work, but could just enjoy the fun of spending time with multiple, innovative businesses."

As an entrepreneur, he had nearly gone bankrupt twice so he was ready for a change. "It's tough to be an entrepreneur so I thought that being an investor is a lot easier, but I've realised that it involves a lot of hard work and many painful processes."

He has pulled out of some start-ups and at least three of the companies he has invested in have gone bankrupt.

"It's so incredibly risky as 99 out of 100 tech start-ups fail. This is why you can make returns of 50 to 100 times when a company does really well."

Mr Klippgen typically invests between $50,000 and a few hundred thousand dollars each time and has made anywhere from three to 50 times his money on the three start-ups he has sold so far.

From experience, he now places more importance on the person running the business than the business idea.

He said the firms he had invested in that have gone bust had been badly managed.

"It's not because the product is not innovative or that the market is not ready. It's always the people who lack the ability to execute the plan. They are not flexible enough.

"If you have a business that you always want to be in full control of, you won't be aggressive enough pursuing the various growth opportunities coming your way, and you won't hire smarter people because you feel threatened."

But overall, it's been a satisfying journey: "If you look at the 15 companies I've invested in, I have probably created 400-500 jobs here."

Mr Klippgen, a Singapore permanent resident since 2004, has a Master of Science from the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology as well as from Boston University, and an MBA from Insead.

He and his ex-wife take turns to care for their three children -Maria, seven, Julia, nine and Victor, 11 - in Norway, which is why he flies to Oslo every month.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I would say I used to be a spender but got wiser, and figured out that I need to save more of what I have now and not rely on what I might get in the future.

I think you should spend only on what you really need to be happy, and save the rest across a range of asset classes.

Make it a virtue to not spend. It's important to figure out what you need, to choose to not spend on yourself and to prioritise your spending.

I do not really have a monthly income, but in general, I tend to invest and save far more than I spend.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

I used to charge a lot, but these days, I don't charge more than $10,000. There is really not that much I want to buy or do that costs a lot of money.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

My business is very high-risk investing.

So I have tried to counter that with sound property investments in Norway and a mix of corporate bonds and blue-chip stocks in sectors that I believe will do well in any market conditions.

I invest a little bit in the stock market here. I've made some and I've lost some.

I like to invest in things that I know very well and I've found that to do well, you have to monitor the market 24 hours a day.

So, I take a long-term view. I invest in energy stocks, in business social media such as LinkedIn and raw material resources. And I don't touch them for the next five years.

The thing is every entrepreneur is comfortable with risks, enormous risks.

The danger is when you sell your investments, you continue to be in the risk mode. So what I do is to continue investing in start-ups for work. But I am also thinking of becoming an entrepreneur again.

I like properties because unlike start-ups, they do not talk to me. There is no stress and I can do more snowboarding in the meantime. The properties also give me passive income and capital yield.

What bothers me here in Singapore is that there are so many advertisements here on how to get rich through investments like forex trading. It is more or less impossible to make any profit over time with such trading.

There should be better consumer protection.

There's a fine line between investing and gambling. I can go to the banks and get sold a lot of financial poducts that have gambling-like elements.

Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

My mother was a university professor and my father ran his own import business.

The main lesson he taught me was that running a business basically meant you can go bankrupt at any time.

I lived with my mother, sister and grandmother as my parents are divorced.

I guess I learnt how to live very cheaply. My mother stopped working to take care of us when we were growing up, and I spent many holidays home in our garden or inside the house playing cards.

I was also allowed to set up a small shop selling flower seeds. My parents built me a small shophouse and I created the packaging. That taught me a lot about running a small business and that it can actually be profitable.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

I first invested in some Norwegian shipping shares, which my father helped me buy. I sold them with a profit when I was around 14.

I had read about the company in the newspaper and my father knew the owner.

Q: What properties do you own?

I own three properties in Norway as my children live there. I have a 2,200 sq ft house, a 1,000 sq ft apartment and a super nice 900 sq ft cottage in Beitostølen, in the mountains.

Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?

Without doubt, it's the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder... nothing beats that. It was a second-hand car, but it still cost me around $850,000.

I have no regrets though. Everyone deserves to own a Lamborghini once in their life, in particular, when you are about to cross the 40-year-old mark.

I bought it in 2007 and sold it after a few years for $750,000.
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Q: Home is now....

In Singapore, where I rent a condominium unit in the east, and in Norway.

Q: I drive....

A black Volvo XC60 but I am waiting for my all-electric Nissan LEAF in Singapore and the new all-electric Tesla Model S in Norway. Petrol and diesel are so 2010 and something I am trying to quit.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg

---------

BEST AND WORST BETS

Q: What is your best investment to date?


My best realised investment must be the Indian travel company iXiGO.com, which was sold to a Nasdaq-listed firm last year.

I shall not disclose investment size details as this deal involved multiple investors, but we made around eight times the amount we invested, which is okay.

Q: And your worst investment to date?

As a business angel, part of the game is to make a lot of bad investments, but you only know that after the fact.

Looking back, my worst investment was my second angel investment in a Singapore start-up in 2005. The business model did not really make sense and the founders lied about things happening in the company.

I invested around $60,000 and lost every single cent after one and a half years.

I learnt a great deal from that eye-opening experience.

Having been a very honest and hardworking entrepreneur, I was surprised to find that some entrepreneurs were after my investment just to enrich themselves and that they did not plan to return any profit to me.
My Value Investing Blog: http://sgmusicwhiz.blogspot.com/
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i cant imagine going back to norway every month....
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I think his worst investment should be getting the Lambo at 850 and sold it off at 750 after a few years.
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