Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

[memphisb]

all self advertising.

Why the questions doesn't touch insights on their strategies then just flaunting their wealth and assets?

[Big Toe]

While there are indeed many who have made good from forex, there are those who made it from teaching and mentoring(easier).
And you cant really master forex trading, you can only learn the rules of the game and what may work for you.
Buffet would probably not say he has mastered the art of investing in companies(but he did, if not, who else is there?).
This Ex DJ is one up on Buffet.

Sorry to knock on forex folks but forex is much like a zero sum game. Closer to gambling rather than investing.
It is unlike buying shares of a company, where the company makes use of your capital to generate profit. Whether they
return the money to you is another matter, more often, they can but they dont.

[d.o.g.]

In 2008, two partners and I invested $1.2 million in a food and beverage business with the intention of opening Singapore's largest outdoor bistro. Unfortunately, the business never saw light.

We put in months of effort, from finding the perfect location at Mount Sophia and renovating the premises, to importing exquisite Balinese furniture. We also trained a management team and a service crew which were meant to cater to what would have been the ultimate chill-out venue in Singapore.

In the end, all our efforts were in vain when we could not obtain a licence to operate. We later found out that the plot of land was under state conservation and not authorised for F&B operations.

They failed to do basic due diligence. It was an elementary error, entirely avoidable. A fact-check would have turned up this conservation issue and would have saved them all the time and money. Similar to those who gave money to Profitable Plots - a simple fact-check would have saved them from the inevitable losses.

Forex is often assumed to have been my best investment, but actually, it was my previous F&B business, RAV Entertainment at Circular Road. It was set up in 2003 with three other partners with an initial investment of $60,000. At its peak, the average annual turnover of RAV was around $1.6 million to $1.8 million. RAV was renamed Delizioso last year.

Running it for eight years taught me a lot about the art of running a business.

Apparently those eight years didn't teach him to check for licensing requirements...

My investment portfolio consists of my forex training business JF Lennon, foreign investments and properties that are generating a healthy passive income. Three of my four properties have been fully paid up.

Last but not least, I am in forex trading, which consistently adds to my wealth.

Forex trading is one of the few areas in finance where very large amounts of capital - tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars - can be put to work easily. If he's any good at it, it wouldn't make sense to do anything else...

But then maybe I'm being naive in expecting these people to actually practice what they preach.

As usual, YMMV.

[iisterry]

It will probably be more meaningful if ST can re-visit this people 5-10 years down the road.

Should focus more on the hard work the entrepreneur put in........

Actually, I probably forgot to mention it but I really do admire his entrepreneurial spirit which started when he was so young. Kudos to him for that!

My point was more on the spending aspect - no matter how good a businessman you are, if you have a weakness or penchant for expensive goods like luxury watches and gems, it may be hard to stay rich....

[WolfT]

A saver will not spend 68k on bike...

[yeokiwi]

Those who are good in forex will probably not appear in Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times).
Neither is there a need to train others.
As far as I presume, if everyone executes the same strategy, the amount of profit for each will diminish or even backfire.

If a lesson per person costs $2888, why is there a need to trade yourself..
http://www.forexdna.com/education_revInfo.php?id=31

[Musicwhiz]

Those who are good in forex will probably not appear in Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times).
Neither is there a need to train others.
As far as I presume, if everyone executes the same strategy, the amount of profit for each will diminish or even backfire.

If a lesson per person costs $2888, why is there a need to trade yourself..
http://www.forexdna.com/education_revInfo.php?id=31

Wow, didn't expect it to be $2,888! That's really expensive, and makes it more lucrative for him to teach rather than trade.

Then again, I suspect all these trainers are like this. If you can't make it in trading, then teach!

[EnSabahNur]

It will probably be more meaningful if ST can re-visit this people 5-10 years down the road.

Many of the previous people featured were invested in property. It would be interesting to check back with them when the property market has corrected.

[Musicwhiz]

This guy does not invest in Singapore property....

Apr 17, 2011
me & my money
Playing the market with great panache
Frenchman juggles risks with level head and keen eye on profit
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent

As the regional head of investment and market solutions at Societe Generale Private Banking (Asia Pacific), Mr Marc Lansonneur has to be convinced of an investment strategy before recommending it to relationship managers at the bank.

For his personal investments, he believes in handling them himself. He maintains two separate portfolios: In the core portfolio set aside for his long-term needs, he keeps the bulk or 80 per cent of his wealth; the remainder goes into his 'opportunistic' portfolio, which allows him to take on riskier positions when opportunities arise.

Mr Lansonneur, 46, reviews his core portfolio - equities, fixed income, real estate, commodities and cash - on a quarterly basis. He chooses not to review it too often because he does not want his investment decisions to be 'polluted by news'. He does not want to jeopardise his long-term perspective - something many investors fall prey to.

In contrast, he reviews his opportunistic portfolio more often, on a weekly basis. He might take short market positions through currency options and futures when he notices any over-selling or over-buying in the markets.

'I usually turn to a combination of fundamental and technical analysis (charting) to select these positions, with a heavy focus on the risk-reward ratio. The profit that can be made should be at least twice the maximum loss,' he said.

He graduated from Ecole Superieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales in Paris with an MBA in 1989. At Societe Generale, he has been attached to various divisions. His work has taken him to cities such as London, Hong Kong, Taipei and Sydney. He came to Singapore in 2005.

He is married to Taiwanese Yeh Shu-yuan, 45. They have three children, Claire, 15, Laure, 13, and Raphael, eight.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

As a Frenchman, I have been influenced by a strong national saving culture - this is especially important for me as a father of three children since I want to send them to colleges and universities abroad. I save around 60 per cent of my annual income. However, I will not hesitate to spend on family vacations that let us have a great time together.

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

I use mainly two credit cards regularly, and I charge at least $10,000 every month, which covers most of my professional and personal expenditure. I pay the bill in full every month.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

For my core portfolio, where the bulk of my family wealth is, equity takes up 45 per cent, fixed income 15 per cent, real estate 25 per cent, commodities 5 per cent and cash 10 per cent.

Over the past six months, I've increased my equity exposure because I am definitely bullish about equity markets and the yields of certain European shares are very attractive.

I'm thinking of decreasing my exposure to commodities because current market levels seem toppish. My cash holdings are in currencies such as the euro and Singdollar, and recently, sterling. For this core portfolio, I would consider a return of 8 to 9 per cent to be very decent.

For my opportunistic portfolio, the funds are kept in riskier positions, which could include longer-term investments in a startup food and beverage company in France, or short market positions through currency options and futures. I target a higher return of 15 to 20 per cent for this portfolio since the risk is higher.

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

My brother and I were raised in a rented single-storey, four-bedroom house in Provence, in the south of France. Both my parents were in public service. My mother stopped working when my brother was born.

Her family were emigres from Italy during World War II and they suffered a lot during those difficult times. Saving money, long-term planning, appreciating the real value of the simple things in life - all these things became an obsession for them.

As a child, I was heavily influenced by this family predilection. I took on summer jobs such as wine harvesting in Provence when I was 14, and when I was a student in Paris, I paid my way by working as a computer trainer at a friend's consulting company.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

My first job out of business school was as a currency options trader at an investment bank in London in 1989. Later, when I had managed to accumulate some savings, I invested in European shares and French government bonds. I enjoyed good yields of 9 to 10 per cent on bonds in 1990.

Q: What property do you own?

In 1998, I bought a two-storey, five-bedroom house with a swimming pool and a land area of 15,000 sq m in Provence. It was my first property investment and the French real estate market had hit bottom then. The value of the land has risen seven times since. The house is now a family residence and holiday getaway.

I also inherited a house by the Mediterranean Sea in France from my grandmother in 2007. We plan to rent out the double-storey, four-bedroom house after the renovation works are completed.

In Asia, my wife and I own a property at Tainan in Taiwan that is rented out. We bought the 120 sq m, three-bedroom apartment in 2000. Its value has gone up 50 per cent.

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

I like to surprise my wife with jewellery even when it's not a special occasion. I cannot disclose the prices because she shouldn't know how much they cost. But the money was worth it because she is a fabulous woman.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

As a French national, I am entitled to pension funds when I retire. Anyway, for the time being, I really have no plans to retire at a set age.

I would probably shuttle between two main residences, in Europe and Asia, for family reasons. But life is hard to predict - it also depends on our children and where they prefer to live.

Q: Home is...

We rent a three-storey, four-bedroom cluster house in the Bukit Timah area.

Q: I drive...

My wife drives a silver-grey Mercedes B class while I have a cobalt-blue Renault Cabriolet.

lorna@sph.com.sg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS

Q: My worst investment to date...

My first currency options investment in 1990 with four friends in London. We wanted to make quick money to pay for a lavish exotic Caribbean holiday. We bought a call on the greenback and Japanese yen, hoping to double our investment outlay. At that time, I invested about $5,000 but it dropped to zero after two months! Instead of a nice vacation, we ended up camping in the south of France.

The lesson was bitter but very useful, as I realised the importance of proper planning and analysis.

Q: My best investment to date...

That has to be my wine collection. I have about 2,000 bottles in Singapore, London and France. They cost me about $40,000 but are now worth about $250,000. I am a wine lover and have been buying wines since 1995, when my first daughter was born. I mostly purchased Burgundy, Rhone and Bordeaux Primeurs in the good vintage years.

Although I had initially bought the wines to age and to drink, I find that I can now sell certain bottles of my Lafites and Latours at stratospheric prices (above $2,000 a bottle for average vintage) and buy cheaper wines with better value. So I am considering this as an asset-class for me. My cost price for these bottles was less than $200 a bottle in 2008.

For the 2008 vintage, which was completely underpriced when released, I managed to pay for all my wine of this vintage by just reselling 20 per cent of my Primeur purchases.

I plan to still keep some for personal consumption on special occasions such as my kids' weddings, birthdays and share them with my friends. That's what wine is for eventually, to be celebrated and shared in happy moments.

[karlmarx]

a regional head of investment from a private bank and his best investment is wine? kidding me right. they must be running out of products to sell, and now they're selling wine to their clients too. it makes those 'my kids are the best investment' cliches sound so much better.