Number-cruncher gets his sums right

Accountancy background gives Ifpas exec director an edge in stock selection.

Sat, May 01, 2010
The Straits Times

By Lorna Tan

Mr Anthony Ow, executive director of the Insurance and Financial Practitioners Association of Singapore (Ifpas), puts his financial background to good use when he is picking stocks.

He said: 'As an accountant, I read balance sheets. During the downturn in March last year, I picked up about 50,000 Sembcorp Marine shares at about $2.50 apiece. Now its market value is $4.33, a paper profit of $91,500.'

He has $200,000 invested in local stocks. Besides stocks, Mr Ow, 63, invests in properties to generate passive income. He has three properties, including an apartment in London.

In 1964, armed with just the equivalent of O-level qualifications, he joined Cooper Brothers & Co, now PricewaterhouseCoopers, as an audit clerk.

While there, he studied part-time and obtained a professional accountancy qualification from the Association of International Accountants in 1966.

He left Cooper Brothers in 1968 and worked as an accountant in several companies till 1984, when he joined publicly listed Wander now known as Novartis Nutrition Singapore - as its acting general manager, financial controller and company secretary.

In 1998, he crossed over to entertainment company MediaStream to be its director and group general manager.

After that, he joined Ifpas. He also obtained an MBA from Henley/Brunel University in 1993.

His wife, Ms Mosy Tang, 62, retired as a customer service supervisor last year. They have two children, Yvonne, 36, and Ian, 31.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I worked hard and saved during my younger days. Perhaps it is time I spent some money on myself. In the old days, I would save at least 60 per cent of my monthly pay and almost all of my annual bonuses.

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

I have six credit cards and I charge about $3,000 a month to them. I pay all my credit card bills promptly and mainly by Giro. I withdraw $1,000 from the ATM once a month.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

Besides properties, I invest in stocks and insurance. I know my own balance sheet well, since I am an accountant.

My only regret is that I did not buy enough insurance during my younger days. Currently, I have a $1 million personal accident cover and a critical illness cover for $100,000. I also have a whole life plan with $100,000 assured.

I have $200,000 invested in a stock portfolio comprising local stocks such as Memstar and Genting. When I select stocks, I read the balance sheets and look at their price-to-earnings ratios - below 12 times is good - and I look for what contracts the company has in the pipeline. I do not have a target return. I buy and hold for capital appreciation.

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

I grew up in an attap house in a kampung in Yio Chu Kang. Mum was a housewife and Dad was a tailor who later looked after a church kindergarten.

I was the fourth child in a family of five kids. From the time I was in Primary 4, I would sell ice cream during school holidays in Serangoon Gardens, earning $3 per flask of ice lollies. I also sold rambutans in an open-air cinema.

As my family was not well-to-do, I learnt to treasure the value of money. I also value the importance of education.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

Having worked in senior positions in multinational corporations, I have been saving quite a lot.

I have been lucky in my property investments. I have investments in stocks and my understanding of financials helps me in researching stocks.

But I have had my share of losses as well. I traded stock index futures from 1998. During the period between October and November 2008, I lost about $130,000 in a fortnight.

Q: What property do you own?

Previously, I owned a 1,700 sq ft unit in Greenacres in West Coast Road. I bought it for $330,000 in 1964 and sold it in 1998 at $900,000 via an en bloc exercise.

In 1993, I bought a Parc Oasis unit in Jurong East for about $500,000 and sold it for $900,000 in 1998.

I live in a 1,528 sq ft unit at Southaven in Upper Bukit Timah. I bought it for $946,000 in 1995 and the current market value is probably $1.2 million. I am renting out two properties, one here and another in London.

In 2003, I bought an 800 sq ft apartment in London for £250,000. My son used it when he studied in London. It is worth about £250,000 (S$529,000) but would be worth more if not for the drop in the currency. It is rented out at £1,500 a month.

The Singapore property is a 1,259 sq ft unit at Carabelle in West Coast, which I bought in 2007 for $940,000. The market value now is about $1.2 million. It is rented out at $4,000 a month.

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

Other than properties, I suppose my sports car - a chilli-red Mazda RX8 bought in 2008 for $70,000 - was an extravagant purchase.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

I'm still full of energy so I am not thinking of retirement as yet. Maybe I would when I hit 70. I enjoy working and sharing with my younger colleagues. I still think young, dress young, do 'young' things and I drive a sports car.

Recently, I was invited to sit on the board of charitable organisations from the Centre for Non-Profit Leadership which works with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. I will do so at a later stage.

Q: Home is now...

The Southhaven condo at Upper Bukit Timah.

Q: I drive...

A chilli-red Mazda RX8.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.