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Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)
Actually, I think her target return of 5% per annum is a little low, going by the fact that she is a very experienced Fund Manager and that she is supposed to know a lot about investing and investments.....
Oct 17, 2010
me & my money
Spa partner loves fussing over figures
Ex-fund manager used to crunch numbers but now panders to the human form
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
After 22 years of crunching numbers in the corporate world, fund manager Lydia Kew decided to join her younger sister Lily, 39, to run spa services provider Glow Aesthetics.
Ms Kew, 46, had started out as a sleeping partner when she pumped in half of the $100,000 used to kick-start the firm in 2004. She became an active co-owner four years later.
'I was confident that the investment would turn out well because I saw how determined my sister was when she developed a flawless complexion from her own acne-marked skin by studying all about beauty in Europe, Canada and America,' she said.
She added that she joined Glow to complement her sister as the latter is right-brained whereas she is left-brained. Her sister is the creative one with a flair for design, whereas Ms Kew loves number crunching.
A savvy investor, she currently handles both her personal stock portfolio as well as her sister's. She was voted Astute Bond Investor by The Asset magazine in 2006.
Ms Kew graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1986 with a degree in business administration. She worked as a money broker for a year before she joined Deutsche Bank as a senior officer in fixed income trading and sales in 1987. A year later, she was posted to Deutsche Bank Capital Markets in Hong Kong. She remained there till 1994.
That was when she started to trade actively in stocks. She put in one year at SG Warburg before her five-year stint as vice-president, fixed income division, at ABN Amro Bank until 2000.
After that, she crossed over to German bank Landesbank Baden Wuerttemberg as a portfolio manager of treasury and capital markets. In 2008, she joined Glow.
Along the way, she took time off to pursue her studies. In 2001, she obtained a Master of Science degree in applied finance from NUS and completed her chartered financial analyst certification.
She is married to businessman Philip Whang, 49, and they have a daughter, Samantha, 18.
Q Are you a spender or saver?
I am more of a saver, but I believe and always tell people around me to spend when necessary and save whenever they can. Honestly, I don't keep track of my spending. I spend on things which I deem necessary but which are within my means. I save the rest. When I was an employee, I was saving at least half of my monthly income and all my bonuses.
Q How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge about $5,000 to my credit cards every month. I own credit cards of most banks but use mainly two. I pay off the bills in full every month.
Q What financial planning have you done for yourself?
I consider myself financially independent. I have passive rental income, dividends from stocks and a regular premium investment- linked insurance policy which invests in Asian equities. The sum assured is $750,000 and the premium is about $6,000 a year. I also have a whole life plan and a 21-year endowment plan.
My stock portfolio is worth about $400,000 and I own shares in Kingsmen, BreadTalk and Singapore Press Holdings. When selecting stocks, I look at dividend yield, business model, management team, financial ratios like the debt equity ratio and the cash flow. I'm happy if I can achieve my target returns of 5 per cent per annum.
Q Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I have five siblings and I'm the second child. My mum was a housewife and my father worked as a fireman, tailor and taxi driver at different times. We lived in a three-room HDB flat in Marine Parade. Our parents were prudent and taught us the importance of money management. I had to give tuition since I was in secondary school to earn extra pocket money.
As I was the eldest girl, I had hands-on practice managing money from an early age. When I was six, I was assigned the role of marketing for the household and would go to the wet market to buy meat, fish and vegetables because my mother was pregnant then and had to look after the younger ones as well. It became my responsibility after that.
Our parents also taught us that education was the key to a better quality of life. So I studied hard.
Q How did you get interested in investing?
I'm born left-brained and I have loved mathematics and numbers since I was young. My first glimpse into the world of equity was through the buzz and excitement of the stock exchange and stockbroking during my junior college days.
My dad has been investing in stocks since the 1970s and in those days, stock certificates were in a physical form. When I was in junior college and later NUS, I used to run errands on his behalf to deliver or take delivery of stock certificates from the stockbroking company at Collyer Quay on my way home.
My first glimpse into property investment was when I was 23, when I got married and we rented our first apartment at Bayshore Park. Our landlord was nice and shared with us his views and advice on property investments. That opened our minds to another investment vehicle.
Q What property do you own?
I own a freehold 1,722 sq ft three-room condominium unit in the East Coast. I paid about $500,000 for it in 1990. The current value is at least $1.6 million. Based on the current monthly rental of $4,000 a month, the gross rental yield is 9.6 per cent.
I own another freehold 1,636 sq ft three-bedroom apartment in Tanjong Rhu. I bought it for $960,000 in 1993 and the current value is about $2 million. The monthly rental is about $4,800.
Q What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
I bought a $13,000 diamond solitaire ring with my bonus during my banking days in 1997 as a reward to myself. Yes, I regret it because I hardly wear it.
Q What's your retirement plan?
I doubt that I'll go into full retirement. In my later years, I see myself still spending time developing Glow, reading, observing and understanding what's happening in the world, staying healthy and enjoying time with family and friends.
To me, money and age are just numbers. Financial independence is when we have the freedom of choice - to do, eat and drink whatever we feel like, and go wherever we want.
I consider myself financially independent. I will need about $100,000 a year. I'm happy eating simple food, although I enjoy fine dining as well.
Q Home is now....
A 2,000 sq ft four-bedroom condo unit in the East Coast. I paid $1 million for it 10 years ago. The current value is about $2 million.
Q I drive....
A salsa-red New Beetle which I bought in April this year.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q What's your worst investment to date?
It was around 2000 and 2002, during the time of the dotcom fever and Internet stocks were a 'must-have'. I knew they were absurdly expensive from a valuation point of view so I did not invest in any till AsiaOne had its IPO in 2000. I invested about $60,000 and it was delisted in 2002 at half of the subscription price.
It was owned by SPH, so I thought it would not go bust with such a strong parent. But I really didn't expect it to delist. I guess I was blinded by the herd mentality and greed.
Q And your best investment to date?
My best investment to date is definitely our current business, Glow, which believes in investing in state-of-the-art technology in beauty care. Business is stable and growing at 25-30 per cent per annum. The firm's turnover is just above $1 million. We have about 12 staff. We are now exploring franchise inquiries that we have received.
Oct 17, 2010
me & my money
Spa partner loves fussing over figures
Ex-fund manager used to crunch numbers but now panders to the human form
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
After 22 years of crunching numbers in the corporate world, fund manager Lydia Kew decided to join her younger sister Lily, 39, to run spa services provider Glow Aesthetics.
Ms Kew, 46, had started out as a sleeping partner when she pumped in half of the $100,000 used to kick-start the firm in 2004. She became an active co-owner four years later.
'I was confident that the investment would turn out well because I saw how determined my sister was when she developed a flawless complexion from her own acne-marked skin by studying all about beauty in Europe, Canada and America,' she said.
She added that she joined Glow to complement her sister as the latter is right-brained whereas she is left-brained. Her sister is the creative one with a flair for design, whereas Ms Kew loves number crunching.
A savvy investor, she currently handles both her personal stock portfolio as well as her sister's. She was voted Astute Bond Investor by The Asset magazine in 2006.
Ms Kew graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1986 with a degree in business administration. She worked as a money broker for a year before she joined Deutsche Bank as a senior officer in fixed income trading and sales in 1987. A year later, she was posted to Deutsche Bank Capital Markets in Hong Kong. She remained there till 1994.
That was when she started to trade actively in stocks. She put in one year at SG Warburg before her five-year stint as vice-president, fixed income division, at ABN Amro Bank until 2000.
After that, she crossed over to German bank Landesbank Baden Wuerttemberg as a portfolio manager of treasury and capital markets. In 2008, she joined Glow.
Along the way, she took time off to pursue her studies. In 2001, she obtained a Master of Science degree in applied finance from NUS and completed her chartered financial analyst certification.
She is married to businessman Philip Whang, 49, and they have a daughter, Samantha, 18.
Q Are you a spender or saver?
I am more of a saver, but I believe and always tell people around me to spend when necessary and save whenever they can. Honestly, I don't keep track of my spending. I spend on things which I deem necessary but which are within my means. I save the rest. When I was an employee, I was saving at least half of my monthly income and all my bonuses.
Q How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge about $5,000 to my credit cards every month. I own credit cards of most banks but use mainly two. I pay off the bills in full every month.
Q What financial planning have you done for yourself?
I consider myself financially independent. I have passive rental income, dividends from stocks and a regular premium investment- linked insurance policy which invests in Asian equities. The sum assured is $750,000 and the premium is about $6,000 a year. I also have a whole life plan and a 21-year endowment plan.
My stock portfolio is worth about $400,000 and I own shares in Kingsmen, BreadTalk and Singapore Press Holdings. When selecting stocks, I look at dividend yield, business model, management team, financial ratios like the debt equity ratio and the cash flow. I'm happy if I can achieve my target returns of 5 per cent per annum.
Q Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I have five siblings and I'm the second child. My mum was a housewife and my father worked as a fireman, tailor and taxi driver at different times. We lived in a three-room HDB flat in Marine Parade. Our parents were prudent and taught us the importance of money management. I had to give tuition since I was in secondary school to earn extra pocket money.
As I was the eldest girl, I had hands-on practice managing money from an early age. When I was six, I was assigned the role of marketing for the household and would go to the wet market to buy meat, fish and vegetables because my mother was pregnant then and had to look after the younger ones as well. It became my responsibility after that.
Our parents also taught us that education was the key to a better quality of life. So I studied hard.
Q How did you get interested in investing?
I'm born left-brained and I have loved mathematics and numbers since I was young. My first glimpse into the world of equity was through the buzz and excitement of the stock exchange and stockbroking during my junior college days.
My dad has been investing in stocks since the 1970s and in those days, stock certificates were in a physical form. When I was in junior college and later NUS, I used to run errands on his behalf to deliver or take delivery of stock certificates from the stockbroking company at Collyer Quay on my way home.
My first glimpse into property investment was when I was 23, when I got married and we rented our first apartment at Bayshore Park. Our landlord was nice and shared with us his views and advice on property investments. That opened our minds to another investment vehicle.
Q What property do you own?
I own a freehold 1,722 sq ft three-room condominium unit in the East Coast. I paid about $500,000 for it in 1990. The current value is at least $1.6 million. Based on the current monthly rental of $4,000 a month, the gross rental yield is 9.6 per cent.
I own another freehold 1,636 sq ft three-bedroom apartment in Tanjong Rhu. I bought it for $960,000 in 1993 and the current value is about $2 million. The monthly rental is about $4,800.
Q What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
I bought a $13,000 diamond solitaire ring with my bonus during my banking days in 1997 as a reward to myself. Yes, I regret it because I hardly wear it.
Q What's your retirement plan?
I doubt that I'll go into full retirement. In my later years, I see myself still spending time developing Glow, reading, observing and understanding what's happening in the world, staying healthy and enjoying time with family and friends.
To me, money and age are just numbers. Financial independence is when we have the freedom of choice - to do, eat and drink whatever we feel like, and go wherever we want.
I consider myself financially independent. I will need about $100,000 a year. I'm happy eating simple food, although I enjoy fine dining as well.
Q Home is now....
A 2,000 sq ft four-bedroom condo unit in the East Coast. I paid $1 million for it 10 years ago. The current value is about $2 million.
Q I drive....
A salsa-red New Beetle which I bought in April this year.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q What's your worst investment to date?
It was around 2000 and 2002, during the time of the dotcom fever and Internet stocks were a 'must-have'. I knew they were absurdly expensive from a valuation point of view so I did not invest in any till AsiaOne had its IPO in 2000. I invested about $60,000 and it was delisted in 2002 at half of the subscription price.
It was owned by SPH, so I thought it would not go bust with such a strong parent. But I really didn't expect it to delist. I guess I was blinded by the herd mentality and greed.
Q And your best investment to date?
My best investment to date is definitely our current business, Glow, which believes in investing in state-of-the-art technology in beauty care. Business is stable and growing at 25-30 per cent per annum. The firm's turnover is just above $1 million. We have about 12 staff. We are now exploring franchise inquiries that we have received.
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