A reader who follows my monthly investing articles made a rather unusual request. He asked if I could write about my best and worse investments in my lifetime.
Initially, I was a bit reluctant to kind of öpen up” my life – but then – here it is:
Worse investment ever – US$5,000 in a Pakistan closed-end fund that was listed in a United States stock exchange – only got about $100 back when the managers decided to close the fund.
Best investment ever (from my heart as still don’t know what the returns are exactly yet) – as one of the executive producers (investors) of the movie Ilo Ilo, which has won 27 international awards to date.
Worst emotionally stressed investing experience – Had a call in the middle of the night that all my dollar/yen forex positions would be closed out (margin breached) as there was a sudden huge surge in the Yen. Although I was half asleep – I fortunately had the presence of mind to plead that my position be liquidated one lot at a time – luckily the dollar did recover somewhat and I lost US$59,000 in one night (my biggest one day loss ever in investing).
Most illogical investment goal – I traded forex until i made back the U$59,000 I lost. I never touched forex trading after that!
Most funny investment – I was in London with nothing much to do and researched (after listening to a BBC radio programme) and bought a British lordship for about 5,000 pounds in 1995 (I’m the Lord of Newsham, North Yorkshire – title goes back to the time of William the Conqueror in 1066 – at one time in history owned by the inventor of the cotton wheel) – but the marketable title never appreciated in price I believe – with frequent talk about discontinuing hereditary titles in the United Kingdom.
Most “never gave it a thought” investment – bought 2 unit trust funds in Jamaica in 1998 when I was the honorary consul of Jamaica to Singapore – they have performed quite well in US$ terms – think about 6% per annum
Best long term investment – the house I’m staying in was pirchased by my late father in 1955 for $15,000. I have been told that it is now worth over 300 times after 59 years. Over the years, quite a lot of people have suggested selling to cash out, tear down and build 2 houses, etc – but I guess if you are confortable staying in a home – why sell? Life is not all about money right?
Worse “leisure” investment – 2 country club memberships that eventually became worthless
Worse “holiday”investment – $6,000 for a one week a year timeshare for 30 years which I gave up after about 15 years (have to be very flexible to travel wherever and whenever it was available) – had some very interesting travelling experiences like staying in a castle in the United Kingdom though, but as an investment it turned out to be a dud (or at least that was what the timeshare salesman said)!
Most interesting investment-related experience – hosted a weekly one hour money radio talkshow for 3 plus years.
Most “blur” investing-related experience – had a daily column in a Chinese newspaper – I can’t read or write Chinese – can only talk to the journalist in my broken Chinese!
Best thing that I never “invested” in – failed my highway code in my 20s – so, never had a driving license. I estimated I may have saved about $1.4 million already ($1,000 compounded at 6% for 35 years from age 25 to my age now (60).
Leong Sze Hian
