SOME people get to fulfil only one dream in a lifetime. And that's if they are lucky. Francis Mak, however, is well on the way to racking up two.
The 49-year-old has fulfilled one aim of becoming a successful stock investor. He now wants to make it as an entrepreneur.
'Another dream besides stock investing is to be an entrepreneur in the food business. Because of my age, it's about time I started to pursue that,' said the Hong Kong-born Singaporean.
He recently invested $200,000 in a 1,800 sq ft restaurant on Balestier Road with a capacity for 80 diners that serves Hong Kong-style food.
'Hopefully I can build up the name within two to three years and become a brand. I will then consider expansion,' said Mr Mak.
To differentiate itself from similar outlets, Cafe de Hong Kong serves home-cooked dishes as well as more special fare such as oyster with minced pork soup rice and stone crispy beef fillet.
A desire to try life in a faster lane prompted Mr Mak to trade in his pharmaceutical sales job for the highly charged world of futures trading.
The change more than 20 years ago took him to Indonesia and then Singapore as a consultant in setting up futures trading operations.
His stock investments will take a back seat for now as he rolls up his sleeves to wade into his new venture.
Q: What are your money habits?
A: I used to spend more than I earn. In my remisier days when my salary was at its peak, I was spending more than HK$1,000 (S$195) a day, mainly on entertaining such as drinking and karaoke.
After I got married, I learnt that every cent saved could generate a lot of returns. Perhaps age is a reason too. Before I started the restaurant, I was saving about 20 per cent of my pay.
Q: What do you splurge on now?
A: I don't spend much on myself. One form that my investment takes is spending on my children. For instance, my older son, Jae, seven, attends lessons in art, piano, drums and singing. We pay about $500 monthly for these lessons.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself and your family?
A: I have about $100,000 to $200,000 in a self-managed stock portfolio comprising Singapore and Hong Kong stocks. It consists of mostly small-cap stocks such as CG Technology and China Lifestyle.
In 2001 and 2002, my portfolio made 50 per cent annual returns. It has achieved 10 to 15 per cent returns per annum in the last few years. The rest of my investments are in my business and insurance.
Q: What kind of insurance?
A: I'm a believer in insurance. If anything happens to me, it will affect my family not only emotionally but financially as I'm the sole breadwinner.
So I want to make sure my family is well provided for. I'm insured for about $800,000 on my life and my annual premiums amount to $8,000.
Q: What is your investment philosophy?
A: I believe I can get more returns from stock investments than from unit trusts. The high sales charges and annual management fees that come with unit trust investing also discourage me. If you factor in a sales charge of, say, 5 per cent, five cents of every dollar invested will end up going to the sales fee.
When it comes to stock investing, there are two factors to consider: Do your homework before buying, and build up your guts and accuracy in entering at a reasonable price. You must have the guts to cut losses if your decision is wrong.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
A: I was a salesman in the pharmaceutical industry after I graduated with a business administration degree. I got to know about futures through a friend and felt it suited my character because the futures business is very fast-paced. I became a stock remisier as well as a futures broker. At my peak before the October 1987 crash, I was earning HK$60,000 to HK$70,000 in monthly commissions.
Q: What has been a bad investment?
A: I invested about $20,000 in CSE Global in 2005 and the price kept falling for a month, so I cut my losses, which came to around 20 per cent. If I had held on, I would have doubled my investment. In hindsight, I made the mistake of entering at a high price.
Q: Your best investment to date?
A: In 2004, I bought 40 lots of Hong Kong's Petrochina at HK$1.70 each. I sold them for more than HK$5 each a year later. They are now worth HK$10.
Q: What were your growing-up years like?
A: My father was a bus driver and mum was a housewife. They had six children. Life was difficult and we were living in a rented place. But I was the luckiest because I was the youngest. When it came to my college studies, the family managed to save the money for me to go to Canada.
Q: What are your retirement plans?
A: Rather than going into full retirement, I prefer to participate in some business or concentrate on stock investments. I have no plans for retirement because I expect to be involved actively in my restaurant business for the next three to five years.
Q: And your home now is...
A: I sold my five-room HDB flat in Punggol last September at a small profit and I'm renting a 1,300 sq ft, three-bedroom executive condo at Sengkang. I used to believe that renting in Singapore is better than owning a property, but looking at the current property market, it appears that I'm wrong.
