Hong Kong
In 1988, the Group’s founder, Neo Que Yau invested his first real estate in Singapore. Soon enough, the political climate between Hong Kong and China intensified in 1989, and the Group saw an opportunity to enter the Hong Kong real estate market with an opportunity to buy at distress. Hence, the Group started investing heavily in Hong Kong and located the headquarter to Hong Kong in 1995. Leveraging on Neo’s experience and relationship with banks, the Group was able to obtain ample leverage to invest during this rapid growth stage. The Group’s strategy then was to acquire old run-down residential in irreplaceable location, refurbished the units and add good value to tailor to the more discerning demand at that time. This fast turnaround strategy was a huge success and lucratively created “The First Bucket of Gold” for the Group during the early 90s.
Coincidentally, the Group’s strategy was to time the market, execute quickly to ensure optimal exits and maximize returns, reinvest opportunities. Hence, most projects had a very short holding period, and all assets acquired during the 90s were sold before the Asian Financial Crisis hit in 1997. After the Asian Financial Crisis, Hong Kong experienced another property downturn and the Group accelerated the acquisition rate on opportunistic investments in larger and more attractive real estate opportunities.
Due to the carefully crafted holding strategy of the Group, the Group’s asset under management was minimum when SARS crisis hit Hong Kong in 2003. Once again during and after the crisis, the Group was able to acquire many lucrative projects for the next cycle.
Since the Group’s inception, the Group traded not just in many residential units in Hong Kong and Singapore which many of the projects provided great equity multiple, but also, the group has venture into retail, hotel, office and the other mixed-use investments.
