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Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)
Sep 12, 2010
me & my money
Insurance honcho's modest start
Chief executive who toiled part-time from age 13 hits pay dirt
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Insurance honcho David John Beynon started out in his career as a drama teacher in 1971 and was a part-time rubbish collector during the summer holidays. It shocked him to find out that he was paid 60 per cent more to collect rubbish than to teach.
In 1973, Mr Beynon became an insurance agent.
It marked the start of an illustrious lifelong insurance career that has spanned almost four decades. The firms he worked for include Allied Dunbar Assurance, J. Rothschild International Assurance, John Hancock Life Assurance and Manulife Financial (Indonesia), where he was the chief executive and president director from February 2006 to this year.
The 60-year-old Mr Beynon's latest appointment is with TM Asia Life Singapore, where he has been chief executive since July. The firm, an arm of global insurer Tokio Marine Group, will be rebranded as Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore from tomorrow to coincide with the group's move to its new regional headquarters here.
His current investment portfolio comprises residential properties in Bali, New Zealand and the Caribbean, and a pension fund that is mostly invested in capital-protected funds and global equities. As he plans to retire in New Zealand, he has a home there and a substantial portfolio of New Zealand government bonds.
Mr Beynon is married to homemaker Nikki Nicholson, 58, and they have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I am probably more of a spender but usually on assets like antiques or art. I own Victorian and Georgian antiques, porcelain Chinese tea cups and saucers, and paintings from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. The antiques and paintings are worth about $500,000.
I like to buy good suits and shoes and eat out once a week or so, but that's about it. We like to holiday in Bali, but at my own villa.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I spend between $3,000 and $4,000 a month, but usually for bigger items like flights for my wife and myself plus my daughters and their families. I withdraw $500 from the ATM every fortnight.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
Besides my properties, I have a personal pension fund in Guernsey (Channel Islands) invested in various ways, including a capital-protected currency fund, global equities, a recycling fund, an environmental fund, a global property fund and a legal loan fund. Most of this is capital-protected as I am too old to take too many risks with my retirement fund. The pension fund is self-managed and I channel my savings into it regularly. I have a financial adviser in England who recommends financial products.
I also own a substantial portfolio of New Zealand government bonds since I intend to eventually retire there. The return is about 5 per cent for a five-year bond. Most of my insurance policies have matured. My wife and I have about $1 million each in life cover and we have medical cover as well.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I had a great childhood although my family of six was not well off. I was the youngest. Both parents worked but in modest jobs. My father was a fitter in a small manufacturing company and my mum served dinners at school and was a shop assistant at one stage. We lived in an 800 sq ft three-bedroom house in Somerset, south-west of England. It was rented from the government.
I worked part-time, mostly on weekends, from the age of 13 and pretty well took care of my own needs from then, such as buying my own clothes and shoes. I made do with one pair of shoes at a time. Consequently, if you check my wardrobe now, you will find I have about 10 brand new, unworn suits, dozens of new shirts and at least eight pairs of brand new, unworn shoes. A reaction from my less privileged youth, I guess. My wife and daughters laugh at this quirky thing all the time.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
In England, everyone aspires to be a home owner. I started with buying my first house back in 1972 when I was 22. I was already married for about a year to Nikki, who was a ballet teacher then. The profit we made from this first house was used as a deposit for our next home and we just kept upgrading to a more expensive home each time. We moved lots to trade up. This was during the 1980s and 1990s and it was an amazing way to make capital.
Q: What property do you own?
I have a condo in Grand Cayman, a villa in Bali and a house in New Zealand. My Villa Santai in Bali is located in Seminyak, in the Kuta area. I bought it in March last year for US$310,000 (S$415,000). Its land area is about 10,000 sq ft and its built-up area is 3,000 sq ft. It has four bedrooms, a huge open dining/living room and can be rented out at up to US$400 a night. Its current value is probably US$500,000. I'm enjoying a rental yield of almost 15 per cent from the villa.
My main retirement house is located in Kaikoura, in South Island, New Zealand. It is an old house, built in 1906. I bought it in July last year for $600,000 and spent another $400,000 renovating it. Its current value is about $1.5 million. It is 5,000 sq ft and has six bedrooms and 10 acres of land. My two daughters and their families live in Kaikoura too. We bought a house each for them - sort of a living legacy when they most need it.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
This was back in 1973 when I was a poor teacher. I paid $500 for a Flamenco guitar which was equivalent to two months of my income then. But I still have it and play it!
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I'm probably financially independent now. My wife and I need about $2,000 a month just for general living expenses, apart from rental. But if you add the travelling costs, we will need about $10,000 on average a month. We will move between Bali and New Zealand, depending on the weather.
Q: Home is now....
A rented 3,000 sq ft condo off Orchard Road.
Q: I drive....
A metallic black Mercedes-Benz 300E.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
My 3,000 sq ft condo in Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. It is on a golf course that overlooks the fairways and a river. I bought it for US$720,000 (S$965,000). It is now worth about US$600,000. Our daughter used to lived there and we wanted a place close to her. It was a good family decision but a bad financial one. I bought it in 1999 before the US property crash.
Q: And your best investment?
Definitely my first property - a semi-detached Victorian house - which I bought for $20,000 in 1972. The mortgage, which was 95 per cent of the house price, was huge, considering my income as a drama teacher. I also had to borrow the deposit. I sold it for $30,000 after two years.
I consider this my best investment because I used the profits from the sale of this house to begin funding my subsequent property purchases.
Another good investment was my house in Sussex, Britain, which I bought for $400,000 in 1986 and sold for $1 million in 1989. I then bought a big old Georgian house occupying 1.8ha of land, just outside the city of Bath, for $1.4 million in the same year and sold it for $2.2 million in 1995.
me & my money
Insurance honcho's modest start
Chief executive who toiled part-time from age 13 hits pay dirt
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Insurance honcho David John Beynon started out in his career as a drama teacher in 1971 and was a part-time rubbish collector during the summer holidays. It shocked him to find out that he was paid 60 per cent more to collect rubbish than to teach.
In 1973, Mr Beynon became an insurance agent.
It marked the start of an illustrious lifelong insurance career that has spanned almost four decades. The firms he worked for include Allied Dunbar Assurance, J. Rothschild International Assurance, John Hancock Life Assurance and Manulife Financial (Indonesia), where he was the chief executive and president director from February 2006 to this year.
The 60-year-old Mr Beynon's latest appointment is with TM Asia Life Singapore, where he has been chief executive since July. The firm, an arm of global insurer Tokio Marine Group, will be rebranded as Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore from tomorrow to coincide with the group's move to its new regional headquarters here.
His current investment portfolio comprises residential properties in Bali, New Zealand and the Caribbean, and a pension fund that is mostly invested in capital-protected funds and global equities. As he plans to retire in New Zealand, he has a home there and a substantial portfolio of New Zealand government bonds.
Mr Beynon is married to homemaker Nikki Nicholson, 58, and they have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I am probably more of a spender but usually on assets like antiques or art. I own Victorian and Georgian antiques, porcelain Chinese tea cups and saucers, and paintings from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. The antiques and paintings are worth about $500,000.
I like to buy good suits and shoes and eat out once a week or so, but that's about it. We like to holiday in Bali, but at my own villa.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I spend between $3,000 and $4,000 a month, but usually for bigger items like flights for my wife and myself plus my daughters and their families. I withdraw $500 from the ATM every fortnight.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
Besides my properties, I have a personal pension fund in Guernsey (Channel Islands) invested in various ways, including a capital-protected currency fund, global equities, a recycling fund, an environmental fund, a global property fund and a legal loan fund. Most of this is capital-protected as I am too old to take too many risks with my retirement fund. The pension fund is self-managed and I channel my savings into it regularly. I have a financial adviser in England who recommends financial products.
I also own a substantial portfolio of New Zealand government bonds since I intend to eventually retire there. The return is about 5 per cent for a five-year bond. Most of my insurance policies have matured. My wife and I have about $1 million each in life cover and we have medical cover as well.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I had a great childhood although my family of six was not well off. I was the youngest. Both parents worked but in modest jobs. My father was a fitter in a small manufacturing company and my mum served dinners at school and was a shop assistant at one stage. We lived in an 800 sq ft three-bedroom house in Somerset, south-west of England. It was rented from the government.
I worked part-time, mostly on weekends, from the age of 13 and pretty well took care of my own needs from then, such as buying my own clothes and shoes. I made do with one pair of shoes at a time. Consequently, if you check my wardrobe now, you will find I have about 10 brand new, unworn suits, dozens of new shirts and at least eight pairs of brand new, unworn shoes. A reaction from my less privileged youth, I guess. My wife and daughters laugh at this quirky thing all the time.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
In England, everyone aspires to be a home owner. I started with buying my first house back in 1972 when I was 22. I was already married for about a year to Nikki, who was a ballet teacher then. The profit we made from this first house was used as a deposit for our next home and we just kept upgrading to a more expensive home each time. We moved lots to trade up. This was during the 1980s and 1990s and it was an amazing way to make capital.
Q: What property do you own?
I have a condo in Grand Cayman, a villa in Bali and a house in New Zealand. My Villa Santai in Bali is located in Seminyak, in the Kuta area. I bought it in March last year for US$310,000 (S$415,000). Its land area is about 10,000 sq ft and its built-up area is 3,000 sq ft. It has four bedrooms, a huge open dining/living room and can be rented out at up to US$400 a night. Its current value is probably US$500,000. I'm enjoying a rental yield of almost 15 per cent from the villa.
My main retirement house is located in Kaikoura, in South Island, New Zealand. It is an old house, built in 1906. I bought it in July last year for $600,000 and spent another $400,000 renovating it. Its current value is about $1.5 million. It is 5,000 sq ft and has six bedrooms and 10 acres of land. My two daughters and their families live in Kaikoura too. We bought a house each for them - sort of a living legacy when they most need it.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
This was back in 1973 when I was a poor teacher. I paid $500 for a Flamenco guitar which was equivalent to two months of my income then. But I still have it and play it!
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I'm probably financially independent now. My wife and I need about $2,000 a month just for general living expenses, apart from rental. But if you add the travelling costs, we will need about $10,000 on average a month. We will move between Bali and New Zealand, depending on the weather.
Q: Home is now....
A rented 3,000 sq ft condo off Orchard Road.
Q: I drive....
A metallic black Mercedes-Benz 300E.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
My 3,000 sq ft condo in Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. It is on a golf course that overlooks the fairways and a river. I bought it for US$720,000 (S$965,000). It is now worth about US$600,000. Our daughter used to lived there and we wanted a place close to her. It was a good family decision but a bad financial one. I bought it in 1999 before the US property crash.
Q: And your best investment?
Definitely my first property - a semi-detached Victorian house - which I bought for $20,000 in 1972. The mortgage, which was 95 per cent of the house price, was huge, considering my income as a drama teacher. I also had to borrow the deposit. I sold it for $30,000 after two years.
I consider this my best investment because I used the profits from the sale of this house to begin funding my subsequent property purchases.
Another good investment was my house in Sussex, Britain, which I bought for $400,000 in 1986 and sold for $1 million in 1989. I then bought a big old Georgian house occupying 1.8ha of land, just outside the city of Bath, for $1.4 million in the same year and sold it for $2.2 million in 1995.
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