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Meet the mysterious man who made a £20million (S$40m) opening bid for Scottish Football Club Glasgow Rangers.

B y B R i A n y i M & G O H C H Ay T E n G

F ew have done it quite like Bill ng. While most people merely read the news, Bill is the news

– a headliner, no less. a daring bid for scottish football club Glasgow rangers propelled this unassuming singaporean businessman to the forefront of the football world. While local journalists may be familiar with him as the good-natured Chairman of Hougang United Football Club, the international press was scrambling, eager to find out more about this mysterious man.

as far as first impressions go, Bill, who is 53 years old, checked off the boxes of a typical successful businessman. Founder and director of private equities firm Financial Frontiers, he had a firm, decisive handshake, visionary ideas and a statuesque appearance. But as the interview progressed, it became clear that the ex-stockbroker had something more - warmth.

He takes a genuine interest and concern in people; even the most humble and believes in volunteer work such as the Yellow ribbon Project which seeks to rehabilitate former convicts and reintegrate them into society. Bill tried to offer work to some of these prisoners through his social engagements such as the running of a football club and his commitment as volunteer in singapore Grand Prix earned him the role as Chief of Course during the singapore F1 race season.

The Hougang United Football Club, previously called sengkang Punggol FC was in danger of liquidation with losses in excess of $1.3million. The Football association of singapore approached Bill to help to “save” the club. He did manage to turnaround the club and in the process, created many jobs. running a football club in singapore is not a money

The BenevolenT Dealmaker

making proposition but a social endeavor, something Bill still manages to make time for despite his impossibly hectic schedule and frequent travels.

in fact turning things around is Bill’s specialty skill as a professional investor. Many high net worth investors go to Bill to invest their funds in businesses. Bill’s strength is to invest in failed or ailing businesses, restructure it and nurture it back to health thereby significantly enhancing corporate value.

To Bill, investing in any business, is always about investing in people. His mentor and former Chairman of rHB Bank, Tan sri abdul rashid Hussain, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region had taught him there is usually not a problem with the business model by itself. The person who is managing the business is the backbone that makes it succeed, or fail.

Bill explained “it’s the characters that i spend a lot of time trying to understand. The willingness, the commitment of that person is what i’m more interested in.”

When investing in any business, Bill and his team spend much time meeting with all levels of staff from the management team to cleaners, gatekeepers and even the security guards.

“in China, when we’re buying a business, we even talk to the security guards. We ask questions like, “How often did your boss come to work?” “oh, he didn’t come in for the past few months?” The security guard will give you a lot of insights. it tells you what type of characters / business you’re buying into.”

even before the interviews begin, Bill and team are there a few days earlier checking out the neighbourhood and even doing stock checks to determine if the goods are obsolete or fake. Being

hands on and getting a feel of ground sentiment is crucial to getting a pulse on the business and what needs to be attended to.

“in developing countries, it is hard work. The relationship is on top of everything and sometimes the relationship can tire you. We come from a professional world, when you agree to something, you just deliver results. it’s unlike developing countries where the relationship comes first and then work comes second. and that is a very different mindset that we learn and have to adapt to. ”

Investment Projects some of the projects Financial

Frontiers has invested in included building an 80-room hospital in Fujian-sheng. another portfolio, Health Trend Medical investment (HTMi) Group offers a holistic range of Medical, aesthetics and Wellness services. another project, a water dam development in Myanmar in 2005, was fully financed by his company and which he regards as one of his more lucrative deals. “it took us 4 difficult years to complete. eventually, we retired our full capital and we made a handsome return. We still keep in contact with the vendors. With Myanmar opening up, we want to go back in again. one of his most challenging projects involves the HKse public listing of gaming and entertainment company nagaCorp based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, owned and operated by Malaysian Tan sri Dato’ Dr Chen lip Keong.

early Days of nagaCorp Tan sri Dato’ Dr Chen lip Keong first started with a tug boat and placed 20 gaming tables and jackpot machines inside. in those days, you could not

It’S the ChaRaCteRS that I Spend a lot oF tIMe tRyInG to undeRStand. the wIllInGneSS, the CoMMItMent oF that peRSon IS what I’M MoRe InteReSted In.

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operate a casino in Phnom Penh. He operated on the riverside. He started a floating casino, and then slowly they moved inland when gaming was allowed.

When Phnom Penh gave nagaCorp license to move inland, whatever he earned, he promised he would donate to build roads, schools and infrastructure. in short, he contributed a percentage of his income to social building programmes. This is not in the contract. That’s what we learnt in the business model. it’s not where and what you build, you make the money, and you take it out. it is an understanding where every dollar you make, a certain percentage goes back to social building contribution. it’s the same thing in many developing countries.”

since 2002, Bill worked with Tan sri Chen for a back breaking 4 years to attempt a public listing. They tried to list in Malaysia but failed. They went to singapore and tried to list twice without success. next they went to Hong Kong and succeeded only on the second attempt after taking out huge insurance to protect all minority investors.

“it was difficult because it was the 1st casino listing in HKse (Hong Kong stock exchange). There were concerns about currency controls and money laundering. Before allowing the listing in Hong Kong, the authorities made nagaCorp buy insurance to insure the Country’s risk. That means if a strike or riot breaks out in Cambodia, all the minority interests are insured. so eventually, only one, the oldest insurance firm in the world, lloyds

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of london, agreed to insure the Country’s risk. “For this project, it is the first of its kind listed in Hong Kong, all of us were very very motivated by this eye-opener. Current market capitalization is at HKD $7billion.”

Returns of “Few hundred %”Gold mining company CnMC Gold Holdings limited was another company that Bill went public with the founders in singapore in 2011. This was also a protracted six year journey to take theformer gold exploration company into a gold production company. Bill brought in private equity to grow the business which now has a market capitalization of $160 million of which Bill’s company is one of the major stakeholders.

“our returns are handsome. My style involves taking many years to build one project. i’m basically hands-on. our entire management team gets heavily involved in the business. We won’t just buy a stock and leave it to the markets to run up and down. The life span for each project we undertake averages 4-5 years.

Due to its heavy commitments to its projects, Financial Frontiers is careful not to take on more projects than it can handle. They have a robust screening process and in a year, they typically review about 60 projects and pick only less than 3 to invest in.

Investment Focus “We like the sports and entertainmentsectors and especially healthcare and

medical. over the next 10 years, manycountries are facing a rapidly agingpopulation which some call it the “silverTsunami”. lately i went to Hong Kong insearch of some land in suburban areas to build homes for senior citizens. The problem is that we have liquidity but can’t find enough good projects to invest in. last year, we returned much cash to investors because we could not find the projects that fit our requirements. “last year, if we had just forced ourselves to invest for the sake of investing, we would have encountered a lot of problems.”

Financial Frontiers investors are pushing the company to invest in more projects, hence, Bill is actively in search of them. When a good project is found, he can mobilize the liquidity quickly as in the case with the £20million (s$40m) opening bid for Glasgow rangers which was a capital play due to the returns expected from ticket sales and the television rights. (note: He subsequently withdrew his bid when the liquidators of the Football Club varied their demands).

Risk Profile Bill describes himself as a cautiousinvestor who is prepared to take moderateand calculated risks. as a private equity investor, he would usually not invest a hugeamount upfront but step up his investmentprogressively after having understood the management better. “as a guide, we cap our limit at Us$10m for a start. The largest amount we have invested, in terms of syndication effort, was Us$60 million

in China, where we secured a taxi-licensing company to finance a fleet of taxis.

Bill’s key expertise is in mezzanine financing which involves finding and mixing various investors for a projects.

Financial Frontiers regard “Greenfield projects” as their lowest priority. These are brand new projects that start from scratch and hence have the highest risks of failure as many things can go wrong. Financial Frontiers, based in singapore, has a team of 15 dedicated staff of various nationalities including, singaporeans, Malaysians, Canadian, British and Chinese.

“initially for the first few years when i started the business, i tried doing things on my own. it was a mistake. it was a failure. i decided to look for talents and bring them in to work in partnership with me. i groomed them and we move on together and i give them shares in the projects we undertake and treat them more like partners.”

Who is the person who shaped you most in your life? “i always remember fondly my ex-Chairman of the rHB Group, Tan sri abdul rashid Hussain. i learnt the code of ethics, to be upright in our dealings, keeping a low profile and making things concise and to the point. When you make a mistake, just admit it instead of spending time to argue or to go around it. and no matter what pressure you face, you have to be happy and enjoy your work. even if you don’t like this job, try to learn to like it. You will learn something. i still remember quotes like that and i tell that to my co-partners and children.

What is the best advice that you give to your children? “Get the chance to train under a tough trainer. never work for your father in your first job because they will take things for granted and all the staff will treat them nicely. Go out and learn something first

before coming back to work for the family. My son started work at 7/11 store because he could not speak simple Hokkien. There, the old aunties scolded him when he could not converse with them. “You terrible singaporean! How come you can’t speak simple Hokkien?”

My son came back and started asking his mother how to count to ten and how to communicate. now he can speak Hokkien and Mandarin relatively well. it is about building confidence. When the young start out, don’t be too concerned about the salary or increment. Don’t be calculative. Go the extra mile to learn. Take on responsibility. People will notice and the money flow will come. Have confidence.

Did you have any business failures? “We had a couple of failed projects or even more than i can remember. some failed projects include, in China, two construction companies and a small coffee plantation in Yunnan Province. another was a singapore branding company.

We learnt that when we invest in companies that require a turnaround, we needed close management supervision to track KPis. (Key Performance indicators). What i look for now when i start a project is the pool of talent and their willingness to share and train the younger generation. i believe in passing down knowledge and expertise, rather than the old school, where everything is kept within and not shared.”

Why has the entrepreneurial culture yet to take root in Singapore? “it is because we are too afraid to makemistakes and they have mommy and daddy to cling on to. This is why i say do not be afraid to make mistakes. i’m notteaching you to argue with your superior.Think freely, bring it up, unless your superior finds you very annoying, tells you to shut up then you stop. otherwise, don’t be afraid to open up. in meetings,speak up.

I Rank happIneSS on top oF My wealth. wIth happIneSS, you Get peaCe. My Motto IS to help otheRS wheneveR I Can and to GIve baCk and be happy. be happy wIthIn oneSelF and wIthIn the FaMIly.

what I look FoR now when I StaRt a pRojeCt IS the pool oF talent and theIR wIllInGneSS to ShaRe and tRaIn the younGeR GeneRatIon. I belIeve In paSSInG down knowledGe and expeRtISe, RatheR than the old SChool, wheRe eveRythInG IS kept wIthIn and not ShaRed.”

What do you do in your free time? “i used to do competitive endurance car races in the region, but not anymore. it’s too gruelling and i don’t have the time.

However, as a Chief Course in singapore Grand Prix, i still do have a lot of “competitive driving” in the singapore Marina road circuit. i can still drive and that is where it keeps me young.

When i do have time now, i play one hour of Wii for entertainment or just watch a football training session. i do go for a walk every night with my wife for about an hour. We spend a lot of time talking or just collecting our thoughts.

What does wealth mean to you?“i rank happiness on top of my wealth. With happiness, you get peace. My motto is to help others whenever i can and to give back and be happy. Be happy within oneself and within the family.

recently in Parliament, they were debating the Global Happiness index. singapore was ranked quite low and yet we are a wealthy nation. We can do more beyond chasing numbers to make ourselves happy. i always tell my Hr people to organize family events more frequently.

our society is very intolerable of mistakes. This is not good. Perhaps some of this unforgiving mindset comes from our quest to be number one in everything. But now, things should change. i don’t agree with the zero-tolerance policy especially in the service industry or in the people businesses, except when it comes to dishonesty, corruption or match-fixing. same results can be achieved with a softer touch.”