Family Offices, which provide wealth management for wealth management for wealthy families, have sprung up rapidly in Hong Kong in recent years. Founded in 2011, Delin Group is one of the pioneers in the local industry, the group joined the listed company Yunyi last year, and this year changed its name to Delin Holdings (01709), turning to financial services, backed by the family office network of the parent company Delin Group.
A few days ago, the Hong Kong Letter Daily interviewed Chen Ningdi, the founder of Hong Kong Delin Holdings, and published an in-depth report entitled "Delin Chen Ningdi Ten Years of Sharpening Sword Service Super Rich Local Family Office Pioneer Gan As a Helper of Lak people".
Figure 1 Investment Bank-turned-delin Co-Founder and CEO Andy Chen
Andy Chen, co-founder and CEO of Delin, who is a investment banker, has led the group along the way, relying on the determination and perseverance of "ten years of grinding a sword". The family office is for the super-rich, Andy bluntly said: "Because they are so smart, our road is particularly difficult, at the beginning he has fat and will not give you food, but when you grow slowly, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years... By 10 years, he'll approve of you because that's how he came."
Born in Shanghai, high school in the United States, enrolled in the Washington Aristocratic School, and former US President Clinton's daughter Chelsea Clinton is the same window; after obtaining a double degree in economics and statistics at the University of Chicago, Andy started his career in New York, and then crossed the Atlantic, working in the HSBC investment banking department in the United Kingdom, it is no wonder that he described his thinking as more market-oriented, believing in the "invisible hand" theory.
British investment banking background to help Chinese giants IPO
However, in the white-dominated British investment banking industry, Asians are not easy to break through, "not to say discrimination, but always customers are mainly British and European, Asians have many disadvantages, including communication, background, etc., it is difficult to integrate into the customer circle, some meetings even do not allow Asians to participate, so at that time I felt that it was better to go back to Asia to develop." 」
In 2002, Andy came to Hong Kong and worked in HSBC's global investment banking department and bond market department, in those years, the local investment banking industry gathered many Southeast Asian elites, but not many from the mainland, why choose Hong Kong? "My mother immigrated here early, and I have a very good impression of Hong Kong, so I came to see what opportunities there were, and then I planned to return to the United States to study for an MBA (Master of Business Administration)."
Opportunities are often left to those who are prepared, after SARS in 2003, the following year Chinese companies came to Hong Kong to list, Andy became more and more busy, "the first and largest orders were Chinese Shou (02628), and then other large mainland banks came one after another." Seeing that the business prospects are optimistic, we simply stay in Hong Kong for development.
In 2004, Andy was very busy for the listing of the Bank of Communications (03328), but his father unfortunately crashed and died in the mainland, which hit him very hard, "Fortunately, the leader was considerate and asked me to go back to deal with the funeral, but my heart was very painful, I would rather go to work and resume work as soon as the funeral was over."
After completing the BOCOM IPO project in 2005, he was promoted to one of the leaders of the Chinese group, and was later recruited by private equity funds; by 2011, he felt that he and his wife, who belonged to the same financial industry, had accumulated a certain network in the circle, so he set up his own portal and successively founded Delin Securities and Delin Family Office.
The first three years are the most difficult to survive
When it comes to the reasons for entrepreneurship, Andy does not deny that he has the ambition to go to the next level, contact the elite at the top of the pyramid, and "want to serve this group of wealth creators." At first, it was a good training ground in investment banks, learning at the fastest speed, contacting industry CFOs (chief financial officers), and then through Private Equity (private equity) to contact business owners, M&A (mergers and acquisitions), I hope to change the rules of the industry game."
But starting a business is never easy, especially at that time, "Multi-family office" was a new concept, and mainland customers did not understand, "When China's economy was going up, they (mainland customers) were not at ease to invest funds for overseas asset allocation." From 2011 to 2013, it was a hard and difficult time."
After three years of hard work, Andy finally ushered in a turnaround in 2014: the mainland government implemented the RMB exchange rate reform and began to depreciate, and in the same year, the "Hong Kong Stock Connect" was launched, and the north water flowed south, bringing a large number of customers to Delin.
"At first, it took 3 years to accumulate a customer, very, very slowly, I had a customer, the private equity fund has been chasing his business, a full 10 years to succeed; but when you accumulate a certain number of customers, he will introduce all the people around you, will tell your friends that this platform is reliable, do what you say; with him, we don't have to spend another 3 years to convince his friends, the business can grow rapidly." 」 Andy recalls.
Speaking of the light and breezy, the truth is that many entrepreneurs can not "keep the cloud open" and leave the market, "(start-up) the first year can survive, it is estimated that only 20%; 5 years, get 5%; can persist for more than 5 years, I think you can start investing; 10 years (the company) must go through a lot of ups and downs, just like human growth: when you are young, you want to do anything, confident that you can overcome anything; in your 20s, you find that it is not so, there are many problems, you have to have the means to survive; 30s will encounter more problems."
The same is true for doing business, Andy said bluntly, after crossing the initial difficulties of entrepreneurship, we must face the possibilities of customers, "Once he brings funds and projects with problems, there is a great negative impact, so risk management should be sufficient; what we are grasping now (principle) is that customers must be leaders in the subdivision industry, at least 15 years, the source of funds is very transparent; accompanying us all the way to do business, very stable, is the best customer we have precipitated."
Learn to choose customers carefully and avoid dancing with wolves
So, have you ever met a suspicious customer? "Yes! Before because the market funds came too quickly, the ability to hedge is relatively poor, those customers will take you to the best restaurant, smoke a cigar over ten thousand dollars, we have a lot of short-term temptations and benefits in this industry, if you are not careful, you will be confused, ignore many problems of customers, funds hundreds of millions, hundreds of millions of transfers, but these people get up fast, go down fast, "dance with wolves" The risk is too big; although you can't refuse, you can always say that there is no time, right? Do something, don't do something."
Whether it's an investment bank or a family office, you're in contact with smart people, and Andy believes that dealing with these wealth makers and game-makers in society has a lot of benefits, "The closer you get to these people, the more accurate the information you get, the better the opportunities." (But why do they need you?) Because they are so smart, our road is particularly difficult, at the beginning he has fat meat will not give you to eat, but when you grow slowly, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years... He'll approve of you in 10 years." Admittedly, Lat people also need to have helpers.
Kenuchi helped become a comrade-in-arms Unforgettable promise of that year
It is often said that successful men usually have a virtuous inner helper behind them, but Chen Ningdi (Andy) calls himself "the man behind successful women", and during the visit, he occasionally hangs his wife Jiang Xinrong on his lips, and his love for his wife is overflowing. The couple started a business together in 2011, and his wife is now the chairman of the company's board of directors, the two are close comrades in the workplace and soul mates in life, and Andy always looks at his wife with great energy.
Figure 1 Chen Ningdi (Andy) and his wife Jiang Xinrong
Jiang Xinrong is the winner of the 2003 Miss China Universe Contest, once served as the anchor of Phoenix TV for many years, and then turned to the financial industry, as a senior vice president of the China team of Standard Chartered Private Bank, senior vice president of the Hong Kong team of JPMorgan Chase & J.P. Morgan Private Banking; beauty and wisdom are equally important, of course, there is no shortage of suitors around, askEd Andy how to win the heart? It turns out that it is inseparable from sincerity and perseverance, "Chasing for 3 years, it is difficult, haha."
Be a loving father at home, be a wife "blackface"
There is also a romantic story behind this, "In 2005, I was pursuing her, she just entered the Phoenix TV night news, she had to arrive at the company at 11 p.m., and then I left work at 10 o'clock to accompany her to dinner; at that time, there was an agreement with her: you were on TV (newspaper news), I accompanied you to sleep until 2 o'clock in the morning, and I had to go to work tomorrow, when you just closed your eyes on the show, I knew (good night)." After many years, now that he remembers this past, Andy still has a sweet face.
The two have a son and a daughter after marriage, currently studying in the United States, "the company has a real estate project in the United States, so now the wife is with them over there, I am alone in Hong Kong", he laughed that he will always be a loving father at home, by the wife as a "black face"; for the discipline of children, Andy advocates inaction, "happy, happy to become, you see our company, the first principle is not to invite any relatives, nepotism is more harmful than beneficial, must be rejected; I do not believe in blood, a team must have a common concept, common interests, to get together."
The Battle of The Scum Horse felt the strength of the team's family
The financial market is changing rapidly, the pressure of engaging in wealth management and family services is not light, Andy Chen (Andy) stress reduction method is running, no wonder the body is very rich, "running will secrete dopamine, make you happy, run to the back of the whole body muscles are sore, but mentally satisfied, physical health a lot comes from the mentality; during the run I will think about things, there will be a lot of inspiration, very interesting." 」
Talking about the relationship with running, it turned out that Mrs. Guan was doing things, "Doing this business is a lot of socializing, a few years ago my wife said that I was too fat and wanted to exercise, so I started running." Many runners aim to challenge the marathon, and Andy also completed the Standard Chartered Marathon 42.195 km all-marathon last year, the process is not easy, "After running 10 or 15 km, the body began to hurt, I trained, survived, until the back found that the knees were not successful, the shoulders, the half of the body were all cramped." 」
"I remember running to about 38 kilometers, my hands were generally anesthesia (paralysis), my legs were cramped, my knees were broken, I couldn't walk, I saw a lot of runners lying on the side of the road, I basically had to give up, you know (scum horse) the last few kilometers were going to slope, it was very painful; at that time, my wife suddenly called me and said that she and her colleagues in the whole company were waiting for me at the end, very magical, the body suddenly did not hurt, and the knees could move, just like seeing the dawn at the end of the dark tunnel." 」 Andy recalls.
Strive to complete the marathon and shout fear
In the end, he completed the race in 5 hours and 20 minutes, "520" is exactly the Mandarin harmonic of "I love you", he quipped that it was deliberately created this time, serious romance; "Running is a very lonely sport, but the body organs are like a team, your left arm, body and mind, spleen and lungs are like your customers and funds, full of movement." 」
Figure 2 Slag Horse Finish 520
"Marathon is the same as life, the outside world and yourself will give you all kinds of signals, so that you give up or use other methods, but as long as you have the team, family strength, immediately like a new person, continue to persevere." 」
However, he laughed and said that after this battle, he was afraid of the marathon, "I hurt my knees, and now my waist is not good, so although running is very good, I don't recommend marathons."
Hong Kong's legal liberal talents are not inferior to Singapore's
Delin Holdings' parent company Delin Group's three major businesses include family offices, alternative investments, and financial services provided by Delin Securities; despite the recent outbreak of the fourth wave of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in The local area, Chen Ningdi (Andy) is still full of confidence in the market prospects, "The impact of the financial industry is relatively small, I believe that next year will only be better, because now the entire industry is reshuffling, many foreign capital withdrawals, large Chinese institutions will have more resources to invest in Hong Kong, need more reliable, Branded financial institutions and listed company platforms connect with them."
Figure 3 Ningdi Chan: Hong Kong's status remains unshakable in the future
He made it clear that Hong Kong's status will remain unshakable in the future, "Hong Kong has common law, free speech, free flow of information and funds, and many years of talent accumulation, it is difficult for the world to have such a place, the only one that can be compared is Singapore." As for the recent popular "Singapore replacing Hong Kong" theory, Andy disagrees, "That is impossible, even if the characteristics of the two places are somewhat similar, but Singapore has a problem: too far from China." 」
Backed by China, it will not be replaced
He continued: "What I am talking about is far from geographical distance, it is far away in the sense of sovereignty; China has a lot of resources, but it will not give to Singapore, Hong Kong is a part of China, so China will give resources to Hong Kong; Singapore cannot enjoy China's welfare, China is the country with the fastest economic rebound after the epidemic, and the (investment object) to build new wealth will not be Singapore, it must be Hong Kong."
"Overseas investors are also, some of our customers are the founders of Silicon Valley (enterprises) in the United States, they all say that the United States is currently using money (to stimulate the economy), there will be a lot of money out next year (overseas), US dollar assets will become cheaper, they must diversify their risks, they think of China, the first choice must be Hong Kong, through Hong Kong to enjoy the upstream of China's economy; Japan, Europe (investors) the situation is the same." 」
Ten years of personnel new, entrepreneurship is about to 10 years, and now among the ranks of listed companies, askEd What is Andy's goal? He replied confidently, "I'm just starting out!" In this industry, 10 years is really just the beginning, we think some of the benchmarking multinational (peer) companies have been doing for 30 years, I hope that we can be like them in 20 years, the world has Delin's figure."