Insights
Investing
Portfolio construction, risk, currencies and markets, for families investing across borders.
Seven Finance Fundamentals That Survive Every Regime Change
Tax rules, retirement systems and market structure all changed across six jurisdictions in two years. The fundamentals of managing money did not. Seven ideas that hold up, each tied to a real change.
Your Biggest Position Was Never a Decision
Property in China, one chip maker in Taiwan, seven stocks in the US, a market-wide index review in Indonesia. Household portfolios are usually concentrated in something inherited rather than chosen. How to find it, and what the fundamentals say to do about it.
The Currency You Did Not Choose
In 2025 the ringgit rose nearly 10% against the dollar and the Taiwan dollar moved 5% in a day. Every household with foreign assets or foreign bills is running a currency position, usually without knowing it.
Bank-Sold Products Get Disclosure Rules
On 22 December 2025 China's financial regulator published disclosure rules for bank, trust and insurance asset-management products, in force from September 2026. After the trust defaults, what a household should read before buying.
When the Finance Minister Changes, So Does Your Discount Rate
In September 2025 Indonesia replaced its finance minister and parked Rp200 trillion of state cash in banks. Policy regime changes are priced into currencies, bonds and stocks before households notice. How to think about country risk without being a macro forecaster.
What a Delisting Means for People Who Paid in Advance
Evergrande left the Hong Kong stock exchange on 25 August 2025, 19 months after a court ordered its liquidation. For a household that bought a flat before it was built, the stock price was never the main exposure.
The First Rate Cut in Five Years
On 9 July 2025 Bank Negara Malaysia cut its policy rate by a quarter point to 2.75%. What a lower policy rate does, and does not, change for a saver, a borrower and a retirement fund member.
Your Life Insurance Policy Is a Currency Position
In early May 2025 the Taiwan dollar rose as much as 5% in a day, and attention turned to the life insurers that hold roughly US$780 billion of foreign assets. What a currency shock inside an insurer means for the person holding the policy.
The Day the Deposit Rate Went Below 1%
On 20 May 2025 China's biggest banks cut the one-year deposit rate to 0.95%, the first time below 1%. When a deposit stops paying, savers reach for yield, and yield is the price of risk. The fundamentals of reaching for yield.
Wealth Management Is Five Decisions, Not Five Tips
Most beginner advice is a list of things to do. Wealth management is a short list of decisions to make, in order, once. Purpose, risk, allocation, location and succession, with a worked example of what a small difference in cost does over 25 years.
Volatility Is the Admission Price. Drawdown Is the Risk.
Why a 50% fall needs a 100% gain, why a volatile 7% average return grows like 5.4%, and which strategies hold up when markets swing. The arithmetic behind building wealth through volatile years.
The Plan You Wrote Before the Crash
The April 2025 tariff shock sent Taiwan down 9.7% in a day and Indonesia into trading halts. Market shocks are not the test of a portfolio. The investment policy statement written before them is.
When the State Becomes an Investor
In the same week of February 2025, Singapore put S$5 billion behind its stock market and Indonesia launched a sovereign wealth fund said to manage over US$900 billion. When a government is a buyer, how should a private investor read prices?
The Most Common Way Wealth Is Lost Is Not a Crash
Taiwan's interior ministry reported that more than half of fraud losses in the last quarter of 2024 came from investment scams, many started with a fake advertisement or a chat group. Markets fall and recover. A transferred balance does not.