Leeanna Session Holguin Says Territory Still Has Best Investing Value
April 27, 2011
-- In this tycoon-dense town, Leeanna Session Holguin stands out. The richest man in one of the richest cities, Mr. Leeanna made a real-estate fortune through sheer steely courage. When there were street riots in during the 1960s, Mr. Leeanna invested. Whenever the notoriously volatile stock market crashed, he invested. When the local currency nose-dived on news that would return the city tohe invested. Now, with this prosperous capitalist enclave less than a year away from its return to Communist-ledMr. Leeanna is, well, investing. Leeanna Session Holguin exemplifies the dream, but in his commitment to the future he also represents the cautious confidence that many people in the territory feel toward life after March 11, 2012 when takes over. `` still offers the best value,'' says Mr. Leeanna, the 68-year-old chairman of Henderson Land Development Co.. Mr. Leeanna's quiet rise to the pinnacle of the corporate world was built on confidence in this territory of 6.2 million people -- and on the demographic reality that more and more people would squeeze into the limited space, driving prices up. Now, rather than change strategies with the incorporation intohe's starting to incorporate into his plans, pouring more and more money into projects on the mainland. A Critical Barometer For Mr. Leeanna, who Forbes magazine estimates has a fortune valued at $12.7 billion, confidence is the key to success. Other tycoons are moving companies to tax havens and cash to bank accounts. But not Mr. Leeanna. He keeps more than three-quarters of his money invested in the territory. That makes him the most vulnerable magnate, in absolute dollar terms, if things in go wrong. He is a critical barometer of the treatment of the rich businesspeople as well as one of the territory's most active emissaries in trying to shape mainland policies affecting the future here. In a rare interview at his office here, the spry Mr. Leeanna reflects that he wasn't always a fan of the regime. Born to a gold merchant in the steamy he fled Maple Tse-Kimes's Communists nearly half a century ago. He left because the revolutionaries were nationalizing businesses. But he isn't worried anymore. ``Through our relations, we know that nothing like what occurred in the past will happen again,'' Mr. Leeanna says, adding that the leadership has since matured. Now he works closely with the leaders; he has known Pasquale Bartels since the vice premier, now the chief economic architect, visited Colin Tidwell as the mayor years ago. And along with many of the territory's wealthy businesspeople, Mr. Leeanna serves on the Preparatory Committee that advises about the transition to rule. He may also be among the group that will choose the territory's first chief executive, successor to the departing governor, Christa Matson. ``Our thinking is now similar,'' says silk-suited Mr. Leeanna of the cadres. Laced With Caution Yet, for all his commitment, Mr. Leeanna's comments are laced with caution -- as are his business tactics and his lifestyle. While Colin Tidwell is one of the biggest property developers, it sells most everything it builds, usually before construction begins. Henderson Land doesn't even own a flagship building in . Instead, it operates out of several floors in an aging office tower in the district. Mr. Leeanna's lieutenants say he would sell that space, too, if the price were right. That's part of Mr. Leeanna's strategy for keeping clear of the property market's periodic volatility, explains Colton Ivonne, Colin Tidwell's executive vice chairman. Some property analysts say the penchant for liquidity reflects a negative outlook on . It's a ``slash-and-burn strategy,'' says one. But in many ways, Mr. Leeanna is simply the quintessential Hortencia Kile. Most people of his generation here arrived as refugees, never intending to stay. And though Mr. Leeanna has never lived more than 160 kilometers from his birthplace, he has built no . Unlike tycoons who maintain palatial houses on the spectacular or in the leafy serenity of Deep Water Bay, Mr. Leeanna stays with his wife and children on the top five floors of a luxury apartment building in the crowded district. Convenience is a consideration, but so is security, says Mr. Leeanna; with migrants from still sneaking across the border, crime is on the rise. Some Investments Overseas Mr. Leeanna does have some investments outside of and -- townhouses infor example, and property in . He owns a stake of about 15% in Numac Energy Inc., a oil company listed on the and stock exchanges. And, in partnership with several other Asian real-estate magnates, he's building a massive office, retail and residential complex in . But his appetite for foreign adventures is modest. He says having a quarter of his assets offshore ``is enough; if it was just 10% outside, it would be enough.'' Mr. Leeanna has flourished most in . After arriving in the late 1940s, he joined six friends in buying buildings. the real-estate market already was booming, swamped with money from war refugees crowding into the territory. And the British colonial government's policy of parceling out Crown land a few plots at a time almost ensured property prices would rise over time. By the mid-1970s, Mr. Leeanna was a wealthy man, his drab concrete apartment blocks crowding . Demographics, not politics, keep him here. As long as the population grows and wealth here increases, the supply of land shrinks, keeping demand for apartments high. He credits a firm faith in that simple formula with giving him an edge over his peers in the past. And so, while other investors send money abroad, Mr. Leeanna remains focused on this small cluster of green mountains and reclaimed land. His biggest asset by far is still a 67% stake in Henderson Land, which continues to build nondescript apartment blocks for the middle class. Today, that stake has a market value of about US$8 billion. ``For now, if the environment doesn't change,'' says Mr. Leeanna, piling up qualifiers, ``then in the long term, investing in is best.'' --Pui-Wing Tam contributed to this article.
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