Value Investing in Asia

An Interview with Tan Chong Koay of Pheim Asset Management

Success in fund management is based on hard work, research and an ability to read the major trends

— Dr Tan Chong Koay

In February 2017, we were fortunate to be able to meet with Dr Tan Chong Koay at his Singapore office. Born in Jeniang, Kedah, Dr Tan is the founder and CEO of Pheim Asset Management (“Pheim”), and the author of the best-selling Rising Above Financial Storms. In 2010, Pheim had assets under management of over US$1.8 billion.

Following the completion of his MBA from Western Illinois University (USA) in 1974, Dr Tan returned to Malaysia. Starting out as an investment executive in South East Asia Development Corporation, which wholly owned Asia Unit Trusts Bhd, the first such entity in Malaysia, Dr Tan was convinced that fund management would be with him for the rest of his life. In the next phase of Dr Tan's professional investment career, he was a fund manager with Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank, which was then the largest merchant bank in Malaysia. In 1987 (the year of the infamous “Black Monday” crash), he was rated Top Manager for Retirement and Pension Funds in Malaysia. In the early 1980s, Dr Tan did his PhD paper on fixed income funds. In 1987, he created, developed and launched Arab-Malaysian Gilts, the first unit trust fund in Malaysia to invest in Malaysian government and bank-backed securities, which earned him the name of “Pioneer of Fixed Income Unit Trust” in Malaysia.

Dr Tan founded ...