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Graham Bibby; a teenage entrepreneur turned real estate tycoon |
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Story : Marie Moon |
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On paper the professional life of Graham Bibby, CEO of the Richmond Group, reads like a perfect exercise in career planning. From a teenage entrepreneur to a fully fledged real estate tycoon, Graham’s success has been driven by ambition and backed by healthy doses of tenacity and pure talent. Born and raised in the UK Graham showed great business flair from a young age as his eldest son Nathanial told, “He was always very entrepreneurial whether it is running the local bread rounds, opening ladies clothes shops, car show rooms or whatever project he dreamt up.” From an early age, Graham squirreled money away from student jobs and bought his 1st property at the age of 21 which he then converted to 5 studios providing more than enough rental income to cover the 95% loan. At the age of 23, he knew he wanted to be involved where the money was and as such joined one of the world’s biggest insurance companies providing financial planning advice. Graham was one of the founding members of the UK Financial Planning Association. The insurance, pensions, school fees, financial planning industry was just starting to blossom. Just prior to Graham’s entry into a field linked to investment returns and hence equity markets, the UK stock market had experienced its worst ever market decline, 86% from 1972 to 1974. He was curious as to why the life companies managed funds also lost 86% for policy holders. He then set on a path to find out what makes markets move. He knew, “There must be a better way than just buy, hold and pray.” He studied all the greats and eventually presented a lecture on the analysis of W.D. Gann, one of histories greatest analyzers of market trends. Through a determined effort to study and analyze markets in order to discern what makes them tick, Graham was able to predict the property crash in the UK in 1989 followed by the decline of Japan. He identifies this as one of the highlights of his career, an insight which led to the greatest challenge of his career. In 1991 Graham decided to take the risk of moving to Hong Kong to further his investment management portfolio. “The greatest challenge of my career was in selling my business in the UK and moving to Hong Kong where I had never been before. Then I started the business that has now lasted for 16 years.”
Graham’s research has been integral to his success. He said, “For over 30 years I have analyzed some of the most successful stock and currency markets. I have studied fund fundamental and technical analysis, especially the psychology of markets.” Analysis of his findings resulted in the development of a system that aims to produce absolute results in all market conditions. Graham has lectured on technical analysis and taught part of the technical analysis exam syllabus. His distinct expertise also helped him reach the position of Chairman of the Technical Analysts’ Society of Hong Kong from 1996-98. He is fully authorized by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission as an asset manager and advisor in Securities. Such was his prominence in the Hong Kong investment field that he was a sought after figure in the news media and appeared regularly on CNBC Squawk Box and Asia Market Wrap programmes as well as appearances on CNN, BBC, and Bloomberg television. Graham first visited the island of Phuket in 1992. When he next visited Phuket over seven years ago the island was as he described, “Just starting to evolve, showing the first signs of an expat property market. Being from the UK, I had first hand experience of seeing the Spanish property market develop into a thriving retirement market. Tenerife, Monaco, The South of France were all hot spots for holiday homes and retirement. Asia had nowhere. Phuket was about to pick up that crown.” “The market has obviously moved on from when I first bought land. Today Phuket has all the ingredients for a longer term up cycle; beautiful beaches, a clean and safe environment, great medical facilities, good schooling and now the infrastructure and facilities to support not only the holiday and investor market but also the “biggy” i.e. the retirement market.” Graham’s first move into Phuket property was the purchase of a 1-rai plot in Bang Tao upon which he built the Himmaphan, originally as a private residence but now functions as an exclusive retreat. During the production of the 4-bedroom house with two 2-bedroom villas attached, Graham grew increasingly frustrated with the tardiness and lack of quality work from the construction company. Nathanial said, “A lot of developers have trouble with construction companies and contractors and he faced many of these challenges while building The Himmaphan. As a result he started his own construction company.” With the establishment of the Richmond Construction department work soon re-commenced on the Himmaphan and the villa started to take shape. At this point Graham already saw its potential to attract executives for corporate getaways, however upon completion he was so enamoured of the villa, that he lived in it for over a year. Nowadays The Himmaphan runs at almost 100% occupancy all year round. Admirers of the villa soon started making offers. Nathanial said, “They admired the quality of the finish, the design, the build quality. A lot of developments around here at that time did not have this level of quality. So when the opportunity arose to buy a big piece of land that had inherent development potential he jumped on it.” Now in the fourth stage of development, the stylish, contemporary Residence has been a resounding success. Phases I and II, comprising 27 pool villas and 16 town homes have sold out. Phases III and IV include an additional 28 spa villas, some of which include an 8% guaranteed rental return. Nathanial laughed, “That’s one thing about my dad; he’s always looking ahead. We’re now on phase 4 of the Residence; we’ve sold 4 out of 13 villas and he’s already talking about phase 5. He’s always looking forward to the next project.” Graham justified, “Global liquidity, rising stock markets, record mergers and acquisitions, the opening up of China, the development of India, Russia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe has meant huge amounts of wealth creation looking for a home. Property over the long term has done consistently well, usually without the volatility of other types of investment.”
Nathanial revered, “I think that one of the key reasons he’s been so successful is that he realizes that you have to speculate to accumulate; he’s not afraid to take risks. If he believes in something he’ll do it, he won’t wait around. And he’s always very honest with people; people trust him and that’s important in this business. He’s also always very positive and enthusiastic about everything he does and he looks after his clients and employees like family.” That family has grown within a few years to include up to 400 employees. With a highly distinguished investment management career already accomplished and five ambitious and well-received real estate projects under his belt what’s next for Graham Bibby? He plans, “To ensure we live the vision; the best quality properties with the utmost attention to details, a resort management team that derives excellent yields for owners and investors and delivering the Richmond experience to all its guests. Private Chef, driver, masseuse?whatever the holiday guest imagines, we want to deliver that ultimate experience.”
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Richmond Asset Management provides what Graham describes as a “new style of discretionary management and advice” both for institutional clients as well as private investors. “Our methodology and portfolio compositions center on making positive returns in all market conditions, irrespective of the general equity, currency or commodity market diversity. Many strategies have made 10% to 15% per annum year in and year out for the past 15 years with no loosing years.” 
To house this new world wealth The Richmond Group’s Phuket real estate portfolio includes; The Park, in the Layan area consists of only 10 homes on large 900-1000m2 plots; The Pier at Chalong boasts 20 luxury apartments and 5 penthouse suites located right on the bay; The Loch Palm includes 22 detached and 12 semi-detached ultra chic 3-storey residences overlooking the Loch Palm golf course; and later this year will launch the Richmond Country Club, a 40-rai project comprising 100 apartments, 30 2-bedroom villas and 10 1-rai houses. |
Tropical Living: July 2007, Volume 7 Issue 2 |
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