Yacht Buyers Strengthening in Numbers Across Asia

Wealth among Asia-Pacific millionaires may top North America’s as soon as next year, according to a report published last month by Cap Gemini and Royal Bank of Canada. Asians with at least US$1 million in investable assets are set to see their riches climb to US$15.9 trillion by 2015 from US$12 trillion last year, the 2013 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report says.

North American high-net-worth individuals held US$12.7 trillion in 2012.

With rising riches has come an appetite for expensive toys. Take Lee’s yacht. With a charter price of US$300,000 a week, the Ocean Paradise was custom-built by Benetti for €34 million (HK$356 million) and was being promoted at September’s Monaco Yacht Show – one of the most important in the world for the biggest luxury boats – as a “world of cool”.

It has a jacuzzi, a Zen garden, floor-to-ceiling windows, mood lighting, a carbon-fibre dining table and a vintage Space Invaders video game.

Lee’s purchase is seen as a harbinger of future sales for an industry more associated with billionaires from the United States, Europe – especially Russia – and the Middle East. The biggest regional growth in terms of the number of super-yachts delivered last year was in Asia, according to the latest available figures from brokerage Camper & Nicholsons.

“The yacht industry is very peculiar. It’s something you have to learn, understand and feel,” Lee said. “You wouldn’t go out and buy a yacht if you don’t know enough. I’ve seen people buy a Ferrari on impulse or go to an air show and like a plane and just buy it. A yacht takes more time.”

Shipbuilders and brokers in Monaco concurred. The Asian market for super-yachts is one that, although slow to cultivate, will have huge potential amid a boom in high-net-worth individuals. The biggest prize would be China, they said.

“Southeast Asia and China are becoming more and more important, although China isn’t developing as fast as everyone was hoping,” said Fabio Ermetto, chairman of brokerage Fraser Yachts. “There’s a feeling that in the next couple of years, we’ll get more and more clients who’ve never owned any kind of boat before and will invest in a new super-yacht.”

This was not the case for Lee. The Ocean Paradise is an upgrade from Lee’s previous boat, the 37-metre Ocean Dream, which he sold in 2010.

An executive director of Loyz Energy, a Singapore-based oil and natural gas explorer, Lee is also on the board of restaurant-operator and caterer Select Group, where he represents closely held Jit Sun Investments. His brother Lionel helps run oil services firm Ezra that provides vessels and installs deep-sea equipment for the offshore industry. Both are also directors of Raimon Land, a Thai builder of luxury condominiums and resorts in Bangkok and Phuket.

Out of the 169 super-yachts delivered in 2012, the biggest growth was in Asia, where 11% were delivered for the year, compared with 3 per cent in 2011. Of the 125 owners’ nationalities identified, 14% were Americans, followed closely by Russians. Those from Hong Kong and mainland China came in seventh and eighth with a total of about 9% of megayacht deliveries.