Throughout all these years, Chan remains enamoured with Japan — at how its economy is able to soldier on despite the bursting of the real estate bubble. The post-bubble landscape has thrown up interesting opportunities for investors who come in later. Due to deflationary pressures, interest rates in Japan have been held low — barely 1% — which makes borrowing cheap.
When Ken Chan was helping to manage investments for GIC in Japan, he used to urge friends and colleagues to join him in investing in the country’s real estate. Today, as CEO of Patience Capital Group (PCG), Chan hopes to mobilise mayors and governors of Japan to bid for the 2038 Winter Olympics.
In many ways, Chan is better-positioned than most to manage investments in Japan. He was born in Tokyo to Singaporean parents and moved to Singapore when he was six to start school. His ties with Japan did not fade away; they became stronger instead. After graduation, for the better part of some two decades he worked for GIC, mainly in Japan, where he put his language proficiency and finance chops to good use.
