Broker-turned-investor Peter Lim in search for Kuok clone

Stockbroker Peter Lim knows that most investment tips are suspect - unless they come from a man whose name is Kuok Khoon Hong.

In 1991, Peter Lim invested US$10-million in a palm oil startup firm of his friend Kuok Khoon Hong, who used to be his stockbroking client. Kuok is also the nephew of Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok, who by then was already one of Asia's most highly regarded billionaires, nicknamed "Sugar King" for a series of coups in the commodities markets in the 1960s.

Thanks to his bet on Kuok's palm oil firm, Lim, who is barely in his mid-50's, is now a billionaire, worth US$1.1-billion and ranked No. 7 among Singapore's 40 Richest. The tiny palm oil outfit of the younger Kuok became one of Singapore's hottest stocks. It has reached US$18-billion market capitalization. Wilmar International, one of Asia's largest agribusinesses, is indeed on fire due to rising palm oil prices. The stock has more than tripled since its debut on the Singapore exchange in August 2006.

The younger Kuok, who is Wilmar's CEO, is now worth US$1.3-billion, ranked No. 5 in Singapore's 40 Richest. The older Kuok, on the other hand, added US$2.4-billion to his net worth.

Lim now is living the high life. He has several high-end cars, including Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis, which he parks in the basement of his 11-story condominium near Orchard Road. He lives there with his second wife (an movie actress), his mother, and two teenage children. Other luxuries he acquired include a yacht and private jet.

The son of a fishmonger, Lim has indeed come a long way from the small flat he shared with his parents, seven siblings and an uncle. Their poverty motivated him on his way to reach the top. He went to the top schools in Singapore and studied accounting and finance at the University of Western Australia in Perth, where he held several part-time jobs as a waiter and taxi driver to pay for his tuition.

After graduating, Lim worked briefly as an accountant before starting out as a stockbroker. He eventually became known as the "Remisier King" (Remisier is Singapore's term for a stockbroker), servicing wealthy Indonesians and Singaporeans in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But it was Kuok who returned the service and by 1996 Lim stopped handling other people's money to become a full-time investor and to take care of personal matters.

Today he has 20 people, including former bankers and a nuclear physicist, tracking his investments and giving him daily investment updates. While his nearly 5% stake in Wilmar is his most valuable, worth almost US$900-million, he also has stakes in fashion retailer F.J. Benjamin, investment firm Rowsley Ltd., and brewery restaurant Brewerkz.

Although, it may be difficult to match his Wilmar success; nonetheless, he's hunting for new investments, hoping to take advantage of the current downturn. He likes health care, mining and renewable energy; but, what he really wants is another Kuok Khoon Hong who will help him find another gold mine.