“From a $300 Million Stock Investment Profit of $1.8 Billion, to a Phu Quoc Land Deal that Netted $2.7 Billion: A Conversation with Dr. Le Xuan Nghia on His Humble Money Management Struggles”

Dr. Le Xuan Nghia shared that he was one of the first participants in Vietnam’s stock market. He recalled, “When I went to Saigon and was having coffee, I saw information about stocks being offered. At that time, I only had 30 million VND in my pocket. But I thought to myself, ‘I have to take a chance on this.’ So I gathered an additional 300 million VND from friends to invest. Just six months later, I sold half of my shares and made a profit of 1.8 billion VND. Back then, 1.8 billion VND was a significant amount, equivalent to about 18 billion VND today. My friends and I were thrilled with the substantial profit. However, the remaining half of the shares incurred a significant loss.”

According to the expert, with the profits made from stocks, he invited friends to invest in Phu Quoc by purchasing land. “No one thought about buying land in Phu Quoc back then. I remember it was around 1999-2000. My friends and I pooled our money to buy 3.5 hectares of residential land from locals, complete with red books [land-use rights certificates]. Subsequently, I sold a portion and made a profit of 27 billion VND. However, my friend held on to his share for an extended period and made a profit of nearly a trillion VND.”

Admitting that he is not interested in wealth accumulation and prefers to enjoy life, Dr. Le Xuan Nghia used the profits from the Phu Quoc investment to purchase two villas in Dalat, spanning over 3,000 square meters in total.

“As I didn’t know how to manage and utilize them effectively, I lent one of the villas to a friend. Unfortunately, my friend’s business failed, and the bank seized the property. As for the other villa, I used it to host friends and family for vacations, but the maintenance costs were too high, which frustrated me, so I sold it. I realized that I am not good at business. Later, I tried my hand at a few more ventures but always felt clueless about managing finances. Consequently, I incurred losses in several of my business endeavors,” shared Dr. Le Xuan Nghia.

In a talk show on “Wealth Management Trends in Vietnam,” Dr. Le Xuan Nghia emphasized that if we continuously learn and seek legitimate and well-planned investment opportunities, we may be surprised by the wealth that comes our way.

Regarding investment, he stressed that, fundamentally and in the long term, interest rates are the most critical factor influencing asset accumulation and investment. When investing, one must consider the risks, which are inherently linked to interest rates. Following the risk curve, the investment asset with the lowest risk is government bonds, implying the lowest profit potential. This is followed by savings deposits, corporate bonds, and the riskiest—stocks. Additionally, real estate is a significant market in Vietnam.

Overall, in an emerging country like Vietnam, with a high average GDP per capita growth rate, there are numerous investment opportunities everywhere. However, Vietnamese people do not have a comprehensive understanding of the entire financial market, which is indeed intricate.