My Journey With Phillip Over the Years

PhillipCapital recently marked its 50th anniversary.

I first got to know about Phillip in 1986 – the year Linus L. and I met in Primary 5.

Just a few months before, in late 1985, his dad Lim Hua Min had steered the young company he founded clear of the worst stock market crisis in Singapore’s history. The Pan-El Crisis decimated the market and led to the unprecedented closure of the Stock Exchange of Singapore for three days – the first and only time that has ever happened. Nearly every stockbroker was hit by toxic forward contracts involving Pan-El and related companies. Only three emerged unscathed. Phillip was one of them, thanks to Uncle Hua Min’s foresight. That decision became the stuff of legend – so much so that he was portrayed as the protagonist in CNA’s docudrama on the crisis, Black Thursday.

From its beginnings as a focused stockbroking firm, PhillipCapital has grown into a diversified, multi-asset class financial institution. Profitable every year since its founding, the company’s shareholder equity now exceeds US$2.5 billion, making it one of the largest privately held companies in Singapore.