2025 VIS: Nicolas Van Broekhoven Of Olija Holdings On Avoiding Scams And Why He Likes This Royalty Stock

At the 2025 Value Investing Seminar, Nicolas Van Broekhoven, Managing Director of Olija Holdings, detailed how to navigate the complex world of Asian investments especially when it comes to commodities, but first his bio.

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Van Broekhoven, originally from Belgium, is currently the Managing Director of Olija Holdings (OH), a Singapore-based private investment holding company. Established in 2017 by his family and another family, and named after their sons, OH's core mission is long-term wealth creation. This objective draws inspiration from successful long-term capital aggregation models observed in both Western and Asian markets, such as Jardine, Sofina, and Berkshire Hathaway.

OH's investment strategy includes a focus on small- and mid-cap public companies, alongside significant private investments, with more than 50% of their assets invested in non-listed operating companies that generate consistent cash flow, providing stability away from daily stock fluctuations common in Asian markets.

Prior to founding OH, Van Broekhoven served as Managing Director of Value Square Singapore (2013-2016), a portfolio manager and board member at Value Square NV in Belgium (2008-2012), and an analyst/portfolio manager at Le Foyer Patrimonium, Luxembourg's second-largest insurance company's private banking arm (2003-2007). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bentley University (Class of 2002) and is also an independent insight provider on Smartkarma, having been regularly quoted in prominent financial publications like The Financial Times.

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2025 Value Investing Seminar - Olija Holdings' Nicolas Van Broekhoven

Van Broekhoven readily acknowledges the inherent difficulties and "disasters" encountered when investing in Asia. Being based in Asia and conducting numerous site visits, he has observed the region's massive underperformance compared to the US over the last 15 years. A significant contributing factor to this challenge has been the prevalence of investment frauds.

Even highly successful investors, such as Anthony Bolton, who came out of retirement for Fidelity and moved to Hong Kong with a large Chinese-speaking analyst team, fell victim to these schemes, notably with companies like Ports Design. Van Broekhoven recounts personal experiences of conducting thorough due diligence - visiting stores, examining products, checking regulatory documents, and meeting suppliers - only for companies to later be exposed as "make believe and pretend". This pattern has led some to consider certain regions "uninvestable". To illustrate the pervasive nature of such issues, he recommends the book "The World for Sale," which sheds light on commodity trading, and the podcast "$6 Billion Gold Scam," detailing a massive gold mining fraud in Indonesia from the 1980s and 90s.

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Recognizing the volatility, especially in Asian public markets, OH adopts a strategic approach to balance risk and stability. More than 50% of their assets are invested in non-listed operating companies that generate consistent cash flow. This provides comfort and stability, as these investments are not subject to daily stock price fluctuations, an especially common occurrence in volatile Asian markets.