Buy shares, avoid property for higher returns: Edwin Leong

As a veteran investor in property, Edwin Leong Siu-hung has had his share of requests for investment tips in the property market.

But this year, the billionaire developer is advising small investors to buy shares, instead of bricks and mortar, for a higher return. "If you are a small investor, buy shares … don't gamble in the property market," said Leong, the chairman of unlisted developer Tai Hung Fai Enterprise.

Leong, who recently joined Forbes list of Hong Kong's richest with net worth of US$2 billion, said: "I am sure you won't regret it. That's the best advice this year."

Having shunned stocks for over a decade, Leong said this year he changed his strategy and put his money back into the stock market.

He bought shares of HSBC, China Construction Bank and CSOP FTSE A50 China ETF, an exchange-traded fund that invests primarily in A shares on the mainland, believing the stock market is likely to perform well this year and provide him with a yield of at least 4 per cent to 5 per cent.

"But if you buy property, it doesn't give you [a yield of] 5 per cent. No way," he said.

Leong said that last year he still suggested that people put 70 per cent of their assets into property and the rest in cash or shares, but now was not the right time for making big money or speculating in the property market.