Lai See | Jim Mellon, Champagne and the book with no name

The book was all researched, written and ready to print. Three years' work, except for a slight problem: the authors couldn't think of a title.

Former Hong Kong fund manager turned investment guru Jim Mellon, who travels the globe in a private jet looking for ideas to make more money, and his Hong Kong business consultant friend and writing partner, Al Chalabi, were at a loss as to what to call their latest work.

Giving the keynote speech to the 2014 Master Investor conference in London, Mellon confessed: "There's a case of Champagne for whoever comes up with a title" for the book, which looks at what they believe to be the main investment opportunities of the future and the companies whose products and services are going to change the way we live, unexpectedly soon.

The plea was heard online by retired former Hong Kong journalist David Thurston, as he sat in the sun at his holiday home in the tiny Maltese island of Gozo. "My wife Angie and I brainstormed for literally five minutes and came up with a title which we emailed to Jim, who immediately declared it the winner," says Thurston.

Mellon was a fund manager with GT Management. With their previous books, Mellon and Chalabi have over the past nine years established a track record for spotting early investment opportunities, which they called "Money Fountains".

With their new book they set out to filter the chaotic landscape being created by exciting but disruptive computer technologies in the fields such as robotics, transport, information technology, life sciences and 3D printing. And the title? Fast Forward