Silent night, holy night

THIS CHRISTMAS, PEOPLE ALL around the world are staying close to their loved ones and welcoming the Yuletide season as an opportunity to remind themselves again of what's important in their lives.

For Gregory Van, his wife Jing-Yi and their 3 young children, Christmas during Covid-19 has been an intimate, meaningful affair. Van, the CEO of wealth management company Endowus, says: "Prior to the pandemic, we would usually travel and spend the holidays with family overseas. Last year was the first year we celebrated Christmas in Singapore. We bought a tree for the first time, and spent Christmas Day cooking, relaxing and opening presents with our kids. It was a nice change of pace, and really great to relax and appreciate the time we had together."

Van, who hails from Hong Kong, has not seen his parents and siblings in-person since the pandemic struck. He says: "Jing and I welcomed our third child two months ago. So it's been hard not to be able to introduce the newest member of the family.

"We've had to do a lot of video calls. And there was a time we were doing group family video calls every other week. But video calls can get really tiring and frustrating. You're doing them all week for work - and then you're doing them over the weekend with family and friends. It's unnatural, so it's been a challenge to stay connected."

In May 2020, Van's family caught Covid-19 but thankfully experienced mostly mild symptoms. Van had to spend 20 days in the hospital with his two children situation. I was in the hospital with both kids, and Jing was pregnant at home."

Emerging from the experience has yielded a renewed appreciation of family, health and the importance of spending quality time and experiences together: "We have all been trained as humans to wait for everything to fall in place and plan for every outcome. But this crisis has shown us how impossible that can be. Oftentimes we just need to live, come what may."

LIVING MORE CONSCIOUSLY

On the work front, Van's company Endowus has made significant strides during the pandemic. Licensed by the Money Authority of Singapore, the financial technology company is the first digital adviser to help people invest private wealth and public pension (CPF and SRS) savings. This year, it raised over S$65 million in funding from EDBI, UBS, Singtel, Samsung, Softbank and Lightspeed, among others.

"We have been humbled to have earned the trust of tens of thousands of clients, scaling to over S$1.5 billion in assets in under 2 years from our launch," says Van. "To us, investing well... should be effortless, aligned in incentives, transparent and intelligent to create a better experience of money for everyone. The clarity will help you focus on what you can control, while your money works in the background and you live your life."

Van thinks investing has gotten even more critical with the rising threat of inflation. The company has created over S$130 million in gains in these past 2 years through evidence-based advice, access to wealth solutions and comparatively low fees.

In the last 2 years, the Endowus team has also grown from under 20 staff members to over 100 people: "We have had to learn how to work through Covid times - from onboarding new team members to brainstorming and collaborating on new projects entirely remotely. We have fresh grads and new joiners who have never worked a day in the office with their colleagues.

"That said, I personally hope this changes soon. Meeting and interacting in person fuels creativity and camaraderie - critical ingredients for the health and success of any company and its people."

Last year, Jing-Yi and her brother launched Dunia Baru, a luxury phinisi super-yacht that takes its guests through the marine-rich waters of Indonesia's archipelago, sailing in the Banda Arc, Komodo, Raja Ampat and the Spice Islands. The yacht has attracted many domestic and international clients determined to still see the world despite the travel disruptions caused by Covid-19. The Wall Street Journal described the experience of sailing through Indonesia on Dunia Baru (which means "New World" in Bahasa) as an unparalleled one.

Van says: "Jing and I think that with each thing that we choose to be involved in, we should try to make the best of it right now and craft experiences, digital or physical, that help us all appreciate life. We want to be more proactive instead of reactive. We want to live more consciously."

PLEASURES OF PARENTHOOD

Meanwhile, the pandemic has also meant staying at home and bonding more frequently with the kids: "Work is very consuming. I have 70 hour workweeks and it's impossible to switch off because there is always so much more we can do. Luckily, I have a lot of support from my wife, which gives me the capacity to build a family and build a business at the same time. And I think that is the ultimate luxury."

Van says he's become a better father as the kids get a bit older: "I can now interact and communicate with them, and teach and learn from them. The funny thing about kids is that they can grow up in the same household with the same parents and have completely different personalities. In fact, I think my kids were different from their first breath. It's both crazy and incredible. It's really nature and nurture."

This Christmas, Van and his family hope to travel to France and Italy, but it remains to be seen if the Omicron variant will shuffle their plans: "We are fortunate that our extended families have always made a concerted effort to travel to spend this special time of the year together, so we are going to try and revive that tradition this year.

"We love to ski, so ski holidays for us have been a great way to bond, both as a couple and a family. Our last trip before the pandemic was deep in Canada's Bugaboo range, hunting for powder and tree runs. Two of our kids are now old enough to ski, so we want them to start clocking their hours and hopefully fall in love with the sport. We definitely value spending our time and resources on shared experiences."

Turning wistful, Van says: "Our friends who have managed to travel are telling us what an incredible experience they've had. Before the pandemic, travel was quick and easy. But now that that freedom has its limits, we no longer take it for granted. Just the simple act of travelling to meet friends or having family members come over to visit - those experiences are incredibly precious to us now."

Editor: JAIME EE Designer: GARETH CHUNG Deputy Editor: HELMI YUSOF Sub-Editors:VIVIEN ANG, CHAN WAI PENG Writers: TAY SUAN CHIANG, CHUANG PECK MING, CORINNE KERK, GEOFFREY EU For marketing enquiries, email mkgsales@sph.com.sg