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Doug’s big bling pays dividends

Former Terrace old boy Doug Tynan is receiving a few strange looks for sporting brooches and necklaces made by a French luxury fashion house. But there is a good reason.

People lining up to enter Cartier in Sydney
People lining up to enter Cartier in Sydney

Move over LeBron James, former Terrace old boy Doug Tynan is the new king of bling.

The chief investment officer of Sydney-based investment house GCQ Funds Management admits he is receiving a few strange looks for wearing brooches and necklaces made by French luxury fashion house Richemont to meetings.

Tynan (illustrated) explains he’s not preparing a new career on the catwalk or the basketball court, but rather it’s a chance to promote Richemont, GCQ’s single biggest investment.

Shares in Richemont – which own the Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery brands - soared 17 per cent earlier this month after revenue beat analyst expectations by 10 per cent.

“Yes, I get some funny looks for wearing the jewellery,” explains Tynan, whose first job was driving forklifts around the Rocklea Market.

“But it means the conversation always comes around to why I think Richemont is one of the world’s best businesses. What I tell investors is that heritage is fundamental to how customers think about luxury, which is great for the small handful of truly classic brands.”

Tynan says you can’t create more than a century of heritage overnight, so there’s very little new competition for brands like Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels.

Bling, bling ... Doug Tynan with his Richemont brooch.
Bling, bling ... Doug Tynan with his Richemont brooch.

“I have been visiting their stores all over the world, and most of the time you can’t get in the door if you hadn’t made an appointment weeks earlier,” says Tynan.

“The slowdown in demand for luxury that investors have been fretting about has impacted the brands that are more accessible or exposed to fashion clothing, but the likes of Richemont and Hermes haven’t skipped a beat.”

With more millionaires and billionaires every year – and many of them having a taste for luxury products – Tynan says the growth tailwinds are fantastic.

“It doesn’t hurt that more and more men (not just me!) are starting to wear Cartier and Van Cleef,” says Tynan. “It’s nice to know that I finally have something in common with LeBron James.” James has been known to sport a $50,000 Cartier Crash watch along with other expensive pieces of bling.

Tynan says it has been another year of strong returns, with GCQ’s flagship fund ranked second against global peers, with two-year annualised returns of 42.01 per cent.

Gin Grin

Kudos to Miami-based Granddad Jack’s Craft Distillery that has seen its 65 Miles Gin voted the number one hottest Aussie gin for a third consecutive year as part of the annual Ginuary Festival.

Organised by Brisbane’s iconic Covent Garden, the competition is the only consumer driven award where products are voted by individuals based on their first, second and third favourite Australian gins. Ginuary highlights Australia’s thriving craft gin scene and showcases the country’s most beloved spirits.

Dimming Star

Star Entertainment chief executive Steve McCann appears to be selling everything but the kitchen sink in a desperate bid to keep the cash-strapped casino operator’s doors open.

Star announced this week it was offloading its Sydney event centre for $60m after earlier selling the leasehold of the heritage-listed Treasury Casino building in Brisbane to Griffith University for $67.5m.

McCann is also signalling its hotel properties on the Gold Coast and in Sydney are also on the block as part of the sale of “non-core assets.” Your diarist wonders what McCann considers core assets – the gaming tables and pokie machines presumably.

Star Entertainment chief executive Steve McCann.
Star Entertainment chief executive Steve McCann.

Originally published as Doug’s big bling pays dividends

Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/business/dougs-big-bling-pays-dividends/news-story/3b65451db705744714c2f6ff1b74ada6