“The pandemic is not like anything we’ve experienced in our lifetime,” Ben Lebig Jr. began thoughtfully. “For us here, especially for myself, it’s a double-edged sword, because I’m not only responsible for my family and for myself. I’m also a community leader here in UAE.”
Lebig is one of 800,000 Filipinos working in the United Arab Emirates, with a large number of them based in Dubai. The family man works as a finance and decision support analyst for Chevron, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. And having made financial literacy his advocacy, he also serves as the chairperson of the UAE chapter of the Registered Financial Planners Association of the Philippines, where he helps fellow Filipinos in the UAE with their financial decisions and investment goals.
Lebig
Impact of pandemic
He understands the weight of what he says to the other OFWs in the UAE. Having worked closely with the Philippine Consulate and other community leaders in Dubai, Lebig saw firsthand the effect of the pandemic on Filipinos there.
“With job cuts, pay cuts, redundancies, and all of that, it’s been our responsibility, as leaders, to help as much as we can,” he shared.
With his strong financial acumen, Lebig has his own other investments: paper assets, mutual funds, variable universal life insurance and the stock market, and he has a business.
“I am a co-owner of a company in the Philippines that produces dragon fruit,” he said. “We have five farms right now, in Ilocos, in Arayat, and in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. The long-term plan is to export.”
Lebig knew it was time to diversify his investment portfolio and that the most logical next investment was real estate.
Real estate as investment
“Real estate is a hard asset. Other investments might become unstable, but not real estate,” he explained. “It’s always a comforting thought that real estate will always be there. That’s why we came into this gradual trajectory for our diversification.”
After three months of due diligence and researching real estate companies in the Philippines, Lebig and his wife decided to go for SMDC. He experienced firsthand the comfort and convenience that an SMDC development brings. Earlier this year, he was in Manila on a business trip and stayed with a friend who was a resident of Light Residences.
“I loved the place. I loved the amenities. I loved the idea of having a mall within the development because of the convenience that it provides, and the strategic location is fantastic,” Lebig said.
He and his wife chose to invest in Sail Residences in the MOA Complex.
Sail Residences
“We’re very excited about Sail Residences, because of what it can offer to us at turnover time,” he said enthusiastically. “What the Mall of Asia area will look like and its potential brings value to investors who own a property on that side of Manila.”
He continued: “Whether we choose to retire in the Philippines or not, it doesn’t matter. At this point, we look at these properties as investment portfolio items.”
Lebig believes that investing in an SMDC property is worth one’s hard-earning money, giving credit to the property developer’s portfolio of high-quality, strategic and very viable projects. “It has already perfected this integration of urban living with a mall and with world-class amenities you can enjoy. Whether it’s five or 15 years down the line, they’ll be our partners because they built our properties,” he explained.
“In the middle of a pandemic we decided to invest with SMDC because we have seen what they can do,” continued Lebig. “We see how they delivered their previous projects and the quality of their projects. SMDC will protect the SM brand, so they will do everything in their power to make sure they deliver above the expectations of their clients.”