Life in the fast lane

The latest addition to Knight Frank’s growing global Private Office team, Ho-Pin Tung is based in Hong Kong and will be advising high-net-worth clients across the Greater China region about their residential and commercial property requirements. But, as car enthusiast Andrew Shirley discovers, Ho-Pin isn’t your typical real estate agent. 

Your parents emigrated to the Netherlands before you were born. What brought you back to Asia? 

I don’t think my parents ever expected me to move back, but I followed my heart. My wife is from Hong Kong and I moved there to be with her in 2017. 

How did you end up working for Knight Frank? 

During the pandemic I decided to fulfil a long-time ambition to study an Executive MBA. Shortly after graduating, I was approached for my current role. I had spent two decades as a professional athlete, the last six years of which I was also running a racing team, with a very similar scope of work. Plus, my wife is also involved with real estate, so joining Knight Frank was a logical next step. 

What about your former career as a racing driver? 

Well, I almost made history by becoming the first Chinese person to race in Formula 1, but it didn’t quite work out. I was the third driver for the Renault F1 Team during the 2010 season, but I had an accident in F2 and broke one of my vertebrae. That was the end of my F1 aspirations. 

But you carried on racing? 

After a short spell in IndyCar, I focused on endurance racing. In endurance racing you race for your own class, that’s the primary target – and I did win at Le Mans. I became class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and almost won overall. That near win was something extraordinary that had never ever happened before. When we raced, it was the first time an LMP2 class car had challenged the top LMP1 class of racers and made it to the podium – it was quite a moment.  

You’ve also raced in Formula-E. Do you see many electric vehicles (EVs) in Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland? 

I was in Shanghai recently and I’d say almost half the cars I saw there were EVs. There’s a massive push for EVs here. Hong Kong was one of the first big markets for Tesla because EVs were exempt from its First Registration Tax, which can be very expensive.  

You’re now working with wealthy individuals from Greater China. What are their passions, apart from property? 

Cars, watches, wine, whisky – all the things that people love to own. The auction market for luxury collectibles in Hong Kong is massive. It’s a multiple of Singapore’s. 

Are tastes changing at all? 

Yes, I think so. The market is maturing as people’s expertise has grown and they’ve developed their own taste instead of simply following trends from Europe and North America. 

What trends are you seeing? 

People aren’t just looking for something flashy. Provenance is now very important and collectors, especially those from Generation Z, are becoming more interested in local contemporary artists as well as focusing on Chinese arts and culture. Maotai, a local liquor is also becoming more popular with the young and bottles can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. 

And are you still racing? 

Absolutely. This year I’m racing in the Eneos Super Taikyu series in Japan, an endurance racing championship. It’s very cool: Akiyo Toyoda, the Chairman of Toyota, will be competing in a liquid hydrogen- engine concept car. I’m also driving for the Hong-Kong-based KCMG team and we recently finished third at the 24 Hours of Fuji. They also gave me my first drive at Le Mans in 2013, so it’s great to be back. 

Andrew Shirley is Head of Rural and Luxury Research at Knight Frank. Read his latest reports on luxury investments at knightfrank.com/wealthreport