21st present

[Patrick Mason]

Quick question, have nephew turning 21; he's into wine (a little) i was thinking of giving him a small collection; say 100-150 bottles, do you think he'll appreciate it or just swill it away with his mates and GF?

Other than that i had thought of a WRX or similar with insurance for a year or two.

Any ideas?

[Rys O'Connell]

Patrick,

Why not do both? You could give Lachlan the wine to start off with, then towards the end of the night you then present him with the WRX. He'll be over the moon! Then he can take the car out for a drive and you and I can (and of course the other halves!) can sit around his penthouse apartment and deplete that new wine collection of his!

I was thinking about giving he and his fiancee two first class round the world tickets... but I understand he has already done that. I don't know about the fiancee though. Any suggestions?
Did you manage to get your Jag imported?

[T2K]

Is this post for real?

Why not give him a 100 year lease on a modest-sized (don't want to spoil him) Indonesian island?

[God himself]

Christ on a bike, Patrick Mason!

If you are serious,  can you be my uncle?

[tweek]

You know, if anyone can get away with using the phrase: "Christ on a bike" I think it must be someone called 'God himself.'

[Patrick Mason]

Hi Rhys;

Sterling ideas; aren't you worried about DUI though? hmmm.... still, i think it's a great idea.  If Lachlan's too drunk, we'll just give him the car and the keys in the morning.  He's a good kid, he won't get stressed out.

Hmmm.... well, maybe give them some nice luggage or travel insurance.  I know they are keen to catch up with Michael and Maria in Jakobstad, maybe you could look at giving them a 3-month lease on a nice apartment there? Plus a hire car of course.  Not sure what is popular in Finland.

And yes, Jag is coming in December / January - they are doing the restoration in Melbourne.  XK150 Drop Head - nice! can't wait; they are such a great car.

How was your trip? Did your recruitment plan work out OK?

As for your Holiness; yes we are serious but i'm not looking to adopt any divine children at this stage of my life  

[This message has been edited by Patrick Mason (edited 02-09-2005).]

[Snaffled]

Patrick & Rys,

Just curious - From your posts you appear to know each other quite well - how come you use a public forum to communicate?  

[Patrick Mason]

You know, i hadn't thought of that before.  

From my side i guess when we found out we both frequented the site it was a bit of a shock (and a laugh) now if i see a post from Rys i just respond like any other post; it just happens i know him so the answers vary somewhat.

We usually keep in touch via email (when our respective PA's have it up and running for us of course) But when we can we generally try to get together every few months for a spot of yachting and scotch or golf and fine wine.

[This message has been edited by Patrick Mason (edited 02-09-2005).]

[Rys O'Connell]

Yes, We do communicate by email frequently. (In fact Patrick told me about your post by email) But if Patrick is making a post I just reply like I normally would.

Speaking of yachting, Patrick I understand your brother just brought a brand new 51 Riviera Crusier. Is that true? Any chance of going,out on it when we head to Sydney for Lachlan's 21st?

[Patrick Mason]

Absolutely. Sydney is lovely that time of year. I'll email you photo's of the custom-cabin they got made.

Can't say I agree with the interior color scheme but it's his boat, not mine. Check the photos out and let me know via email.

By the way, did you get any of those 50-year Telecom Italia bonds? I purchased some and put some into the childrens respective trust funds. Good capital protection I think.  I'm also looking at taking out a slew of those new UK 50 year bonds as well.  

[This message has been edited by Patrick Mason (edited 02-09-2005).]

[Azania]

Just interested why you would go with the Italian bonds rather than the French issuance or even wait for the UK log-term release, considering the volatility of Italian investments, government or otherwise.

[Snaffled]

Right, thought so.

[Mrs Robinson]

This Lachlan.  The wine, the car, the yacht.

I would like to present myself to him as his personal tutor for his 21st birthday present.

[Patrick Mason]

Hi Anzania, before I shoot off from the office, I thought I’d elaborate.

I'm not all that concerned with volatility over the long term (50 years is a long time after all).

They're going into the kids trusts accounts anyway so I'm looking for yield not capital price movements. The bonds have quite good duration and will pay themselves off by the time the kids get anywhere near their accounts. Besides, everything is a risk free asset after 19 years!

I have an extensive portfolio of bonds and I’m not all that happy with the low level of implied risk. I thought that these might be a way of increasing it slightly.

In addition to that, I try and spread my portfolio of direct and indirect investments over the globe.  I have some small business interests in Italy as well, so it all gels nicely together.

Are you an investor yourself?

Ms Robinson.... Lachlan is spoken for, but I’m sure you are quite charming, thanks anyway  

Patrick

[Mrs Robinson]

I wouldn't take long..........