Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Stern.
Born and educated in the UK, Tony was hired as a real estate analyst in 1976 by TMGE, a boutique real estate development firm. Based in London, targeting the residential market.
In 1982, Tony left TMGE and began his own real estate development firm. He purchased 2-3 properties per year and built up an active portfolio of many properties.
In parallel to a career in real estate, Tony was also a successful entrepreneur. He acquired and sold several companies mostly in the UK’s embryonic wireless communication sector and In 1986, developed one of the UK’s leading fashion watch brands, “Claude Dolphin”, which he sold in 1990 to Monarch Industries.
In 1992, Tony founded Star Refining, an international precious metal refining company with offices in most major cities in Europe, Los Angeles and New York in the US, Shanghai, and Beijing in China. Tony sold his interests in the business in October 2010 while the company had $22M in revenue and 60 employees. Today it is still a thriving international company.
In 1999, Tony co-founded Maker Mends Ltd, a jewelry repair company. By 2010, Maker Mends had become Europe’s largest repairing jeweler for the jewelry retail industry with workshops based in the UK and Thailand. Tony sold his interest in October 2013, and the company continues to grow year over year. Tony still runs with his wife Gina, Product Confidential a high-end custom jewelry manufacturer that has offices in Los Angeles and Boca Raton.
Since 2001, Tony has been investing steadily in the US property market. He brings into play a large network of business experts on each and every deal, employing the same business rationale that he has used in his 30-year business career.
Since 2013, Tony has been developing real estate full time and has a past and present property portfolio in excess of $20M. In 2015, Tony was joined by 13 other Property Investors who formed Centennial Investments a property syndicate specializing in buying original condition waterfront property, carrying out major reconstruction and then selling, mainly in Palm Beach County.
In August of this year, Tony will launch https://propertyonion.com/ a subscription-based website that will feature a searchable list of Southern Florida’s Off Market Properties (that are for sale) alongside a comprehensive educational program aimed at helping the first time and seasoned property investor make well informed and sensible buying decisions. A TV, radio and magazine campaign is planned.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Looking back, the road to success was built on my long absences from home, traveling to various offices around the world and without a strong, competent and business savvy wife there is no way we would have got to the level of success we enjoy today.
Originally, when we were based in the UK traveling to North America and then on to Asia was brutal and when we (Star Refining) signed a distribution deal with Henry Schein one of the worlds largest medical distribution companies back in 2000, we made a family decision to relocate ourselves to Los Angeles, and that was a huge challenge.
With three young children in tow, finding houses, schools placating parents who we left behind and finding staff for our new office Gina and I certainly felt pressured. And then, Gina’s father passed away unexpectedly at the same time the awful events of 9/11 unfolded, and we had to get back to London!
And then, there were immigration issues, employing over 20 staff here in the US and jumping through a thousand hoops bureaucratically gained no kudos from the immigration authorities who seemed to make it their life’s work to thwart our attempts to become citizens.
One by one, we overcome the obstacles thrown in front of us and today and have a settled and happy life in the best country in the world.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Centennial Investments story. Tell us more about the business.
I guess our main business is Centennial Investments the property syndicate.
When we first started the company, we were deploying our own money to buy and sell waterfront properties, and then my ex-partners and family friends Clive and Adrienne asked if they could put some money in and before long, other friends and friends of friends asked the same question, we ended up turning people down.
We are told and of course we know our returns are above the normal, currently, 18% IRR and we are asked constantly by people if we have room in our syndicate for them.
Just recently, we have decided to expand our team and take on more properties which means I will be able to expand the syndicate and that is what we are currently working on.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
There is an old saying ‘The Harder I Practice, The Luckier I get” and that ring’s true for me. I have found that determination and tenacity bring forward luck as a byproduct.
Luck is only useful if you take on full bloodily the opportunity that it presents however bad luck and everyone experiences that at some time or another must be treated as an educational process. I have found that bad luck can be traced back in some way or another to our own authorship and that is where the lesson is to be gained.
Everything we in business or as a family have achieved has had an element of luck involved to some degree or another. For instance, our break with Henry Schein came through a chance meeting in January 1999 in an obscure town in California with one of Henry Schein’s customers who recommended us to them.
Had I not stopped of in that town at that time and met the owner of this company who had just returned from lunch, then the events that followed which culminated in Gina and I selling Star Refining in October 2011 would never have taken place.
Contact Info:
- Address: Centennial Investments LLC
370 Camino Gardens Blvd, Suite 210 B & C
Boca Raton, FL 33432 - Website: centennialinvestments.com
- Phone: 818 597 2600
- Email: [email protected]
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