Adventurer made in Hong Kong Charles Chan is a stock market player who sees diversity as key to his successes

Whisky, electronics, property, e-commerce - Chan's scope of investments is wide. And he has come a long way since he first arrived in the UK from Hong Kong as a teenager in 1974. ''My father was an accountant with the Hong Kong trading giant, Jardine Matheson, which was founded by Scots so it was natural for him to send me here to complete my

education.''

Chan attended Ayr College but was destined to remain in Scotland. ''I married a local girl and have been in Ayrshire ever since.''

One area that has always held a fascination for Chan is the stock market. And not just the London Exchange - he invests on the Hong Kong and American

markets as well. ''It can give you a good return if you do it right and it has provided me with some capital to become a business angel.''

He makes investing on the markets sound easy, but it takes hard work. Using a satellite tracking system installed at home, Chan works late into the evening. ''Wall Street is then closing and Hong Kong opening. It's then an early start to see how the Far East

closes and London opens.''

Over the past 10 years Chan has made 12 angel investments which are striking in their diversity. He's a major shareholder in Isle of Arran Distillers, where he has invested more than #200,000.

''I also help them with exports to the Far East. Friends of my father are in drinks distribution and I visit China, Taiwan and Hong Kong four or five times a year.'' Modestly, he only mentions his fluency in Mandarin and

Cantonese when prompted.

In property, he invested heavily in shop and restaurant premises. He also has a 40% share in the Prestwick-based company Kingston Pacific, which imports beer and other goods from China.

''I am helping set up a deal to assemble laser systems in Taiwan which can then be imported into the UK. It's a way of exploiting their much lower labour costs.''

Chan started off as a business angel by investing just a few thousand pounds in each company, but now he concentrates

on bigger deals where six-figure sums are involved.

There are two main factors he looks at when considering a new investment. ''It's a combination of the idea and the people behind it. The idea has got to be workable and there must be the potential to expand. As far as the people are concerned, I ask myself, can I work with them?

''I'm not so concerned that they might not possess all the expertise needed in every area of business - that's something I can help them with. I often invest with a syndicate and between us we can help plug any gaps which are missing.''

Chan is quick to point out that his type of investing is risky: ''If you are prepared to take a profit you must also be prepared to take a loss.'' He does not need much pressing when asked about his worst investment. ''It was in the drinks sector. I put too much trust in the directors of a company I had invested in - and lost #180,000.''

Chan is obviously proud of the role he and other business angels play. ''The banks still have the same old policy - if you don't have bricks and mortar they won't invest in you. Scotland has hundreds of successful companies who owe their development to business angels,'' he said.

''Scotland is changing. A few years ago young people would say: 'I'm looking for a job'. You never had a young person saying: 'I'm going to create a job'- but they are just beginning to - the business culture is changing.''

So what does the future hold for Charles Chan? Are there more investments in the offing? ''I'm always looking. I've taken a stake - about 15% - in the Stirling- based e-commerce procurement company, EBS, which is focusing on the public sector. It will launch soon and I have high hopes for it.''

Stuart Paul lectures at

Paisley Business School