There are many different ways to make money in Macao. One is to visit one of its casinos, another is to invest in the large gaming and property companies exposed to the Macao growth story.
Then there are companies such as the Macau Property Opportunities Fund, which listed on London's Alternative Investment Market in June 2006 and remains the only quoted property vehicle focused on the territory.
MPOF focuses on property investment, development and re-development opportunities in Macao and South China's Pearl River Delta region. Blue-chip UK institutional investors evidently liked the growth story and the fund raised £105m ($200m), which with gearing gives it firepower of around $450m.
The fund is managed by Sniper Capital, whose principals are Tom Ashworth and Martin Tacon. The pair were attracted to the potential of the territory after its 1999 handover to China, and the local administration's decision soon after to allow foreign casino groups to open resorts.
Mr Ashworth says: "When casino groups committed $2.4bn for three new licences five or six years ago, we felt that that Macao's days as a sleepy backwater were about to end. Today that figure stands at $35bn."
The duo know the Asia markets well. Mr Ashworth has been located in the region since 1995, working for HSBC and Morgan Stanley before establishing a hedge fund. Likewise, Mr Tacon has chalked up two decades on real estate investment deals, much of it in Asia, for Zurich Re, Credit Suisse and HSBC.
Why name the firm Sniper? "It conveys our style. We aim to be focused, strategic and opportunistic," says Mr Ashworth.
Indeed, Sniper has so far passed up 77 of the 80 opportunities it has looked at, thanks largely to problems with fragmented or multiple ownership and legal-title issues.
Mr Tacon says: "It is not easy to find the right deals. One of the sites we are negotiating on has more than 20 individual owners."
Sniper is targeting opposite ends of the residential market, fearing there could be glut of mid-market residential property.
The three sites purchased since launch attest to the strategy. The first, last October, was a 13,000 sq ft site bought for $8.6m, with a further $7m earmarked for development of a residential apartment block for local middle-income residents.
A month later the fund snapped up another site in the heart of the established community on the peninsula, committing $46m towards developing affordable "entry level" housing. Around the same time, the fund spent $87m to acquire one of the seven apartment blocks in the super-luxurious One Central project being erected between the Wynn and the MGM casinos on the Macao peninsula.
In a March investor update, Sniper said that the fund was on target to be fully invested by the end of 2007 with eight deals under negotiation; four residential, three hotel/serviced apartment and one retail.
It is also assessing sites in Zhuhai, the industrial town on the mainland side of the Macao-China border.
Demand for residential is rising - both from new casino executives fresh in town and locals looking to upgrade to newer apartments.
The Macanese prefer owning to renting, with owner occupation levels of 80 per cent. However, while nearby Hong Kongers spend on average two-thirds of their household income on mortgage payments, in Macao the comparable figure is just 25 per cent. With wage inflation running at 16 per cent, Sniper says that there is huge pent-up demand for smarter housing among the 500,000 population.
Sniper is also bullish about retail property - retail sales last year rose 28 per cent - but cautious about the offices sector, which is slow.
Macao property prices have doubled in the past five years. But the bearish case is that over-development leads to excess supply of residential and commercial properties, depressing asset prices and rental yields. Also, many fear that the Macao economy would struggle if China's authorities allow rival gaming resorts on the mainland.
Mr Ashworth is, unsurprisingly, bullish, calling Macao "one of the greatest re-rating stories in the world". But he adds: "There will be challenges along the way and winners and losers. You have to think carefully how to play Macao."
Mr Ashworth points to the figure of $35bn - the amount of investment committed to Macao by gaming groups and developers. However, less than 20 per cent of this has so far been drawn down, leaving plenty of mega projects in the pipeline.
Mr Ashworth says this autumn's grand launch of the Venetian Macao hotel and convention complex, and future landmark events such as the expansion of the airport and ferry terminals, will all serve to keep the Macao turnaround story in the media spotlight.