This year has been busy for me. After a few years of doing private Olympiad courses that produced a number of gold medals, we recently completed a Singapore Maths Olympiad (SMO) preparatory program for a good school in the East.

Moreover, I managed to get a good student (despite not having the expected PSLE grades) to move from a neighbourhood secondary school into Raffles’ Girl School (RGS) via academic DSA. It was a deserving achievement, because it came out of pure hard and smart work for both my student and I. I’m really proud of her and I hope she will continue to excel well in a totally different and competitive environment.

In continuation of our good work from previous years, Scholars’ Village continued to produce year after year of grade improvements, for all levels from Pri to JC. We have tutors who adapt to children’s different learning needs and we rock! Our students rock too, though some need to rock more than others!

If you’re willing to learn, “A” and some cases “A*” are simply waiting for us, but it’s also hard work that determines how long we will need to get there.

All in all, it’s a good year. If any new friend is interested to join our classes early in Dec, not only do I have more time to get you up to speed with your revision, we also get to invite you to our annual X’mas party. It was much fun last year. I miss my students who joined us last year, especially Jiaqi, who has moved to the US to be his dad working there. Good luck in LA, California!

Life’s great and I hope this year will be another fruitful one for all my students!

Event: Finance Insights: How does Buy-side achieve Win-win with Sell-side?

Register at http://www.apesnap.com/event/springboard006

Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scholars-Village-SpringBoard-Program-Finance/128188257197552

Date/Time: 2 Apr 2011 (Sat), 7- 9pm

Venue: Oosters Bar, 25 Church Street, #01-04, Capital Square Three, Singapore 049482

Cost:    $19 for students with valid student ID

$25 for guests

Dear All,

At last year’s event on “Insights into how Buy-side distinguishes good Sell-side Analysts from the crowd”  (http://www.apesnap.com/event/springboard004), Yo-man shared about how he uses Trade Idea League Table to differentiate an equity salesperson with substance from “empty vessels making lots of noise”.  He has recently taken this to the next level by partially employing an online platform and now wish to share with us how the buy-side can work closely with the sell-side to extract best value and service and achieve a win-win scenario.

Sitting on the panel with Yo-man are some of his key contributors who value-add to his investment process, along with his other sell-side friends.

In Yo-man’s recent mailer (http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/46-relevance-of-cfa-exam-for-joining-the-finance-industry-11-feb-2011), he mentioned having done referrals for his favourite “student associates” to some start-up brokers and if they do well as interns, they will most likely join the finance industry successfully. 

All are welcome to come along to gain insights from our panelists and who knows, some of Yo-man’s fellow panelists might be actually looking to recruit via the internship path?  You will never know till you come join us =p

Seats are limited…. BOOK EARLY to avoid disappointment!

Cheers,
Eng Yew, Scholars’ Village
www.scholarsvillage.com

We continue to do well this year. Queenie (our student with her SMS below) did really well after joining us. From below 20% in Sec 3 E Maths in Nov last year, she recently improved to 91.1%. We are elated that Queenie’s hard work has achieved tremendous success under Mr Daniel’s guidance.

Thank you, Queenie and Mr Daniel, for your hard work and excellence!

Math Olympiad Trainer at Ngee Ann Sec

Recently, I received a message from my ex-teacher from RI Maths Club. He’s since moved on, but he remembered me after 15 years, and through his referral, Scholars’ Village was honoured and grateful to have the opportunity to grow successes in Maths Olympiad at Ngee Ann Secondary School.

I hope that this will be a platform for us to build future successes at more schools, so that we create more talent for the future of Singapore.

[Welcome WS to Words of Wisdom! WS is passionate about guiding aspiring financial professionals into the harsh world of finance. He is currently the regional head of ASEAN financials at a global bank.

Last year, Scholars' Village invited WS to speak at SMU about the finance industry and he mentioned about floodgates of hiring opening every few years. Recently, Yo-man was pondering over hiring windows and decided to discuss it with WS.

Yo-man: I am a product of the 2006/2007 window of opportunity for newbies (I was there at the right time, after preparing myself well from 2005-06); I recall you mentioned you were from the 2000/01 window (after 97/98 currency crisis in Asia)? Was there another window of opportunity anytime from 2000 to 2005?

I do have some comments below on the current window of opportunity for newbies (http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/46-relevance-of-cfa-exam-for-joining-the-finance-industry-11-feb-2011), and my personal guess is: this current window of opportunity for newbies will close by 2013 -- like to hear your personal thoughts too, if possible.

Wish everybody a prosperous Year of the Rabbit! ]

Happy Year of the Rabbit.

The major floodgates took place in:

a) 1999/2000 – during the internet craze that gave the impression that the market could continue to balloon. Me along with a bunch of people benefited from this cycle.

b) 2006/07 period – due to a flurry of hedge funds deciding to open shop in Singapore. This one was quite powerful in financial hubs like HK, London, NYC and Singapore.

Don’t think there were any other dates that are qualified to be termed as floodgates.

2001-03 was a very tough times for the investment community as Asia suffered one too many setbacks characterised by 2001 economic downturn and 9/11 WTC bombing and early 2003 SARS epidemic.

Things started to recover from May 2003 when SARS started to disappear. Asian stock markets started to rebound and continue to do reasonably well. But, the floodgates did not open as the broking industry was consolidating with various brokers merging. Various regional brokers like WI CARR, DKW and etc started to disappear or lose their lustre.

In my view, the hiring market is still quite tough. Bosses like to hire the experienced people.

I do not know when the floodgates will open up again and neither is it easy to time the market. If approached by candidates, i would tell them to get prepared at all times. The opportunity may be there but if one is not well prepared for it, it will slip by. Even if the floodgates open up, competition is always very keen and there is no guarantee that one can get in so easily.

Every now and then, there will be one or two small opportunity. Candidates should try to get into a small firm first and use that as the platform to leapfrog to a bigger platform. They should not expect themselves to join global franchises like JPM, GS and CS from the outset. Start from an easy platform could lengthen their career life and give them the room to build up their confidence before climbing to a bigger platform. While paper qualification is important, aspiring candidates should get themselves prepared mentally too. It’s tough to be on the sell side for the first three years – tough bosses, not so friendly colleagues (sometimes) and etc. It’s a constant race and one needs to have a certain mindset/mentality to do well. The dropout rate for my batch is about 50%.

Ask candidates to network more. A lot of times, we recruit via the word of mouth.

WS

Recently, I received a message from my ex-teacher from RI Maths Club. He’s since moved on, but he remembered me after 15 years, and through his referral, Scholars’ Village was honoured and grateful to have the opportunity to grow successes in Maths Olympiad at Ngee Ann Secondary School.

I hope that this will be a platform for us to build future successes at more schools, so that we create more talent for the future of Singapore.

Hi folks,

I received some questions lately about the above topic from people pondering over whether to shoot for Level 2 exam in June 2011, and decided to write something quickly before it is too late for people to act.

This mailer is most relevant for people of profile A, defined as:

- no finance background during school days+ not in finance industry+ aspire to join the finance industry someday+ consider doing CFA exam

Persons of Profile A could have just passed CFA Level 1 + in late 20s+ wonder if it is feasible to shoot immediately for upcoming Level 2 exam in June.  That was exactly my profile and situation in Feb 2006.  During that time, I managed to just scrape thru Dec 2005 exam, and was struggling within myself during Chinese New Year (also in late Jan/early Feb) whether to shoot for Level 2 in Jun 2006.  I was concerned that time was not on my side, but after learning about CFA Prep Program at CFA Singapore and the use of Study Guides for more effective way of study, I made the decision to take the plunge.  The fortunate thing is: I passed the Level 2 exam after few months of very consistent study and by some stroke of luck, I struck Jackpot in Aug 2006—I met the right person who brought me into the finance industry, to where I am today.  I was just below 30yrs old when I did the career switch.  2006 was the year when I made a few key decisions that completely changed my life after that.

I anticipate the following possible questions on your mind and try to provide the facts to you clearly for your decision making.

Qn1      Why was it critical for me to shoot for Level 2 exam in June 2006 and not wait till June 2007?

Ans: Reasons include: (a) to keep up with the study momentum; (b) allow me to start looking for job after taking Level 2 exam (as many employers look upon Level 2 exam as a critical level to clear for people w/o any finance background); (c) I was also lucky to coincide with the window of hiring (for entry level ppl) from 2006-07.

Had I waited one more year, I would probably have started looking for job in Jun/ Jul 07, and we know the first cracks of subprime crisis actually started to surface in Jul/ Aug 07.  Sep to Dec 07 marked the final leg of the last bull run, thereafter 2008 was a year of downward spiral starting with some job cuts as early as Mar/ Apr 2008 and the Lehman Brother collapse in Sep 2008 sparked the eventual outbreak of the financial crisis, where many people lost their jobs.  In a nutshell, if I waited one more year back then, I might not have been successful in joining the finance industry, and worse still, I could have been the first few to be let go at any sign of a crisis—Last In First Out Principle.

Qn2      Is coinciding with the window of hiring that important?  Or put another way, if you miss that previous cycle, can’t you wait for the next cycle?

Ans:  Coinciding with the window of hiring is v important.  Every few years, the floodgates of hiring open and there is a particular window of opportunity for entry level people, and is usually skewed towards the final stage of the hiring window… We also know that employers prefer to hire younger workers, which means it is easier to switch career when one is 27-32 rather than 34-39, makes sense?  Should I have missed the previous cycle of hiring (when I was just below 30 in 2006), I am most likely too old to do any meaningful career switch now.

Qn3      What are the implications for me if I am of Profile A (see first para highlighted blue)?

Ans: I think the current window of opportunity opened some time in middle of 2010, which is why you read some success stories of my Equity Research Training Program (http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/40-springboard-to-success-part-i and http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/42-springboard-to-success-part-ii ).  This window of opportunity should continue into 2011, as I recently see many start-up brokers approaching me and hear that they don’t mind taking in people w/o any experience if they are of the right profile.  I have just done referral for my favourite “student associates” to some of these start-up brokers and if they do well as interns, they will most likely join the finance industry successfully.  It should be obvious to you that this window of opportunity will not be open indefinitely, and if 2006/ 2007 is any example to go by, this window of opportunity (for entry level ppl) should start to close into 2012 and maybe close completely by the time 2013 arrives.  Please be aware that I am not a psyche, so the above dates are just my personal guesses, which can well be inaccurate.

The important implication is:  persons of profile A need to pass Level 2 exam in June 2011 (upcoming exam) to stand a fighting chance of qualifying for this current window of opportunity.

This is more critical if the person of Profile A is in late 20s, as the next cycle would probably be in 2015/ 2016?  By then, how old would you be?

In a nutshell, time and tide waits for no man, so ACT FAST to catch up with the leaping Rabbit!

Dear all,

While catching a break from Mr Market this period, I managed to put together some miscellaneous thoughts on Networking—these are stuff you have probably read about before, but recompiled and articulated in a different way.  It’s like a singer’s compilation album of earlier albums to refresh everybody’s memory.  Some of you may be wondering what has happened to my mailers since the success stories from my Equity Research Training Program in Sep last year.  I have been swarmed with the flood of deals in Q4 and trying to defend my PnL after the two spectacular months of Sep and Oct; year end PnL was not too bad overall, though it could surely have been better.

I used to be a more regular face at CFA networking events; today I still live by “Continue Learning and Keep On Networking” (http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/25-continue-learning-and-keep-on-networking-21-dec-08 ) and I have clearly moved up the networking maturity curve.  When I wrote some of my first few mailers on networking (e.g.http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/22-my-experience-with-networking-events-24-oct-2008 ) after the financial crisis broke out, some senior person shared with me that networking is not about collecting more business cards; it is about “deepening relationships”.  His words did not really make much sense to me 2yrs ago, when I was just trying to get to know as many people as possible in the finance industry, but now that I have recently turned 4yrs old and have easily got at least 500 people on my personal mailing list, it makes perfect sense for me to focus on “deepening relationships”– build closer ties with those with a close working relationship with me, e.g. my core team of “student associates”, buy-side friends (whom I call my investment allies), close sell-side friends, and perhaps friends outside the industry.  It is no longer as meaningful for me to jostle around at a crowded networking event trying to grab another 10-20 business cards.

As we move up the networking maturity curve, it becomes natural that we spend more time with our closer contacts and it becomes a “success breeds success” scenario.  It is deeply satisfying to learn that people now approach us as they know we have a vast network to tap on, and examples include:

(1)        Mr J was a former student from my Level 2 mock exam class and after being on my personal mailing list for the past 1yr plus, he has internalized my favourite slogan and thru his own proactive behaviour and self-learning effort, he recently moved from a private banking role to an investment analyst at a private equity firm.  When he was leaving his former employer, he happened to learn about a fund management position the private bank was trying to fill and asked me if I was keen to apply or know anybody I could possibly recommend.

(2)        A buy-side friend recently approached me to ask if I know of any CFA charterholder of ~5-6yrs experience to help an independent research house take up coverage of US listings of Chinese companies.  I did not have anybody in mind then, which is why you saw an email blast from me few weeks ago on that opportunity.

(3)        After I circulated that email blast, one very senior person from sell-side wrote to me and informed me of a hedge fund looking to hire a very senior quant fund manager and asked if I know of any suitable candidate(s).

The above is a list of requests from the supply side (i.e. employers), and needless to say, more requests are received from the demand side (i.e. job seekers).  I have received countless email requests, share with you all some samples here:

(1)        From a student in my Level 2 mock exam class: “I am thoroughly deflated now. I was an above average student from NUS, yet this is my third attempt at level 2 and I failed. I feel it is such a stain in my life.  Do you think I should go on? I am working as a dealer in a brokerage, and I think the financial rewards from obtaining the CFA charter are far from certain.  Do you have any career advice for me?”

(2)        From somebody who attended a career seminar by Scholars Village in Feb 2010: “I am writing to ask you if your investment house offers any internship opportunities to MBA participants.  Before I joined INSEAD, I used to work for a Korean asset management company as a Korean equities investment manager specializing in Energy, Petrochemicals, Internet, and Utilities sectors and as a fund manager for Chinese Equities fund.”

(3)        An unsolicited email out of the blue: “I found this Equity Research Training Program quite interesting. I myself has currently passed three levels of CFA examinations and just submitted my thesis for my Ph.D in Computational and Systems Biology. Right now I am actively looking for job opportunities that would take someone like me with a bit knowledge of finance but coming from a different study background.  I am wondering if you could help with this Training program in SpringBoard or perhaps you could give me some advice on job hunting?”

While I am usually quite open to offering advice to request type (1), I tend to be less receptive to request types (2) and (3).  Those of you who know me well should understand perfectly well that I only do referral for people whom I know personally as our credibility is on the line when we make referral for somebody.  This is one belief I have lived by all this while and have previously written a lengthy mailer to discuss this at great length: http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/26-why-networking-with-credibility-and-proper-mindset-is-impt-in-finance-industry-24-jan-09 .  Request types (2) and (3) are what we would regard as the wrong approach to go about networking, as explained in a head-hunter’s article linked from my old mailer:http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/27-embracing-the-mindset-how-can-i-help-you-12-apr-09

I can now imagine that the longer and more senior a person is in the industry, the more likely they will get swarmed with more of such request types and the more selective they need to be to avoid getting pulled in all directions.  It’s pretty much like on the dating scene: an attractive lady is being bombarded with requests from countless guys wanting to buy her gifts and/or have a meal with her.  So how does she handle this flood of mails or messages?  She will simply filter out those boring guys that can’t catch her attention and focus on a couple of those guys who triggers attraction in her; in a nutshell, it is a time management tool for her!  That is why the notion of achieving focus on “deepening relationships” makes perfect sense; all of us don’t have sufficient bandwidth to handle flood of requests, esp when they come from people we hardly know or remember.

Last but not least, just a quick update on my Equity Research Training Program:  I am down to the last few key “student associates”, who have also been active in their job-hunt.  Pleased to mention that I have recently referred Mr K and Mr X to two different sell-side houses, to be trained as research assistant and sales assistant respectively, should they prove themselves at the current trial stage; both are still holding full time jobs btw.  As I become increasingly self-sufficient with greater leverage on sell-side analysts and sales, it is no longer critical for me to continue roping in new “student associates”, unless I see bright and passionate sparks among some young and aspiring students.  My Equity Research Training Program has fulfilled its objective in helping to shorten my learning curve and at the same time, help realize some success stories to varying degrees (http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/40-springboard-to-success-part-i andhttp://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/42-springboard-to-success-part-ii ).

Chinese New Year is round the corner….may I take this opportunity to wish everybody a prosperous Year of the Rabbit!

Cheers, Yoman

http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom

In 2010, I’m glad to have witnessed another year of near 100% improvement in not only my students, but ALL the students of Scholars’ Village.

Just as a few more successful tutors have said on TV, practice really works. Like for Scholars’ Village, they have made practice meaningful for students to improve more than they would by themselves. It gives me great pleasure to introduce a few of our top tutors at Scholars’ Village, who have also managed to make the difference for our students.

Ms Zhu – Maths

Affectionately known as Teacher Roslin, Ms Zhu is a highly dedicated and effective teacher. Her students adore her, because she loves her students in her strict but loving manner. They enjoy Maths much more after taking her classes despite having a lot of exercises and practices, and hence improve in their grades in Maths. She has a small pyramid of Teacher’s Day gifts at her desk, that we are all envious of.

Mr John Tan – English

John is a very friendly and smart English tutor. From the students’ first few exercises, he can see the strengths and weaknesses from students, and work on a plan to help them improve. He is gifted in connecting with his students who all enjoy his stories and teaching. Their grades all improve under his care, including one student who is a sportsman with a relatively short attention span.

Mr Daniel – Physics

Mr Daniel is a strict but loving teacher who specializes in helping students who learn more slowly. His students sing praises of his dedication and determination in helping them. He is always persistent in his efforts to ensure that his students learn and love the learning.

Mr Pan – Secondary Science / Maths

Mr Pan is a humble, quiet and hardworking teacher. One of his students achieved A1 in his A Maths preliminary exams, despite having failed for most of his exams in secondary 3; while another improved from being a below-average student to top 5 in class within 3 months. We are sure that his hard work in helping students learn can benefit his students more in the years ahead.

Mr Ng – JC / Sec Sch Maths

Mr Ng is a highly experienced teacher who has helped HCJC and RJC students out of D grades to B/A grades. His strong background in learning pedagogy helps his students learn more effectively.

Dear folks,

Few weeks ago, I shared some success stories from my Equity Research Training Program (http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom/40-springboard-to-success-part-i ), and promised to discuss further in Part II.  I would now like to share with you three more success stories.

Mr H: Unemployed -> Financial Control Officer

• Mr H was unemployed when he started with my Training Program in Jan 10; prior to that, he made a bold decision to leave the military to focus on all the preparation needed to move into the finance industry.
• After months of conscientious effort, he eventually found himself a role in a financial control dept of a local bank.  I am happy for him that he managed to find something in the finance industry, though it might not be his dream job.

Mr T: Senior Engineer -> Personal Options Trading Business

• Mr T was my student in CFA class and started v early with me on the Technology sector.  He was working in the semi-conductor industry as an engineer and always kept abreast of technology trends.
• While helping me evaluate IPOs in the Technology sector, he frequently went the extra mile to provide more color on the company with info outside the analyst reports.  For his good service, I promoted him to Technology Team Lead early this year, where he helped me guide new-comers to my Training Program.
• Lately, he rekindled his passion for options trading and started an options trading business.  I feel very happy for him and believe that he will eventually find his dream job by focusing and doing well in what he is truly passionate in.

Ms J: Credit Analyst -> Fixed Income Analyst

• Ms J was a credit analyst at a foreign bank when she started with my Training Program in Jan 2010.  She was v diligent and meticulous in helping me produce good quality work (while preparing for her CFA Level 3 exam).
• Impressed with her good work, I referred her for a recruitment drive for entry level analysts / management trainees with a global brokerage firm. She was however unsuccessful after initial interviews.
• Nevertheless, after months of conscientious effort on research assignments, she found herself a role as a fixed income analyst with a local asset management firm. I am happy for her and hope that she will continue to embrace my favourite slogan “Continue Learning and Keep On Networking” for more fruits of success further downstream.

In addition to the success stories above, I am pleased to learn that Mr I (featured in my previous success story mailer) has recently been confirmed (and also promoted!) in his new role.  He bought me a Thank You lunch last Sat, and we had a good chat about the possible collaboration efforts in the coming months—v exciting indeed.

Few weeks ago, I brought one of my TOP “student associates” to dinner with two sell-side friends (Mr V and Mr K from two different firms), who were in Singapore on marketing trip.  Mr V is doing equity sales; Mr K is an analyst; both relatively senior with ~10yrs experience in the finance industry.  My “student associate” learnt that they had both started their careers as associates/ research assistants (working under analysts), and asked them, “What is the typical career path of a research associate?”

Those of you who have been in the industry long enough would know that there is no typical career path. We have the success stories like my two friends (Mr V and Mr K) who have evolved from research associates to become senior equity sales and senior analyst respectively; there are others who started and remain as associates for their entire career in finance. I recently met a lady who lost her buy-side research associate job to retrenchment, despite having 6-7yrs’ experience.

What matters is how hungry the research associate is when it comes to learning; how proactive one is in initiating new ideas to one’s boss, etc. – in a nutshell, whether the associate embraces “Continue Learning and Keep On Networking”.

In my next mailer, I will show you how some people move towards success by practising my favourite slogan, and why human nature makes it so difficult for most people to do so.

We have now put together a sharing session – How to Survive & Thrive in Your First Year in Finance(http://www.apesnap.com/event/springboard005) – where we bring together some senior finance professionals in research, equity sales and investment banking to share with us their thoughts on the above topic.  If you are in the early stages of your finance career, or are ready to work for your future in finance, we look forward to an engaging session with you there.

Cheers,

Yoman

PS: My previous mailers can be found on: http://www.scholarsvillage.com/index.php/newssv/5-words-of-wisdom