Jeremiah is currently is an Executive Director of private equity firm Affirma Capital. He was previously Director of Standard Chartered Private Equity. He joined Standard Chartered after graduation and spent some nine years at the bank.
Q: What is the most interesting thing you did in the Business School?
One of my most interesting Business School experiences was going to New York University (NYU) for the exchange program. NYU has a strong alumni network, and alumnus from Wall Street are often brought in to supplement the coursework with their practical perspectives. The experience at NYU definitely matured my understanding of banking and more importantly, I had a lot of fun just meeting people, experiencing another form of education system and just exploring a new city.
Q:How did you end up in the Private Equity industry?
Upon graduation, I took up the opportunity to be part of the International Graduate Program offered by Standard Chartered, which involved rotating through a number of different departments. It was a useful process of discovering my personal like and dislikes.
I zeroed-in on the private equity team because I thought it offered a more well-rounded exposure to multiple disciplines which should serve me well given my entrepreneurship aspirations.
Q: How did you enter the Private Equity industry?
During a training program held in Shanghai when I was a graduate, the Global Head of Private Equity was in town to deliver a speech to the cohort. I wished to register my strong interest for a rotation stint with him but he was difficult to access. So, I decided to phone him in his hotel room to ask for a meeting. Unfortunately, his calendar was already full but I managed to a meeting return to Singapore, which paved the way for a rotation in private equity.
Q: How would you describe the outlook of the Private Equity industry?
I think its best days are ahead. It is still a relatively young industry compared to the US and European markets. Business owners and senior management executives are now beginning to understand the role of private equity and its merits. Also, private equity is a very high ‘personal touch’ service where emotional intelligence and balance is arguably more important than pure IQ. This makes the service difficult to replace with technology or automation. That said, the industry would certainly benefit from adoption of more technology. With that, emotional intelligence will stand out even more or as a differentiating factor amongst competition.
Q: Is there anything you regret or would have done differently while looking back?
When I was a graduate, I was a little narrow-minded about career options, and I admittedly suffered from herd mentality in chasing what was perceived as the best places to be. It was also partly because I did not know better, but also because the entire ecosystem promoted it. It was a measurement of success. If I could turn back the clock, I would perhaps spend more time understanding more options with more depth and giving some of the other options a fair shot too.
As a fresh graduate, it can sometimes be difficult, funny as it sounds, to prioritise passion over prestige. However, it makes perfect logic that one’s long term sustainable potential would likely be maximised if her energies are invested in where her passions and abilities lie.
Q: What advice would you give to students?
We are all not made the same. Not all of us can be Usain Bolt or Steve Jobs. First spend time in discovering yourself, and try to identify fields which allow you to leverage your interests and also abilities. Next when you embark on your career, focus on how to achieve excellence in that field. Everything like public perception of success and remuneration are more distractions which will more than sort itself out eventually if you focus on achieving the first two simple steps.
