Jerry is currently an Investment Manager at Aberdeen Standards Investment. Ever since he graduated, he has produced several publications relating to ESG investing. These include “ESG Trends in Japan”, “China shows early signs of ESG progress”, and “On the road – Japan through an ESG lens”.
Q: Could you give us a brief description of yourself to our readers?
I graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy). Double majors with finance were a big thing in the past (I am not sure if it is still like this now… it probably might not be since technology and computing both gained sizeable interest), and I too, followed the crowd and majored in finance. Though funnily enough, I would later join an industry that rewards one for not always following the crowd.
Q: Could you share more about your role to the readers and give us a short summary of your daily life at work?
I started out as an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) specialist In Aberdeen Standard Investments to lead the integration of ESG analysis into the investment process for Asia Pacific. And I championed the company’s efforts to analyse and engage our portfolio companies on their ESG performance. To be honest I was never trained on ESG, and I had to learn on the job. There also weren’t many details on ESG in the industry to work on, such as reading materials, research on process, etc. I had to rely on my entrepreneurial and innovative spirit to break new grounds. My role subsequently evolved when I was promoted to become an Investment Manager so now I am also managing funds.
Daily duties or tasks include portfolio management and analysis, ongoing company analysis to understand the quality of the company, championing ESG processes within the company, meeting clients, as well as being the advocate of ESG externally. Attending conferences, meeting company management, and having periodic meetings with brokers are also part of the package. These are extremely important for me to understand the day to day changes in the market as well as keeping myself up to date with the industry.
All told, I believe strongly in pursuing a career which you can gain maximum satisfaction from, and I am thankful that I enjoy my work a lot. Your career forms a huge part of your life, and therefore, doing something you do not like even if it brings you immense wealth can lose its novelty quickly.
Q: Was there anyone who influenced your decision to select NUS BBA (Accountancy)?
I was sure of pursuing a degree in accountancy right before entering NUS largely due to influence from my aunt. She was an accountant, and shared with me the value of having an accounting degree. It motivated me to read up more about the field before deciding that auditing could be an option for me to consider. My father probably played an important role too. He had been encouraging me to venture beyond our family business, so this made me set my sights on the outside world.
Q: How did you kickstart your career and realise your passion?
I have always wanted to be an auditor as mentioned, until I chanced upon the asset management industry. I was fortunate enough to do an internship with Nikko Asset Management when I was in Year 3, despite knowing almost nothing about equity investing. My doors were opened by my audit professor, Prof Tan Wee Cheng, whom I will forever be grateful towards. Anyhow, it wasn’t a good feeling during my internship given I have absolutely no clue of what I was expected to do; but I find the work stimulating. I could still recall struggling to answer what “return on equity” was, and the way to calculate it. Feeling sort of frustrated, I would then return back to school during my last academic year to take up finance and investing modules. In my last year, I even participated in the CFA Research Challenge.
Owing it all to luck again, the research challenge opened another door for me. This was where I met with Chou, one of the judges in the CFA challenge, and is a long time veteran in the investment industry. Through him I found out about Aberdeen Asset Management, and I proceeded to apply for an internship with them right after my graduation. I didn’t know what I was thinking then, because somehow, I dared to reject a full time offer from Maybank as an equities research analyst for an equities internship with Aberdeen.
During the internship, I learned a lot from my fellow colleagues including from Chou himself. He loved to share this phrase with me which was “Don’t AP (Analysis Paralysis)”. It means not to analyse a stock so much that I am unable to make a decision. I was lucky enough to do okay in the internship, and was offered a graduate role. A year later, I would eventually join the equities desk as a full time analyst.
I am in the industry for about 4 years now, and I’m surprised to see how time flies. This is my first job fresh out of university, but I am still enjoying my work. There are several things that made me want to stay with the firm. As cliché as it may sound, culture plays an extremely big role in all of these. At Aberdeen Standard Investments, the hierarchy is flat and has an open desk concept. This makes for easier collaboration and communication between people, including with my bosses. What is also interesting is the level of empowerment given to juniors on the desk. I have the ability to make decisions, exercise flexibility when implementing new processes, speak my mind where required, and given space for that entrepreneurial spirit.
Q: What do you think are the tricks of the trade for people who are interested in the asset management industry?
Read. Reading widely is one of the earliest advices I received but did not realize the value of it until I started my career.
Having the desire to make money. There must be a burning desire to make money because this can help to uncover ways to outperform the rest of the market.
Learn. Things are always changing, so you must enjoy the process of learning new things and adapting to it.
I feel regardless of your industry, we must not forget the ones who allowed us to get to where we are currently. For me, my mentors helped me shape my thoughts and gave me valuable advice, not only on explaining a particular investment thesis, but also on the philosophy of life.
My greatest satisfaction thus far is that I am seeing my hard work over the past few years to integrate the ESG capabilities in the company turning into reality. ESG has taken flight in the firm and in the industry and I am extremely thankful to be the pioneer in this industry and thankful to those that helped me out along the way.
Finally, books that I thought were good? “Anti-fragile” by Nassim Taleb, and “Bad Blood” by John Carreyrou.