Yuanita worked in Standard Chartered for a good part of her career. She spent more than 8 years in the bank before moving on to becoming a Director and subsequently, Managing Director of Cap1 Financial.
Q: Why did you choose the career path that you were on and what sustained you until now?
At the start, the main driver was value-creation. However, finance is one of the most cut-throat industry. There were 90 management trainees who entered Standard Chartered around the same period as me, but only 10% of them remain now. Although some of them left to work in other banks, this still shows how competitive the industry is. In fact, for the front office roles, 10-20% of the staff are let go of every year, even during good times. If you are not the leader, you are simply in danger.
As I progressed in my career, good remuneration motivated me to stay. My personality was more suitable for a sales oriented job and even though I started in the operations department, I managed to get to the frontline sales team by pitching to Asia’s head of sales. The head of sales was convinced of my abilities and, I was given the opportunity to do a trial immersion program with the sales and quantitative team. For a period of time I had to juggle between 2 departments; 1. To move up the learning curve as fast as possible and be evaluated for my suitability as a Global markets sales person, 2. To ensure that my projects in operations continue smoothly. Throughout my career, being able to endure high stress situations and outperform my peers through continuous learning and multitasking helped me to move up the corporate ladder.
Yuanita Tjia, Managing Director at CAP1 FINANCIAL, BBA 2004
Q: What motivated you to leave Standard Chartered and start out in Cap1 Financial?
After the great financial crisis of Lehman’s demise, the bank went through massive restructuring. Although I was promised a small team to develop the SME market, I was left to work solo as resources was not allocated. Constant managerial changes in the higher management team did nothing to aid the cause. I was faced with a large budget to fulfil with limited resources. Notwithstanding, compliance tightened considerably and deals were scrutinised with high intensity. The many and complicated compliance processes meant that I was tasked with ensuring appropriate approvals were obtained for all deals regardless of the time required to get the approvals. Bearing in mind that Global markets rates and FX markets move every second and each Bps (basis point) change could determine if a deal can be concluded or not. The workload and budget was further amplified due to the trimming of the sales team and sales team support was limited.
As fate had it, a couple of banking friends were facing the same challenges, and we decided to form Cap 1 Financial to offer a more holistic and tailored solutions for our ASEAN clients.
Q: So, what makes Cap1 Financial stand out amongst its competitors?
In Cap1 Financial, we hold our relationships with our clients dearly. We are ASEAN focused, provide more customised solutions and we leverage on our strong network. We have 7 people working in Singapore, 2 in China, 1 in Hong Kong, 2 in Thailand and 1 in Malaysia. We are selective of our clients, as we believe that only through mutual trust and partnership can we maximize the value created.
Q: Do you have any advice for the young and budding business students in NUS?
Never be afraid to ASK, and do not succumb to instant gratifications and being short sighted in your career path. Young graduates now are shy about expressing their views and asking for advice or help. If your career or internship is stagnating, or if you find yourself with no direction in your career life, approach someone you respect and ask if he or she can be your mentor. Most of the times, people will be willing to help, otherwise, they may point you to the next person who might. I have myself been a beneficiary of many mentors and I can attest to the amount of wisdom they have imparted to me. Relationships are also built through time, so take that first step to invite someone for coffee.
