The CIMB ASEAN Stock Challenge 2016 saw our undergraduates – Team Fujok, emerge as overall 2nd Runner Up in the regional Grand Finale held at the Singapore Exchange on 9 January 2017.
NUS team wins ASEAN stocks prize
From left: Gideon Wong, Sagar Shah, Devin Nathanael and Ryan Phua (Life Sciences)
Led by team captain Devin Nathanael (BBA Year 1), Team Fujok consists of Gideon Wong (BAC Year 1), Sagar Nilesh Shah (BBA Year 1) and Ryan Timothy Phua (Life Sciences Year 2), they beat some 300 teams at the Singapore Finals last October to become National Champions. They further clinched honours for having the Best Strategy Paper Award at the national level which qualified them for a spot at the regional Grand Finale against teams from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Team Fujok first met at the NUS Investment Society, and are currently in the Global Macro Research Department. Their common interest in investing led them to participate in the competition together. Initially the team only sought to prove to themselves their strategies for stock picks were on par with others. However, the experience has taught them to be “decisive”, while thinking on their feet and understanding that a single issue would have multiple differing opinions.
Reflecting on key lessons learnt, Team Fujok shares, “The ability to articulate clearly and convince different groups of people for a particular decision is very important. So, we feel our presentation skills definitely have room for improvement.”
Most importantly, Gideon pointed out that these competitions are “good platforms to validate what you’ve learnt in the classroom, and applying them to the real world”.
Tips to start your own trading portfolio
You don’t have to be a finance or accounting student, or strictly brilliant with numbers (ok, maybe a little!).. But to grow your personal wealth and plan for retirement, or even extra cash for a great family/friends vacation. Why not?
- Attend a session with the NUS Investment Society. Held weekly on Thursdays, 6.30pm at LT18. You’d learn the different types of investments involved, and meet like-minded people.
- Google is your best friend! Many online platforms to kick-start your investments journey. Try: Investopedia or Babypips
- Go old school and visit the library. Pick up:
- “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
- “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham
- “Dance With Chance” by Anil Gaba, Robin M Hogarth, and Spyros Makridakis
- “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi
- Follow people like Lionel Yeo who have “been there, done that” for their personal anecdotes and made-for-layman lessons.
- And finally, get real! Test out the theories and hypotheticals by creating a demo trading account. Don’t worry, you can practice trading with “fake” money. Brokers such as Oanda, offer these “paper” trading services.