Putting a price on passion for top fund managers
Lieven Debruyne says passion for fund management is what he looks for when hiring at Schroders in Hong Kong, where he is chief executive
A background in fund management could help you when it comes to managing a fund company, but the most important trait is to have a "real passion" for the industry, says Lieven Debruyne, the newly elected chairman of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association trade group.
Debruyne, who is also chief executive of British fund house Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong), believes having a sound strategy and a clear focus are the keys to managing a fund company.
Born in Belgium, he grew up in the Belgian city of Bruges and later in the Netherlands. After studying economics at university, he began his career as an analyst in New York at the investment company MeesPierson Capital Management in 1993.
A year later, in 1994, he shifted to become a fund manager in Hong Kong until 1998. During those years, he witnessed boom years in Asia, and then the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998. He left Hong Kong to work in Paris and London, where he joined Schroders in 2000 and then returned to Hong Kong in 2005.
In an interview with the Post, Debruyne talks about what it takes to manage and staff a fund company and how the industry has changed in Hong Kong since he first arrived on the scene 18 years ago.