New career takes root in Asia

FLUENT MANDARIN speaker Terrence Annamunthodo's diverse route to becoming a qualified lawyer, investment adviser and director of a Hong Kong investment company is slightly unconventional. Born in Guyana, South America, to Indian parents who originated from Northern India, his family moved to Canada in the early 1970s. After graduating with a bachelor of arts in psychology from the University of Ottawa, Mr Annamunthodo worked as a crisis counsellor, tree planter, air steward and taught English in Japan before moving back to Canada to study law, and later moved to Hong Kong. 'I believe I was always destined to work in Asia. In both Guyana and Canada I was strongly influenced by the success of the Chinese communities I mixed with,' he said. He said there was no better way to adjust your mindset than by 'hanging out' with people who knew how to give you that inspirational jolt you needed to stop wishing and start doing. As a financial adviser and director of Long-Term Asset Management, Mr Annamunthodo helps clients around Asia devise investment strategies with a strong emphasis on account performance. He also advises clients on selecting and setting up legal structures, estate and succession planning, reviewing an existing portfolio of mutual funds and reviewing investment proposals. The company's other activities include investing the assets of trust funds on behalf of trustees. Mr Annamunthodo is also responsible for the company's legal compliance with the Securities and Futures Commission regulations. 'This is perhaps the least exciting aspect of a job I love,' Mr Annamunthodo said, adding that working with clients from different cultural, professional and personal backgrounds provided an interesting insight into what was going on in Asia. Assisting people to make sound financial judgments is a sharp contrast to the years Mr Annamunthodo spent in Ottawa working as a crisis counsellor, helping the disadvantaged to overcome problems affecting their lives. After graduating with a psychology degree, but with no experience of mainstream counselling, he joined the YMCA, which runs various programmes to help the homeless, the sexually abused and people with drug abuse problems. 'I had been told that I had a unique ability to relate to others' circumstances, to understand them and to empathise with them, with the appropriate mix of compassion and professionalism,' he said. After two years of witnessing a cascade of human misery and watching a colleague burn out, it was time to either move up the crisis counsellor management chain or move on. He chose to become a tree planter in Ottawa. 'I believe in breaking patterns to take charge of my career by being prepared, flexible and determined. I am not afraid of change or afraid of taking a risk,' he said. He described tree planting as back-breaking and monotonous, and the job is never certain. 'When it wasn't miserably cold, it was wet and muddy and the air would be buzzing with blackflies,' he said. 'When I started I thought it was the worst job you could ever do. But after a while you put yourself into a sort of trance and get a rhythm going. You blank your mind out to the physical hardship. It becomes spiritual. When you stop tree planting, you miss it,' Mr Annamunthodo said. He suffers from knee injuries as a result of carrying the heavy bags. It was during a break in tree planting and an attempt to cure a fear of heights that Mr Annamunthodo joined the now defunct US-based charter airline Worldways, and his close relationship with Hong Kong and the mainland was cemented. A stewardess mentioned a four-month Mandarin course offered by Suzhou University, near Shanghai, that she had attended. The year was 1989, just a few months after the Tiananmen crackdown when many foreign students left the mainland. Undeterred, a few months later Mr Annamunthodo enrolled in the same programme. This was followed by a stint in Japan teaching English before returning to Canada to complete his law degree at the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. 'The Osgoode Hall Law School is one of the strongest in the country with internationally recognised scholars in a wide variety of fields, but I found the studying to be more following rules than inspiring. I really wanted to return to Asia and particularly to Hong Kong, so in 1995 I arrived with a bag, a suit and a prayer, and I am not even religious,' Mr Annamunthodo said. He found work with a company that specialises in mainland legal publishing and organising seminars. However, he soon discovered that to succeed on a higher level, a strong belief system and motivation were good, but not enough to take him past the next obstacle - to learn the Chinese language properly, and learn it fast. His problem was soon solved by enrolling at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, where he began a two-year Mandarin programme. 'I really loved and valued that experience,' he said. Many of his fellow students from Asia provided lots of support. Through a mutual friend in Hong Kong, tree planting was about to enter Mr Annamunthodo's life again - although this time without any threat of back-breaking work. Craig Chapman, an investment expert and former tree planter, suggested that they could work together. This resulted in Long-Term Asset Management being set up in 1997. Mr Chapman said tree planters were well equipped to handle stress and pressure, two frequent occurrences in the world of financial advising and investing. Mr Annamunthodo agreed. He said many issues linked to investing are not exclusively money topics, they can also be life issues. For example, clients often have complicated relationships, such as children from different marriages for whom they are trying to provide financial security. He treats his work much like the aikido martial art, which uses an opponent's own strength against him - or in this case the pressure of work - to produce a positive result. 'I believe my experiences have been useful to encapsulate different skills and try to be a good listener. I have one of the best jobs anyone could hope for.' Mr Annamunthodo still has one outstanding ambition to fulfil. This is to become a qualified forklift driver. He said forklift drivers could wreak havoc if they didn't do their job properly. 'It is something that has always appealed to me because forklift drivers need to be attentive and well trained,' Mr Annamunthodo said. 'Without competent forklift drivers, many industries, services and vital supplies would come to a standstill.' life lessons Take charge of your career change by being prepared, flexible and determined. Don't be afraid of change and don't be afraid of taking a risk. If you really want to create a more balanced, rewarding life doing work you truly love, you'll need to create a mindset that will instantly turn 'can't' into 'can'. Different work and life experiences can be useful in starting a new career. Be prepared to handle the job and the issues of a career change. A job for life is no longer the norm. Due to redundancy and industry trends, on average people change careers two to three times during their working life.