How do you get ahead in the wealth-management sector? We spoke to a range of people to see how they got where they are today, and what they think are the keys to success in this growing but competitive field.
Nicholas Leung, head, investment product support, wealth management, Bank of East Asia
Describe your role and duties? To put it broadly, I help with the support and development of the bank's wealth-management business, mostly in retail wealth management. I have to go out and source products, conduct due diligence investigations, complete the legal documentation, put together the product leaflets and train the frontline sales people how to market the products. I also work with the branch staff to design strategies for this quarter and the next, and look at the market overviews. It's basically an all-round occupation.
Give a short recap of your career. I have been at Bank of East Asia for four years in the same position. Before that, I spent eight years with a consulting company focusing on investment consultation, advising institutional investors how to manage their funds, mostly provident funds, pension funds and MPFs. We also developed into regional roles. For example, providing advice for South Korean government funds. I joined after graduation, worked as an analyst and then a consultant, and then I left to join BEA.
What allowed you to get where you are today? I feel really lucky to have been able to join my previous company after getting my MBA. I think it is the same with every one. When your boss has confidence in you and gives you exposure, takes you along to high-level meetings and allows you to lead projects even though you have only worked for the company for one or two years, the pressure of that really forces you to grow up. We would have to talk to a lot of CEOs or CFOs. Our boss had a lot of belief in us and provided sufficient training. When you get such exposure at an early stage, it reinforces your self confidence. It's like a positive cycle. Through meeting more people, your self-belief is increased and in the future when you handle high-level activities, your performance should be better with the experience you have accumulated.
What do you enjoy most about your job and why? My role requires me to present product ideas to the whole network of salespeople in the bank, understand their feedback, what they need, and how to combine what is required with what is actually available in the market. Most of the time, people in different positions will have their own wants, but these may not be practical. Therefore, we would have to find ways to try to align 'reality' and 'fantasy', bring them closer together and get the business going. My position is people-oriented. You learn most when interacting with people. Of course the solid background from studying, books, magazines are useful, but it won't get you to the top. Talking to people, understanding their needs, dealing with different types of people, being a manager, this is the most important. Books and knowledge are 'dead' and the ability to interact with people is what counts.