Singapore hedge funds offer internships to teenagers, promoting home-grown money-managing talent

As billionaire tycoons and global hedge fund giants move en masse to the city state, a shortage of qualified professionals is starting to bite

Some hedge funds have opened there amid the recent turmoil in Hong Kong, while other companies are choosing it as their regional base

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Yi ke Cao at her school in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:29pm, 11 Mar 2021Updated: 3:56pm, 11 Mar 2021

In the dog-eat-dog world of hedge funds, giving an internship to a 16-year-old is a rarity. But when local talent is hard to find, teaching a minor how to generate alpha can be a worthwhile investment.

And so last summer, high schooler Yi Ke Cao spent two weeks at Modular Asset Management, a near US$1 billion Singaporean hedge fund spun out of Millennium Management LLC. She crunched data in spreadsheets, chatted with veterans and watched nerve-racking meetings where money managers defended their investment ideas from peers.

Cao is the youngest in a wave of Singaporeans being readied for the world of active asset management. As billionaire tycoons and global hedge fund giants move en masse to the tiny city state, a shortage of qualified professionals is starting to bite – forcing the government and investors to do more to cultivate the industry’s next generation.

“I was a bit terrified, I didn’t know how to react to them speaking to me and I didn’t know how to hold a conversation but they were welcoming,” Cao, now 17, said of her first day in the office, having beaten 10 classmates to land the role. “I’m definitely more likely to consider it now.”

A mix of geopolitics and financial incentives has ushered a flood of money managers to Singapore. Some hedge funds have opened there amid the recent turmoil in Hong Kong, while other companies are choosing it as their regional base. Family offices – the private firms created by the ultra rich to manage their affairs – have been flocking to the country, with Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio among those establishing units there recently.

The obvious solution for such firms would be to import talent from traditional hubs like Europe and the US but the Singapore government is pushing to boost local hires instead of relying on expatriates. The minimum salaries for taking on foreign employment pass holders are rising and incentives granted to some would-be investors come with requirements to hire Singaporeans.

Even so, few asset managers would be willing to recruit unsuitable locals for serious roles – an issue Singapore is trying to address. The government has launched training subsidies that help pay for asset management courses, and it aims to give citizens global experience by covering as much as US$100,000 (US$75,000) in costs when financial institutions send selected staff for overseas postings. Slick websites try to make climbing the corporate ladder an easy, colourful process.

Other efforts help retrain existing executives. The Investment Management Association of Singapore launched its iLearn platform in May to help workers upskill, and more than 800 people have used it for training, CEO Carmen Wee said. In its latest survey of members, respondents said building and retaining talent pools was the equal second-biggest consideration that would impact business over the next 12 months.