From the last episode of my blog, I left an open ending about the possibility of coming back to the wonderful world of investment. Well, that possibility is now a reality and back in the investment industry I am. The very next day I was discharged from the air force. I called a boutique investment firm in Taipei that had been searching for a senior equity analyst with CFA charter for a while. Initially, I contacted them in early October and was told to check with them again when I finished my air force thing. So, I woke up from my nap that Friday afternoon and just called them to say that I was still interested in the job if they were still hiring. I was told by Jason, the project manager who is also an American that they would reach out to me before Chinese New Year, which was still two months away. Therefore, I called it a day, picked up my golf clubs and headed to the driving range.
Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is my new home
To my surprise, Matt, the head of research department who is also an American called when I was hitting golf balls all over the driving range. So I had a long 45 minutes phone interview with a 7 iron in my hand right there in the driving range. At the end of phone interview, Matt asked for some references from the people I used to work for in Dallas and told me that he would try to schedule an interview with me next week. By the following Tuesday morning, Matt has heard back from Brian, my previous boss at Highland Capital, and Matt was eager to bring me in for the interview that very day. By Tuesday afternoon, I was in the office already, talking with Jason, Matt and Mr. Tran, the president of the firm. Then, the rest is history.
One of Taipei Metro Transportation stations. It's a 25 minutes metro ride for me every day into the office
Always a crowed, fun ride into the office every day
I moved to Taipei on Nov 30th, the day before I started my job and quickly settled in to the role of senior equity analyst covering property sector. I soon realized that, other than Matt, my boss, I am the most senior guy with the LEAST direct experiences in equity research. They hired me because my strong credentials (CFA and CPA), solid working experience in investment (almost 4 years in hedge fund and private equity) and simply expect great things out me. One week into my new job, I’ve produced NOTHING in term of research paper or industry comments, because I didn’t know A DARN THING about property markets in Taiwan and China. So what can I do? People are expecting All-Star level of production from me as a pitcher (in the sell-side of investment) but I have been a hitter all my life (in the buy-side of investment). The only thing I could do is working my ass off, doing just about everything to educate myself about the market and companies. And of course, pray to God every night that I will still get my pay check next month.
So how will things turn out for me? Will I get to keep my job? Will I ever become the next star Matt expected me to be in Taiwanese investment industry? Stay tune and find out.
China's property market has been red hot over the years. Soft landing or crush course ahead? That would be the million dollar question that I will try to answer
