I first started my role as a pricing analyst in the shipping industry. At that point in time, I wanted to shift out from the shipping industry and move into the finance industry, which some of my peers are in. I'm Hwee Keng and I'm an ESG Investment Analyst with Kota Mahindra Asset Management Singapore and I'm a CFA® charterholder.
Initially, I graduated with a business degree, but because I took on international trading, and I don't really have an internship experience in the finance industry. I do not have any peers that could recommend me into the role itself, so that's why I chanced upon this program through a mutual friend, and that's why I decided to take on this program to equip myself with the knowledge.
For the CFA Program, there's a three-part paper involved, it helps to equip individuals with the knowledge, such as investment analysis, portfolio management, valuing of an asset or a company, as well as wealth planning.
So I started my first paper when I was a pricing analyst in a shipping company. At that point, it doesn't really contribute back at that role in time, but I feel that when I was a FP&A analyst back in my securities firm, at least I could understand what the balance sheet of the financial statements are talking about.
So in my current role as an ESG investment analyst, I feel that what I learned in CFA [Program], like the macro, microeconomics, the different financial terms, helped me to at least skip the fundamental kind of knowledge that I would require to build up in my current role. In that sense, I feel that the CFA Program equips us with understanding of how an asset management, like a private banking way of thinking, and also some of the lingos that we use in the industry.
I also took on the CFA® Certificate in ESG Investing, which delves more deeply into the ESG concept. It helps individuals to understand the ESG broadly, like all the different double materiality, and also how different companies deal with ESG.
It also helps us to understand more about what we can improve, because there's a lot of case studies that's involved, and in that sense, there's a lot of like standards that I could bring back to my company to apply in my current role.
The CFA Program helps us to build a network. It helps us to reach out to people that we might not be able to from our normal work, from our personal experience, from friends, etc. So I think that it's a very good medium that we could tap into in the future when we need any assistance.
I would strongly encourage taking on the CFA® paper because it helps us to differentiate from the other competitors and peers on our commitment and our dedication. For my interview with my current company, my boss gave feedback to me that the CFA® designation itself, is a plus point compared to other peers. Having the CFA® designation helps differentiate ourselves and to portray to your bosses that you are ready and you would be able to take on whatever role to break into this financial industry.
