Oscar de la Renta chose not to show at New York Fashion Week and instead streamed on Amazon. Is Amazon a suitable forum for a luxury brand? CEO Alex Bolen said, "I'm not sure. But we have to experiment with new ways to get our story out." https://lnkd.in/g4rZMxyb We launched our funds when Covid started and with the halt in travel and tough fund raising environment for emerging managers, we focused on performance and experimented with new ways to reach out to allocators, namely Linkedin posts and YouTube videos which can now be binge-watched on www.quantflix.com . True, some people say that with the positive fund returns last year for both our long-only equity and multi-strategy funds, and the China fund outperforming its benchmark by its annualized double-digit aim, it was expected that we would pass the $100m mark. But when times are bad, most new investment monies went to well-known funds that are much bigger with a marketing budget that we cannot afford. So every lit
I was talking with friends about the extremely impressive resumes - did these kids start as child-labor when they were 12?! - I get from students these days and remarked, "I'm glad I was First Gen". Many US colleges have priority admissions set aside for those whose parents did not have a college education. One friend who also went to an Ivy-League said, "I'm sure you were just good, because many applicants from Singapore were also First Gen twenty, thirty years ago."
Even if I was in fact admitted because I was a First Gen, should I feel that I might not have been as good as my peers? Should any advantage in the system make achievements less worthy?I'd say to take every advantage there is as long as it has not been obtained unfairly (or illegally - like photoshopping your face on a crew athlete). After getting in the school, you still have to study hard to get that summa cum laude. Feeling bad about getting that promotion because you think the firm needs to fill the female quota and fulfil ESG criteria? There's a good chance you are actually the best candidate out there, he/she/they.
Singapore has seen an influx of family offices, especially from China: https://lnkd.in/gXVy5Zhd. Some people say that the tightened new rules that family offices have to invest 10% of the assets (or 10m, whichever is lower) in local investments including putting in funds distributed by Singapore-licensed/registered fund managers, have given our funds a big boost.
Our funds have performed very well, with our long-only equities fund up double digits, especially considering the challenges last year. Even if family offices are "forced" to invest locally, they have many choices among equities, private companies and funds. While we have had enquiries from family offices that are newly set up, our growth has mainly come from existing investors topping up and institutional investors who are comfortable with our research and risk management processes.
And what about getting clients because I'm fluent in Mandarin? I admit it is not that common for a Singaporean but this does not diminish my capabilities as a fund manager. There is no negative correlation between having language skills and being able to do math /manage money. No shame in being able to 讲华语!
P.S.: It does not matter whether I'm the last or first person in line - we all graduate from the same class.
www.gao-cap.com
www.gao-adv.com
www.quantflix.com
To get information on our funds, write to info@gao-cap.com (because I'm not the most responsive on LinkedIn)
For questions on family offices, write to info@gao-adv.com
(or if you want to join FOC - Fridays Only Club / Family Office Circle)
#hedgefund #singapore #familyoffices #mandarinspeaker #firstgen #impostersyndrome
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