4 lessons from my 4 years at UNSW
It has been a relatively long journey for me at UNSW. Given that I started this blog, almost 1.5 years ago with the name "Stock Market Opinions from a UNSW Student". I recently just finished my final exam at UNSW, so I figured it would be relevant to make a few comments reflecting over the future of this blog, and of my time at UNSW.
I started my time at UNSW back in 2015. A lot has changed during that time, of both the university itself and for me. For those readers who diligently read my introductory post (see here for refresher), you would know my original intention was to be an optometrist or dentist. I think the former had the stronger pull given that my sister was (and still is) an optometrist.
It was somewhat by chance, that my dad suggested the idea of doing commerce/actuarial studies at UNSW. I took that leap of faith, but very rapidly, after the first week, dropped actuarial studies. For me, this was personally one of the best investment decisions I made in myself.
What I don't often tell people, was the anxiety I had during that time. I was sitting halfway through my cadetship application process for Deloitte, and I had just dropped my actuarial studies component in my dual degree, turning it into a single commerce degree. I'm not sure what it was, but I always thought more degrees was better as a naive 1st year. Thankfully (and probably a bit of luck), ended up with an offer from Deloitte, and would start in the audit team in July 2015.
However, my first proper corporate job is not what I'm here to blabber about. This post is dedicated to reflect on the experiences during my time at UNSW, and along the way, this journey I am sharing may help other students come to the conclusion that investing, and specifically the funds management industry is something for them. I did not realise this until hindsight, but a lot of my experiences at UNSW did bring me closer to my love for funds management.
Four things I learnt at UNSW - patience, empathy, persistence, and passion.
There were many examples that taught me one of the 4 things above, but I decided to pick 4 great UNSW examples that come to my mind.
Patience:
In 2015, I volunteered in Shack Tutoring at UNSW and got the opportunity to teach a year 9 student (who unfortunately had a mental disability), but was a respectful young lady. Shack Tutoring was basically a free after school tuition service which UNSW students teach usually 1-2 students per week.
Her disability made it difficult to learn, and at the beginning, I confess I was easily frustrated when I taught simple arithmetic involving fractions, which she would understand in a day, but often forget the very next week. That required a lot of patience on my part, to accept that humans are limited in their own ways, and encouraged me to exercise more patience. I was so wrapped up in the exam results, that I initially did not focus on the student. That was a lesson for me during the semester 1. Having the opportunity to meet her parents, was a wake up call for me in terms of helping me exercise patience with their daughter that I taught.
This is a trait that I continue to practice in my investing career. I find it often difficult to control, particularly for a guy like me given my sense of urgency to see results. I recall one of my favourite investing role models from Fidelity, Peter Lynch, who says:
"My best stocks have not been my 3rd or 4th day, but my 3rd or 4th year holding them".
Empathy:
In mid 2016, I had the opportunity to join Global Village at UNSW, where I got to volunteer in Sri Lanka, at the Foundation of Goodness for a month. It was based in Seenigama, which is a small rural suburb in Southern Sri Lanka. A friend, Ke, volunteered there a semester before me, and a semester before that, another friend, Edmund, volunteered in Laos.
Part of continuing that momentum in our friendship group (given that another friend, Gary, volunteered in Thailand/Cambodia right after me), I ended up in Sri Lanka. I got to meet some of the struggling kids in Sri Lanka. What impressed me, was how happy they were despite my worldly view of what little they had. I remember exercising with the teenagers on the sports oval at 7am, and they ran laps faster than me (even when they weren't wearing any shoes!).
Getting to teach computing and fix computers in their IT department (a lot of the students have not touched a computer before), and having 1 on 1 English conversations with several of the staff at Seenigama (where English was not taught as well as in the city, like Colombo), allowed me to experience the lens of a humbly inspirational life for many of these incredible Sri Lankans that I met (see below pic of me with the PCs in Sri Lanka).
That's where the empathy comes in. I find that placing myself in the shoes of another person helps particularly when investing. One of the hardest things I've found, is judging the character of management who run a company. So much so, Warren Buffet from Berkshire Hathaway, talks about thinking of yourself as:
"A part-owner of the business"
This is so when you are buying a stock, rather than treating it "like a lottery ticket". Empathy helps not only when thinking in the shoes of management, but of also sensing whether management themselves have the ability to empathise for their various stakeholders, whether that is shareholders, staff, customers, suppliers, etc.
Persistence:
This is one of my fondest UNSW memories that I will never forget. I still remember meeting a UNSW peer, Kevin, who later became my trusted team member in case competitions we did together. We've had our blunders in 1 or 2 competitions, but our last competition we ever did together, was one true test of persistence with a lot of pain a long the way.
I often don't talk about this, but during that August/September 2017 period, it was probably one of the most demanding times in my life to date. I recall working 4 days a week as a cadet in Deloitte, studying 2 UNSW subjects, trying to finish an audit assignment with a group (who weren't exactly the most committed), still going church/home group/Campus Bible Study, and finally doing the FMAA Asset Management Case Competition with Kevin. You can see our final report for a BUY on Crown Casino, here.
I was probably averaging about 4-5 hrs of sleep per day, during 2 key weeks, where me and Kevin spent the time meeting up on Sundays, and building our valuation model on Excel, and making Powerpoint slides. We pitched in the heats, then the finals. There were many times during that period, where I seriously thought about quitting, and admittedly, I was very close to breaking down. It wasn't that I hated doing all the research on Crown Casino and modelling and making slides (although that may be partly to blame), but it was certainly the fatigue, and the thought that others at UNSW were 'enjoying' themselves whilst I slaved away multiple nights on a silly Excel workbook.
In saying that, I was inspired by a lot of my friends whom I knew, worked really hard in their own fields. Whether that was medicine, actuarial studies, law, etc, I think I responded to the problem quite well. It ultimately taught me persistence, when I continued through the competition. In hindsight, it was probably one of the most helpful learning experiences, having come 1st in UNSW and 3rd in NSW (see pic below of me and Kevin!). That connected me as well, to several fund managers, who pointed me in the right direction of this path too.
I recall a fund manager who judged me, and with whom I hold a deep respect for. Steven Ng (Portfolio Manager) from Ophir Asset Management once said:
"The one who succeeds in this field is the one who goes that extra mile more than the others".
I find this particularly true for investing. To make a point clear, some people do ask whether my intelligence helped me during my high school days and my UNSW studies, and while I admit possibly there is some natural intelligence that I have for commerce, I think the bulk of the results for me have certainly come from a persistent work ethic that involved a lot of hours of study (and possibly more than the peer sitting next to me). I'm an old fashion believer in hard work leading to success, although I think I learnt one more ingredient that does help drive success (which is incidentally my final point I learnt this year).
Passion:
A lot of friends have told me I get incredibly excited when talking about companies, or just talking about things I like, in general (e.g. food or topics from the Bible). I guess that may be a sign you're passionate about something!
This last example, was my experience teaching PASS for Accounting 1B. PASS (or Peer Assisted Study Session), were basically extra lessons in certain business topics, for students to revise, extend and consolidate their knowledge on the topics in the courses they were studying. I had the privilege of teaching Accounting 1B following a recommendation by an Accounting lecturer who I got to know well - and who gave me many academic opportunities of which I am incredibly grateful in my final year at UNSW.
I never realised teaching the subject, got me so interested about accounting. Perhaps the wisdom does come with age? Possibly... Beyond the accounting, every week I even shared a company case study, that tied in with the topic I was teaching, whether that was revenue recognition or accounting policy choices. Every week I spent plenty of time trying to link the theory with the practice. I think that's how you know a passion is born in a subject. When you try to relate the things you are learning in the books, to anything and everything happening in the world. No doubt, some students would attest perhaps I rambled too long sometimes about the balance sheet/management/quality of earnings/etc in a company like Lovisa or Specialty Fashion.
Not only in teaching classes at UNSW did I truly find my passion, but being able to talk about how university programs prepare their students for employability, was something I got to share during my time in the 2018 Learning and Teaching Forum at UNSW where about 200 academics attended. It was the most incredible way to end my time at UNSW, given that was the last day of 2018 semester 2.
I got to share my thoughts about the flipped classroom learning from ACCT3583 which helped with teaching group work, with one of the early adopters of this idea being Dr Kar Ming, a lecturer whom I alluded to earlier and one I deeply thank for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts in the forum. Incidentally, my good friend, Ke, whom I mentioned earlier, was also on the panel.
One thing that my mentor, Albert Hung, reminds me time and time again, is to have a passion for this industry of funds management. Having a passion for commerce, and by extension the funds management industry, has paid rewarding dividends for me. In 2018, I noticed the difference. I was going to my tutorials with a lot more questions for the tutor. I was doing all the homework on a weekly basis by myself. I was studying earlier for my exams. Although I had practised a lot of these things since my high school days, I was doing so with more of a smile on my face. It really was a lesson of passion.
In fact, the passion for business is virtually in my DNA now. For example, when I go to a coffee shop, I want to know the price they pay for their 1 kg bags of coffee beans. And I ask that with almost every coffee shop I go to now, as a comparison to know which are better at sourcing beans (although I'm reminded that the quality of the beans matter too in price differentials!).
Final thoughts at UNSW:
My 4 years at UNSW has been an amazingly net positive one, from the people I met along the way from all walks of life, and the learning experiences I've been taught. From patience, to empathy, to persistence, and finally to passion.
This has been an incredible 4 years at UNSW. Not to say that it was a smooth ride all the way though. Like every roller coaster, there are both highs and lows in the ride, and much so with the stock market too.
Finishing my last exam was somewhat anticlimactic, considering I was already used to working/studying since early 2015. Yet looking back, this is only the beginning of a long journey of lessons for me, and I continue to look forward to the more lessons I accumulate beyond UNSW. I don't regret my time at UNSW, and I'd do it all over again if I could.
To my readers, I encourage you all to experience that journey for yourself, and see the lessons you've picked up along the way, as I have thankfully been able to do so these last 4 years at UNSW.
Kind regards,
Michael Li
