I did not start out in finance. I trained as an engineer — telecommunications engineering, then a master's in engineering management — and worked as a systems engineer at AIS before moving to Ericsson in Kuala Lumpur. I had never sold anything in my life. What changed my path was studying financial planning and then looking around at my fellow engineers: almost none of them had a real plan for retirement, tax or investing. Most were simply following whatever they had heard from someone else.
I entered this profession eleven years ago and learned early that what gets me out of bed is not the sales figure. It is the moment a client exhales because the plan finally holds together, and the moment someone on my team does what they had believed they could not.
Today I wear several hats at once — advisor to high-net-worth clients, coach to 23 unit leaders, and the executive responsible for an office of 208 financial advisors. Since June 2021 I have also been Team Lead at Finnomena, covering investments and mutual fund portfolios, and an independent investment consultant for Phillip Securities (Thailand).
Holding both sides changed how I talk with clients. A good plan does not stop at protecting what you already have; it has to answer where the rest of the money is going to grow. I can cover both at the same table, without handing a client to someone else halfway through.
My style is direct. I start with the big picture — where you are heading and what you are most afraid to lose — before getting into which instruments will take you there. I do not sell what I would not hold myself, and I do not propose a plan I could not explain to your children.