tact
• noun adroitness and sensitivity in dealing with others or with difficult issues.
— ORIGIN Latin tactus ‘touch, sense of touch’, from tangere ‘to touch’.
source:http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/tact?view=uk
I've had an amazing learning experience yesterday during a client visit to conduct due diligence. I brought away 3 main lessons from this 2 hours session,
1. Fruitfulness of discussion depends on preparedness
2. Do not assume that you are dumb because you don't understand the issue
3. Be tactful when asking and answering question, it is important to empathize with the other party
1. Level of preparedness
There is no reason the other party should provide you with more information other than on a "need to know" basis. However, they are often willing to share information when you've asked the right question.
Asking the 'right question' depends on the thoroughness of the background check that was conducted. "Stunning" the other party with the depth of your knowledge is a great way to gain an upper hand.
2. Dumb questions and answers
Don't be afraid to ask seemingly 'dumb questions' like "Why?" and if you don't understand the answer given, ask for further explanation..."Sorry, I still don't get this. Could you explain it again?"
Often, not understanding the complex and convoluted reply may not be fault at our part, but that the other party has something to hide. It was amazing how much information could be dug out from this type of innocent question. There could be nothing sinister afterall, but it is almost always good to know more.
3. Be tactful
The way my bosses probe for information is done in a gentleman manner. They first thank the other party for their time, accentuate the fact that the other party are people of high integrity, and get them to agree on harmless issues first.
After 'accepting' the praise that they are men of integrity and worth, it is hard for them to contradict themselves by blaming issues on people who are not at the table or lie thru their teeth. They co-operated in a friendly manner and many grey issues were laid out on the table and dealt with accordingly.
Last month I attended a briefing by a listed company. Looking through the financials I came across some weird accounts. I pointed this out to the CFO who was the presenter. She garbled some accounting standards and tried to avoid the question. I asked further question in a non-too-friendly manner. She gave some useless reply and moved on to the next question. For the rest Q&A I didn't get to ask any other questions cuz she don't want to pick my question.
I must conduct myself in a manner such that the others are willing to share more with me. Put down my pride and I'll be able to learn so much more.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
They cheat they steal they tell lies
I think that the cash register is a beautiful invention. It allows owner to 'trust' his employees with the revered task of collecting cash for sales.
Today I've witnessed an unhonourable person 'steal' from the cash register. Sadly i did not act against it and allowed my cowardice (or laziness) to rule over.
I paid for $1 pancake right after a lady who bought soyabean milk before me. The stall auntie didn't key in my sale and simply put my $1 into the cash register. At the end of the day, i'm quite sure the difference between the cash balance and receipt sales will form part of her take home pay.
If she steals $2 per hour, on a 8 hour workday 16 dollars will be stolen ($400 a month). Assuming a (honest) salary of 1600, the stolen money will amount to about 25% of her salary. No wonder she's motivated to steal as the probability and severity of being caught is low and reward is high.
I've witness the same thing at a fastfood joint at Raffles City. The MANAGER did not key in my order, and placed my order with their mike system. A tell tale sign of such dishonest act about to happen is that the cashier will NOT CLOSE THE CASH REGISTER COMPELETY after the previous customer leaves, and not issuing receipt.
The first time this happened, i didn't even realise what happened after i got my change. The second time it happened, i demanded a receipt. The manager actually started keying in the order AFTER giving my change and said there's something wrong with the machine. That smooth operator is full of shit, must have done it a billion times.
In this perverse system whereby the police (the customer) has no incentive to act and the thief has LOTS of incentive to act, it is easy for the honour system to break down. Imagine stealing a Whopper meal ($8) every hour. Given a 12 hour work day and 30 days a month, almost $3000 bucks is lost. That could be the total salary of the manager. Mangager...yeah right...managing his own bank account...super disgusting.
p.s. of course it is still way easier to steal with a pen than with knife or other arsenal. Knavery is especially prevalent if there is clear informational asymmetry, or there is high motivated seller or buyer. Haiz. We must equipped ourselves with these tools of trade, such that we will be less likely to fall victim to such unethical behaviors.
Today I've witnessed an unhonourable person 'steal' from the cash register. Sadly i did not act against it and allowed my cowardice (or laziness) to rule over.
I paid for $1 pancake right after a lady who bought soyabean milk before me. The stall auntie didn't key in my sale and simply put my $1 into the cash register. At the end of the day, i'm quite sure the difference between the cash balance and receipt sales will form part of her take home pay.
If she steals $2 per hour, on a 8 hour workday 16 dollars will be stolen ($400 a month). Assuming a (honest) salary of 1600, the stolen money will amount to about 25% of her salary. No wonder she's motivated to steal as the probability and severity of being caught is low and reward is high.
I've witness the same thing at a fastfood joint at Raffles City. The MANAGER did not key in my order, and placed my order with their mike system. A tell tale sign of such dishonest act about to happen is that the cashier will NOT CLOSE THE CASH REGISTER COMPELETY after the previous customer leaves, and not issuing receipt.
The first time this happened, i didn't even realise what happened after i got my change. The second time it happened, i demanded a receipt. The manager actually started keying in the order AFTER giving my change and said there's something wrong with the machine. That smooth operator is full of shit, must have done it a billion times.
In this perverse system whereby the police (the customer) has no incentive to act and the thief has LOTS of incentive to act, it is easy for the honour system to break down. Imagine stealing a Whopper meal ($8) every hour. Given a 12 hour work day and 30 days a month, almost $3000 bucks is lost. That could be the total salary of the manager. Mangager...yeah right...managing his own bank account...super disgusting.
p.s. of course it is still way easier to steal with a pen than with knife or other arsenal. Knavery is especially prevalent if there is clear informational asymmetry, or there is high motivated seller or buyer. Haiz. We must equipped ourselves with these tools of trade, such that we will be less likely to fall victim to such unethical behaviors.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Demetri Martin
I think Demetri Martin is brilliant. Way funnier than Dane Cook...dun even know why i'm comparing them. Cook is funny too, but in a more in your face way.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Asia Investment Banking Conference
Jointly organised by London School of Economics and Singapore Management University E.y.E Investment Interactive Club. Click on the poster to find out more!
free advertising for E.y.E organising committee :)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Guide to Sleeping Soundly
Ok, the original name of the article is "David Swensen's Guide to Sleeping Soundly"
It reminded me of the title of Phil Fisher's book - The Conservative Investor Sleeps Well.
Yale Alumni Magazine interviewed its CIO David Swensen in this article. Read it and prosper! Haha. I've ran my parent's portfolio sticking to his principles stated in "Unconventional Success" and in Burton Malkiel's "Random Walk Down Wall Street" for the past 5 years. Of course there are no fantastic returns, i'm simply glad that a noob like me managed to not lose much when others are losing their pants. I'm simply thankful that my parents have the faith in me to manage substaintially their retirement savings. There's no faster way (or high pressured way) to learn than to do the thing itself, to truly care about long term performance and to have to the fortitude to do the right thing over time.
Excerpt from the Yale Interview that i truly enjoyed reading;
Y: Given all the turmoil and uncertainty, what should individual investors do?
S: If an individual investor followed the program I outlined in Unconventional Success, they probably did reasonably well, through the crisis, thus far. They'd have 15 percent of their assets in U.S. Treasury bonds. They'd have another 15 percent in U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities. Those two asset classes have performed well.
Of course, the other 70 percent of assets are in equities, which have not done well. With all assets, I recommend that people invest in index funds because they're transparent, understandable, and low-cost. So, the equity holdings have gone down step-by-step with the declines in the market.
I recommend that investors rebalance.
But I also recommend that investors rebalance. Rebalancing is even more important amidst these huge declines in the stock market because it presents a great opportunity. People can sell the Treasury securities that have appreciated dramatically to bring their allocation to the 15 percent target, and they can redeploy those funds into domestic equities and foreign equities and emerging market equities and real estate investment trusts, all of which are now much cheaper, and therefore have higher prospective returns.
Y: Explain this idea of asset allocation, please.
S: Asset allocation is the tool that you use to determine the risk and return characteristics of your portfolio. It's overwhelmingly important in terms of the results you achieve. In fact, studies show that asset allocation is responsible for more than 100 percent of the positive returns generated by investors.
That's why the most sensible approach is to come up with specific asset allocation targets that you can implement with low-cost, passively managed index funds and rebalance regularly. You'll end up beating the overwhelming majority of participants in the financial markets.
Y: So people should not be afraid of stocks now?
S: Not only should they not be afraid, they should be enthusiastic. One of the great ironies is that if you had talked to the average investor 18 months ago, he or she would have thought it was a pretty good idea to buy stocks. In recent months, the same investors despair about their portfolio and are fearful about putting money into the equity market.
That's 180 degrees wrong. They should have been cautious 18 months ago, when prices were much higher than they are now. They should be enthusiastic today.
LW's comment: In the heart of his investment approach, he's a sound value investor, just that his tools and assets utilised goes beyond stocks and bonds. Price is what you pay, value is what you get!
Y: Unconventional Success delivered a scathing critique of the mutual-fund industry. You rightly pointed out that the vast majority of mutual funds charge high fees, trade too frequently, and under-perform the markets. How did the industry react?
S: I've heard stories of people in the fund management business being irate about the book. That's not surprising. The mutual fund industry is not an investment management industry. It's a marketing industry. And if somebody interferes with your marketing, you're not going to like that. So I was pleased to hear that there were senior people in the industry who were very, very unhappy with me and my book.
LW's comment: Ok, my aim in the future is to irate all those pseudo experts who 'teach' people how to lose money. Those who claim that you can secure your financial future simply by sitting 15min in front of the computer every day. These swindlers and con men sell dreams that destroy futures and families deserve a special place in hell where they can feast on each others rotting waste for eternity.
Take a deep breath, count to 3...calm down.
Read the article and pay some attention to the blue box in the right side of the page. The advise is remarkably similiar to "Random walk down Wall Street" and "When markets collide". Find something that is suitable and sound for you and I think we will get rich eventually.
It reminded me of the title of Phil Fisher's book - The Conservative Investor Sleeps Well.
Yale Alumni Magazine interviewed its CIO David Swensen in this article. Read it and prosper! Haha. I've ran my parent's portfolio sticking to his principles stated in "Unconventional Success" and in Burton Malkiel's "Random Walk Down Wall Street" for the past 5 years. Of course there are no fantastic returns, i'm simply glad that a noob like me managed to not lose much when others are losing their pants. I'm simply thankful that my parents have the faith in me to manage substaintially their retirement savings. There's no faster way (or high pressured way) to learn than to do the thing itself, to truly care about long term performance and to have to the fortitude to do the right thing over time.
Excerpt from the Yale Interview that i truly enjoyed reading;
Y: Given all the turmoil and uncertainty, what should individual investors do?
S: If an individual investor followed the program I outlined in Unconventional Success, they probably did reasonably well, through the crisis, thus far. They'd have 15 percent of their assets in U.S. Treasury bonds. They'd have another 15 percent in U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities. Those two asset classes have performed well.
Of course, the other 70 percent of assets are in equities, which have not done well. With all assets, I recommend that people invest in index funds because they're transparent, understandable, and low-cost. So, the equity holdings have gone down step-by-step with the declines in the market.
I recommend that investors rebalance.
But I also recommend that investors rebalance. Rebalancing is even more important amidst these huge declines in the stock market because it presents a great opportunity. People can sell the Treasury securities that have appreciated dramatically to bring their allocation to the 15 percent target, and they can redeploy those funds into domestic equities and foreign equities and emerging market equities and real estate investment trusts, all of which are now much cheaper, and therefore have higher prospective returns.
Y: Explain this idea of asset allocation, please.
S: Asset allocation is the tool that you use to determine the risk and return characteristics of your portfolio. It's overwhelmingly important in terms of the results you achieve. In fact, studies show that asset allocation is responsible for more than 100 percent of the positive returns generated by investors.
That's why the most sensible approach is to come up with specific asset allocation targets that you can implement with low-cost, passively managed index funds and rebalance regularly. You'll end up beating the overwhelming majority of participants in the financial markets.
Y: So people should not be afraid of stocks now?
S: Not only should they not be afraid, they should be enthusiastic. One of the great ironies is that if you had talked to the average investor 18 months ago, he or she would have thought it was a pretty good idea to buy stocks. In recent months, the same investors despair about their portfolio and are fearful about putting money into the equity market.
That's 180 degrees wrong. They should have been cautious 18 months ago, when prices were much higher than they are now. They should be enthusiastic today.
LW's comment: In the heart of his investment approach, he's a sound value investor, just that his tools and assets utilised goes beyond stocks and bonds. Price is what you pay, value is what you get!
Y: Unconventional Success delivered a scathing critique of the mutual-fund industry. You rightly pointed out that the vast majority of mutual funds charge high fees, trade too frequently, and under-perform the markets. How did the industry react?
S: I've heard stories of people in the fund management business being irate about the book. That's not surprising. The mutual fund industry is not an investment management industry. It's a marketing industry. And if somebody interferes with your marketing, you're not going to like that. So I was pleased to hear that there were senior people in the industry who were very, very unhappy with me and my book.
LW's comment: Ok, my aim in the future is to irate all those pseudo experts who 'teach' people how to lose money. Those who claim that you can secure your financial future simply by sitting 15min in front of the computer every day. These swindlers and con men sell dreams that destroy futures and families deserve a special place in hell where they can feast on each others rotting waste for eternity.
Take a deep breath, count to 3...calm down.
Read the article and pay some attention to the blue box in the right side of the page. The advise is remarkably similiar to "Random walk down Wall Street" and "When markets collide". Find something that is suitable and sound for you and I think we will get rich eventually.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thank you for the music
I LOVE AJALUMNI CHOIR!!!
It's a grand night for singing,
The moon is flying high,
And somewhere a bird
Who is bound he'll be heard,
Is throwing his heart at the sky!
I think we threw our hearts to the audience and they loved it! All the hard work that went into the preperation has paid off. A wonderful experience thanks to every single member who are all committed and passionate.
Singing in choir is addictive, the high you get from creating something amazing and the work that goes into creating that something special keeps you wanting more.
Thanks to Mark that brought the choir to another level. Beyond singing, we are now performing and connecting with the audience. I can hardly imagine the level of 'shagness' he experienced every week to keep the energy level of the choir up, and he did a wonderful job conducting us on D-Day despite all the stress.
We often forget the team that did all the background work to ensure that the people in the spot light can shine. Huge huge thanks to Peiying, Whee Geok, Chee Guan, Nad, Mei Rong, Saffie and all the rest that fret and fuss over scheduling, printing, design and all the 'zap ba lang'stuff that makes a performance possible.
To the best basses in the world (ok, at least my world), Guowei, Joel, CG, and Jing Kang, super awesome to sing with u guys, and i think for many songs the basses sounded like a united super Bass!
Can't wait for Gerald's video recording of the concert. H1N1 begone! Let Gerald out so he can compress and edit the video. haha...
Ajalumni choir is a place where i feel safe and happy. No need to be someone elses version of myself. It would be a sad day when i can no longer sing with the wonderful people.
It's a grand night for singing,
The moon is flying high,
And somewhere a bird
Who is bound he'll be heard,
Is throwing his heart at the sky!
I think we threw our hearts to the audience and they loved it! All the hard work that went into the preperation has paid off. A wonderful experience thanks to every single member who are all committed and passionate.
Singing in choir is addictive, the high you get from creating something amazing and the work that goes into creating that something special keeps you wanting more.
Thanks to Mark that brought the choir to another level. Beyond singing, we are now performing and connecting with the audience. I can hardly imagine the level of 'shagness' he experienced every week to keep the energy level of the choir up, and he did a wonderful job conducting us on D-Day despite all the stress.
We often forget the team that did all the background work to ensure that the people in the spot light can shine. Huge huge thanks to Peiying, Whee Geok, Chee Guan, Nad, Mei Rong, Saffie and all the rest that fret and fuss over scheduling, printing, design and all the 'zap ba lang'stuff that makes a performance possible.
To the best basses in the world (ok, at least my world), Guowei, Joel, CG, and Jing Kang, super awesome to sing with u guys, and i think for many songs the basses sounded like a united super Bass!
Can't wait for Gerald's video recording of the concert. H1N1 begone! Let Gerald out so he can compress and edit the video. haha...
Ajalumni choir is a place where i feel safe and happy. No need to be someone elses version of myself. It would be a sad day when i can no longer sing with the wonderful people.
Mmmm....I think my mom would want Zhengkai, Ryan and Mark to be her son. Vastly more talented and better looking then me. She asked which batch Ryan is from, and after telling her that he's from MY batch, she said something along the line of ' 'wah, one look so young and the other look soo....'' i shall not go into THAT. Haha.
On our performance itself, i must say that i enjoyed our 2 John Rutter songs the most. I was especially surprised by What Sweeter Music. When the girls started singing, it was so pure and innocent, and i simply closed my eyes and enjoyed the Sop-Alto duet. And it was even more surprising (cuz we nv sounded like that) to me when the guys started 'dark and dull night....' We sounded so warm and mellow. The dynamics was natural and the whole choir sound like ONE. Ahh....its like enjoying a molten chocolate cake - warm, smooth, sweet and have you wanting more. I'm definitely an addict.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Pros
Are you a prostitute or are you an auditor?
1. You work very odd hours.
2. You are paid a lot of money to keep your client happy.
3. You are paid well but your pimp gets most of the money.
4. You spend a majority of your time in a hotel room.
5. You charge by the hour but your time can be extended.
6. You are not proud of what you do.
7. Creating fantasies for your clients is rewarded.
8. It's difficult to have a family.
9. You have no job satisfaction.
10. If a client beats you up, the pimp just sends you to another client.
11. You are embarrassed to tell people what you do for a living.
12. People ask you, "What do you do?" and you can't explain it.
13. Your client pays for your hotel room plus your hourly rate.
14. Your client always wants to know how much you charge and what they get for the money.
15. Your pimp drives nice cars like Mercedes or Jaguars.
16. Your pimp encourages drinking and you become addicted to drugs to ease the pain of it all.
17. You know the pimp is charging more than you are worth but if the client is foolish enough to pay it's not your problem.
18. When you leave to go see a client, you look great, but return looking like hell (compare your appearance on Monday AM to Friday PM).
19. You are rated on your "performance" in an excruciating ordeal.
20. Even though you get paid the big bucks, it's the client who walks away smiling.
21. The client always thinks your "cut" of your billing rate is higher than it actually is, and in turn, expects miracles from you.
22. When you deduct your "take" from your billing rate, you constantly wonder if you could get a better deal with another pimp.
23. Your pimp seems to often abuse you, forgetting that without you, he would not have a business.
24. You do all the real work, but the pimp has a higher stigma and more money, and really just has to "coordinate" the work for you. Sometimes, you wonder if you could just make more money pimping out yourself.
25. You get so brainwashed into the lifestyle, that you don't realize that life can be better, until it is too late.
26. Personal time, or a work/life balance, is meaningless to your pimp, all he cares about is satisfying the clients, despite how many times he tells you he loves you.
27. After a few years, you find that all your non-prostitute friends are no longer your friends, because you lost touch and your schedule and lifestyle was difficult to manage, and you find that you associate primarily with other prostitutes.
28. The turnover rate is ridiculously high. Everyone thinks they can do it for a few years, no problem, but after just a few clients railing you, many break under the pressure, or quit for a better life.
29. Most of the time, your job could be performed by a well-trained monkey.
30. You thought college was a waste of time.
1. You work very odd hours.
2. You are paid a lot of money to keep your client happy.
3. You are paid well but your pimp gets most of the money.
4. You spend a majority of your time in a hotel room.
5. You charge by the hour but your time can be extended.
6. You are not proud of what you do.
7. Creating fantasies for your clients is rewarded.
8. It's difficult to have a family.
9. You have no job satisfaction.
10. If a client beats you up, the pimp just sends you to another client.
11. You are embarrassed to tell people what you do for a living.
12. People ask you, "What do you do?" and you can't explain it.
13. Your client pays for your hotel room plus your hourly rate.
14. Your client always wants to know how much you charge and what they get for the money.
15. Your pimp drives nice cars like Mercedes or Jaguars.
16. Your pimp encourages drinking and you become addicted to drugs to ease the pain of it all.
17. You know the pimp is charging more than you are worth but if the client is foolish enough to pay it's not your problem.
18. When you leave to go see a client, you look great, but return looking like hell (compare your appearance on Monday AM to Friday PM).
19. You are rated on your "performance" in an excruciating ordeal.
20. Even though you get paid the big bucks, it's the client who walks away smiling.
21. The client always thinks your "cut" of your billing rate is higher than it actually is, and in turn, expects miracles from you.
22. When you deduct your "take" from your billing rate, you constantly wonder if you could get a better deal with another pimp.
23. Your pimp seems to often abuse you, forgetting that without you, he would not have a business.
24. You do all the real work, but the pimp has a higher stigma and more money, and really just has to "coordinate" the work for you. Sometimes, you wonder if you could just make more money pimping out yourself.
25. You get so brainwashed into the lifestyle, that you don't realize that life can be better, until it is too late.
26. Personal time, or a work/life balance, is meaningless to your pimp, all he cares about is satisfying the clients, despite how many times he tells you he loves you.
27. After a few years, you find that all your non-prostitute friends are no longer your friends, because you lost touch and your schedule and lifestyle was difficult to manage, and you find that you associate primarily with other prostitutes.
28. The turnover rate is ridiculously high. Everyone thinks they can do it for a few years, no problem, but after just a few clients railing you, many break under the pressure, or quit for a better life.
29. Most of the time, your job could be performed by a well-trained monkey.
30. You thought college was a waste of time.
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