William Pang
William Pang
Like any market savvy student in my university, I was allured by the world of investments. So when ING IM gave me an offer, it was like a dream come true. Not only because I am able to do something I love, I am privileged do it as a career in a truly Dutch global asset management.
Joining ING IM fresh out of university can be an overwhelming experience and it hard to know what different job functions within the organization entail; so for me, the ING IM traineeship was the ideal way to orientate and find out what field I want to specialize in. You get to spend 3 rotations of 6 months each in a different investment team – what this means is you have the chance to learn about an specific investment area in depth and then rotate into a new one. Each rotation adds to your skills and your expertise. Upon the completion of my rotations, I had a clear idea where my interests lie: Equities Investments.
My first position after the rotation program was as an Investment Analyst in the Global Emerging markets equity team. I was given a list of stocks and had to work out whether they were ‘buys’ or ‘sells’. If I felt a certain stock would outperform – perhaps due to a successful new product, or the failure of a competitor – then I’d inform our Portfolio Managers.
As an analyst, I have learned the essential skills of equity research: balance sheet analysis, company valuation, macro analysis and risk management. I’ve travelled to 22 emerging markets including China, Nigeria, South Africa and Saudi Arabia to visit factories, ports and banks and meet with CEO/CFO to discuss the outlook on their business and industry.
After 3 years as an analyst, I was given the opportunity to relocate to our Hong Kong office to co-manage the Asian equity fund. Day-to-day I monitor my holdings, talk to analysts about new stocks, keep an eye on world news, analyze profit announcements, meet with CEOs, and generally aim to come up with and refine new investment ideas.
Looking back the last 5 years, working at ING IM has been all I could hope for; the culture is friendly and my colleagues here, some of the smartest I have ever met, are more than willing to help and share their experience. I am also assigned a HR manager who has given me a lot of guidance along the way. It is really the whole package that makes this place so conducive to start a career in asset management.
ING IM actively encourages you to have a healthy work/life balance and make sure you take your holiday entitlement. They invest in you, to enhance your investment and analytical skills. The focus is not on your next position or assignment but on your long-term career within ING IM.
