Atypical routes to finance and why diversity matters

Nga Pham, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University and a volunteer of the CFA Society Melbourne, sat down with Senior Investment Analyst, to discuss his pathway to a career in investment management.

Nga:
Thanks for joining me today to talk about your career. Shall we start with a bit of a background?

Anonymous:
I completed my Bachelor of Pharmacy at Monash University. I come from a family background of healthcare professionals and didn’t have much exposure to any other career. Apples don’t fall too far from the tree, and so while I considered and got accepted into a degree in finance, I redirected back to the healthcare sector. In general, the healthcare industry is a great one, but it can also be very repetitive as well as process and checklist-driven. While it has to be that way for public safety, if you are more of an entrepreneurial person, you would find it boring after a while.

Nga:
So given your entrepreneurial mindset, why did you want to pursue a financial career instead of running your own business?

Anonymous:
I went into pharmacy ownership. First, I just wanted to operate my business. Yet when I got into it, I realised what made me tick was the numbers, the forecasting, the analysis, and the financial statement, and it wasn’t so much the day-to-day operations.

Nga:
Interesting! How many years had you been running your pharmacy before you realised that you wanted to change?

Anonymous:
I registered as a pharmacist in 2008 and transitioned into finance in 2017. So almost ten years.

Nga:
Was there a trigger point for the change? I know that the thinking must have been built up along the whole journey, but at the decision point was there anything special that you can recall?

Anonymous:
I would not say that there was any defining moment. Instead, it was more like an accumulation of a lot of small events. I started investing in stocks in my first year of university. I was always into value investing and devoured as many books as I could in that sort of space – you know, Benjamin Graham, Charlie Munger and so on, not only on investment philosophy but also the way of life. I also enjoy playing poker – understanding the asymmetric risk and reward payoffs. It was a pretty long period of reflection and introspection about what would still keep me going in twenty to thirty years.

Nga:
When you decided to switch career, did you face any resistance from any nay-sayers, especially from a family with a background in healthcare?

Anonymous:
There was certainly a lot of internal resistance from myself at first. From a position of comfort, I was going into the unknown and taking risks. There was also some pushback from my family. I sat on it for about twelve months and assessed all the pros and cons. I also had lots of coffee catch-ups! I wanted to go into a career in equity investment and fund management, and to see if my perception matched reality. I reached out to as many people as I could, via LinkedIn and my personal networks, to analysts and fund managers of different sizes to learn about the industry, and specifically about their day-to-day. I worked back with the end in mind, forecasting and backcasting the steps I would need to reach that destination. I created a blueprint, a very loose blueprint, about how to get there.

Nga:
Coming from a totally different industry, how did you build your network in the financial industry so quickly?

Anonymous:
I used LinkedIn extensively. A lot of it was cold emailing – I asked people for twenty minutes of their time as I was interested in learning more about the industry, the role, and if they would be willing to share their insight or advice. I started looking for people who came from a non-traditional path, akin to the path I was going to take. From there I asked for an introduction to another person, and it just developed from there. I think for every ten people I reached out to, I managed to meet three.

Nga:
So, how did you land your first job in finance?

Anonymous:
Through the MBA alumni network, I got to know a person working in investments who also came from a non-traditional pathway. We caught up a few times, and then the opportunity arrived.

Nga:
Would you agree that your healthcare background was your advantage in landing your first finance job?

Anonymous:
Yes. Not many people have knowledge or experience of the healthcare sector and can speak the language of finance. So, it was the blend of those two skill sets that meant I earned a pretty reasonable position.

Nga:
At what stage did the CFA Program come into your consideration?

Anonymous:
I started studying for my MBA, and three or four months into the program, I met a person in the industry who is a doctor. He said to me, “have you heard of the thing called the CFA?” He was already working as a fund manager, and he said, “You should look into it. I think you would enjoy it.” So I did exactly that, and funny enough, I did my Level 1 and 2 when I was still doing my MBA. It’s probably not recommended! What attracted me to it was its practical application. I wanted it for my professional development. Given the amount of time and discipline it requires to complete, it would be not only personally rewarding but also a signal to potential employers that you are a highly motivated and determined person.

Nga:
When did you sit your exams?

Anonymous:
It was around 2018 that I did Level 1.

Nga:
So, at that time, you had moved to the financial industry, right? You already landed in a position, and you just wanted to improve your background.

Anonymous:
At that time I was already a sell-side equity analyst. I was interested in the CFA curriculum’s practical application as it was very much reflective of what I was doing daily. The CFA Program helped me to come up the curve faster.

Nga:
Do you have any advice for those who want to switch their career to finance?

Anonymous:
My first piece of advice is to reach out to as many people who have taken the path similar to what you want to take, ask as many questions as you can, try to understand the negatives and positives of the role, what the role entails, understand if the reality meets your perception. Then focus simultaneously on building your relationship and networks and enhancing your technical knowledge and skill sets. And be patient!

Nga:
Your story is very inspiring. Thank you for your time!

By: Nga Pham, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University and CFA Society Sydney committee member

Date: 5 December 2022