Lunch with Yin-Man, Investment Strategist

It was a privilege to have lunch with Yin-Man Tang, CFO of a HK listed company. Grew up in a fishing village in Hong Kong and later in the UK, he has gone on to become an investment strategist — ranked number 1 Best Performing Portfolio Manager in the UK in 1997–8, investing for one of the largest hedge funds in the world, and later for Lord Jacob Rothschild. He attributes his career to a few things — meritocracy, humility and luck, as he humbly puts it:

“Being in the right place at the right time matters. A lot of it has to do with luck. Having said that, always give it 101% as a minimum. At the end of the day, you have to be able to live with yourself.”

If you google the name Yin-Man Tang, there is very limited information you can find. Yet today he has generously shared with us many interesting stories, from interviewing with Lord Jacob Rothschild to playing poker with a Chinese Internet pioneer.

We took the chance to pick his brains on practically anything:

What career advice would you give us?

“You have time on your side, and you may have time for two more career mistakes in your life. Choose it wisely.”

How do you see failure?

“I like losing. Not in the sense that I like losing itself, but I like losing as it’ll be the learning ground and basis for your next attempt. You know how much better you have to be.”

What is your life like as an investment manager?

“It’s very fast-paced. Back in my hedge fund days, I was known for sleeping very little. I only slept for 2 hours a day, and was running on adrenaline of managing billions of dollars.”

After asking Yin-Man on how to become a successful trader, our Student Ambassador Chee Kuan shared his thoughts, “as a student, it enlightened me when Yin-Man said that discipline is the key to be a successful trader, all the while I thought trading methodologies was what matters. After digesting what Yin-Man said, a disciplined trader trades with a plan, from the entry price to exit price and determining cut loss price. His belief can also apply to my life as a student, to be disciplined to plan ahead of what I want to do and what I love to do.”

For those interested in finance, he recommended the book ‘Accounting for Growth’, which introduced him the skills in reading and analysing financial statements in the beginning of his career.

With the general theme of being at the right place at the right time, Yin-Man has also generously shared with us his views on the economic outlook and offered to share with the volunteers his last newsletter.

Thank you Yin-Man for donating your precious Saturday afternoon to Time Auction Hong Kong, and shared such insightful and inspiring life lessons with us! The lunch has indirectly contributed 55 volunteer hours to HandsOn Hong Kong, Crossroads Foundation, Junior Achievements, UNICEF and more.

See testimonials from the volunteers:

Louisa Zhang:

“I had a fantastic time listening to Yin-Man’s life stories over some Shanghai delicacies. The lunch setting was very relaxing and encouraged an open dialogue and thoughts-sharing instead of the formal Q&A that I’m used to in many of similar meet ups. Yin-Man was very inspiring and at the same time, keen to learn about each of us, and thereby giving us insightful anecdotes that applies specifically to what we are going through in our careers and lives. My main takeaway was that there is no fixed path to success in whatever we do, whether it’s finance, entrepreneurship or creatives, the key is to keep an open mind and maintain self-awareness and build conviction to pursue the opportunities that are presented to us every single day. Thank you Time Auction for the mind and tummy-fulfilling lunch, and looking forward to doing it again.”

Johnny Tang:

“My 5 biggest takeaways from Yin-Man:

Being “lucky” is the reason to succeed, but believing in what you do and do it your best is the way to get “lucky”.

Work extremely hard for what you want or you will regret at the end of your life.

Don’t let other tell you what to do; do what you really love.

Do your best and the opportunity will knock your door.

If you don’t believe in what you do or yourself wholeheartedly, no one will.”

Charles Lee:

“Sincere thanks to Yin-Man for his inspirational sharing. The story of his career was full of interesting elements and has enlightened me to stay passionate and be open to opportunities.”

Vivianna Li:

“Thanks to Time Auction, I never expected to have such a great experience when I was searching for volunteering on Hands On Hong Kong. Thank you to Yin-Man for his great sharing and inspiring life lessons. I can’t believe he reads The Daily Mail too!”

Jonathan Cai:

“It was truly a humbling and eye opening experience to have met Yin-Man Tang, renowned Investment Strategist and current CFO of HK listed company through Time Auction. We met over lunch, where Yin-Man shared both his life experiences and personal anecdotes while providing invaluable career advice. He took us through his career from working at one of the largest hedge-funds in the world, to working for Lord Jacob Rothschild to his current role while reminding us that humility and hard-work gets you where you need to be.

My biggest takeaways:

1) You get to make 3 mistakes throughout your career and that they get increasingly costly; learn from each one and make them count for something

2) This world IS meritocratic — your attitude, hard work and ability to produce results count for much more than the superficial

3) Life is MUCH better on the buy-side!

My biggest regret:

That lunch was too short! I definitely walked away much wiser but wishing I had that much more time to learn from Yin-Man.”

For more auctions, visit Time Auction Hong Kong, a platform that connects you with inspiring mentors while encouraging volunteerism.

By Mah Chee Kuan, HKU Time Auction Ambassador and Fion Leung, Co-founder of Time Auction Hong Kong