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The week of 18 August– 24 August 2016
Volume 28 Number 01
Career Fairs & Offices
What defines
i
Capital ?
What defines Capital
Dynamics and the people
who work there ? Even as
we face global competition,
we dream practical
dreams. We recognise
our limited resources, yet
we follow what our heart
is thinking. I was quietly
dreaming about going
global even in the early
1990s.
Managing a startup
MNC is akin to flying a
plane while building it.
We cannot wait for all the
parts to be ready before
we embark on our global
journey. The harsh reality
is that the headwinds
facing us are far greater
than a tech startup like
Google, Facebook, Airbnb,
etc. The tech startups do
not need a licence from
the local regulator when
they enter a new market.
When Fidelity, Templeton
or Aberdeen expanded
globally decades ago,
there were few compliance
regulations to comply with,
no laws on anti-money
laundering, countering
financing of terrorism, and
no competitor from Asia.
Now, as an investment
firm, we are all burdened
by regulations and
regulations whichever
country we go to. I often
scratched my head
wondering how to compete
with the established
global giants. This is
not counting the severe
shortage of global talents
in Malaysia. There was no
good investment library in
Malaysia, so we build our
very own.
Capital Dynamics
could not expand outside
Malaysia until capital
control was lifted in
late 2005. In 2006, I
immediately set up our
offices in Singapore,
followed by Sydney, Hong
Kong and Shanghai.
The challenges along
the way were endless,
heart breaking and soul
searching. I have not built
a global company before
and I do not have a mentor
to ask. Like what Deng
Xiaoping did, we crossed
the river by feeling each
stone. With focus, hard
work, integrity, commitment
and dogged determination
as our stones, we feel our
way around and did not
give up. What the heck.
Life is short.
Thinking outside the
box is not good enough.
I throw away the boxes.
Ask yourself, how can
a company with a small
workforce organise the
Investor Day, an event
where thousands of
people attend ? How
did Capital Dynamics
become the first Asian
fund manager to obtain
the Australian Financial
Services Licence ? And at
the tender age of 59, I had
to pass the Hong Kong
exams to get our retail
Type 9.
What defines Capital
Dynamics is the quality
of our human capital.
Knowing the importance
of hiring global talents,
we broadened our
recruitment efforts to the
top universities. Harvard,
Stanford, MIT, Carnegie
Mellon, NYU, Oxbridge,
Imperial, IIT, Fudan, and
more became our hiring
routine. Looking back, we
were naively courageous
to take part in career fairs
where no Malaysian firm
has ever been before.
At Caltech’s career
fair, our table was situated
right behind Facebook’s.
How charming. Google,
NASA, etc. made it
impossible for us to “sell”
Kuala Lumpur – most
students do not even know
where Malaysia is. I had
to travel with heavy bags,
buntings and stay in a
California motel without
a lift. With limited budget
and staff, my assistant and
I had to tackle everything
from booking flights and
hotels, setting up booths,
talking to the students,
conducting interviews,
taking photographs,
rushing for flights while
at the same time making
research company visits.
Jet lag ? There was just
no time for jet lag.
11 years later, our
global journey has just
begun. To say that we
are walking the Antarctica
every day is a good way to
describe the experience.
With no GPS, no maps,
we have to build our own
paths and create our
own destiny in uncharted
waters. Crazy ?
At
i
Capital and Capital
Dynamics, we are defined
by global standards. It
is not just what we do,
it is also how we do it.
Hard work, heart work,
focus, commitment,
determination, conviction
and integrity.
Teng Boo’s hectic schedule, attending career fairs
and company research visits
Recruiting at Harvard University
Fighting with Giants like Facebook for global talents
at Caltech
Capital Dynamics – the EYE of investors
Capital Dynamics’s huge investment library
The student committee of the MIT Asian Career Fair
Teng Boo shared his vision with MIT students
Hiring of global talents is important to Teng Boo
Capital Dyna
Capital Dyna
when capital c
Our Kuala Lu
Capital Dyna
A
| Market Opinion
Our Global Journey
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Capital Dynamics Sdn Bhd