My first taste of finance was in Hong Kong, where I grew up. The most successful people were bankers and traders. They had the money for fancy clubs, designer clothes, and swanky apartments. They all spoke with cool confidence, too.
Meanwhile, I was teaching SAT prep, taking the bus everywhere, and drinking beers from 7-11 on the street. The experience taught me that people who know how to work with money can have a better life. I promised myself that I would build a career on Wall Street.
Through academics, I made my way to a good college. Then I moved to NYC, took a temp job, and spent hours in the evenings studying finance. With some networking, I landed a position in equity research at BMO.
Making money lost its meaning
Intellectually demanding, fast-paced, financial rewards—on the surface, Wall Street seemed like the ideal career. However, the more time I spent at BMO, the more I wondered if this was my purpose.
We worked days and nights to create ideas for hedge funds like Citadel. I loved the investing process. However, I realized all this brainpower was used to make money for a few wealthy funds. I lost motivation over the years as I felt like I was making money for an institution.
I realized I wanted to do something with more of a direct impact.
I left to start a new finance business
I started this business for three main reasons:
First, I wanted to share what I learned
I realized that investors on Wall Street have a way to pick stocks that are completely different from what is taught to individual investors. It annoyed me that much of what I learned from finance books and formal study turned out to be useless.
Second, I wanted to deepen my understanding of investing.
I took an entire year to reflect and write on my equity research experience.
I wanted to define the frameworks and processes we used on Wall Street to pick stocks. That turned into a book.
Third, I wanted to create something new.
Wall Street makes money by providing services to institutions. I didn’t fit in that kind of corporate environment. Most of my ideas were blocked by things like management, budgets, or headcount.
I thought if I combine investing with teaching, then I can make a business that makes money by helping individuals make money in stocks.
That turned into a course.
Why I left Wall Street
| I’m often asked by customers why I left Wall Street to teach individual investors. I respond by saying that I’m bringing Wall Street to individual investors!! Henry P.S. I hope you’ll join me in my FREE training series to kick off the course! |
