Why I Quit My Dream Job As An Investment Analyst

Many years ago, while my batchmates were cheering about being almost done with their National Service (NS), I was filled with a different sort of excitement. I was bursting at the seams with happiness!

It started out just like any other day. Drills, marching, exercise, all the usual things we had to do as soldiers-in-training.

Then suddenly, a message popped in and my dream job just landed straight into my lap. Before that, I had only dreamed of it, fantasised of it, but right at that very moment – it was just within my reach!

I was ECSTATIC. In that moment, I felt that my life was set – that the world could not be more perfect.

The “Dream” Job

Even though I had secured a prestigious government scholarship for my upcoming university life, I decided to give it all up. I was so sure that if I could just have that job, nothing could ever be better.

And what is this job, you ask?

It was to be an investment analyst in an investment fund that was managing over 8 figures.

I know, not exactly the most glamorous company or job ever – but hey, we can’t all start out in Fortune 500 companies and live the high life! I was completely content to learn, grow, and continually hone my skills.

Back then, I was also the youngest to join the team – there was always so much that needed to be learnt, and I had lots of work to catch up with!

Of course, I will not say that the job did not come with its own set of struggles though. The first few months were challenging.

I was continuously working late into the night, attending management calls with listed companies or researching companies that were running on a different time zone. Most of the time,  my sleep cycle was completely inverted, and  sometimes I woke up feeling slightly confused about the time.

even though it was challenging, I was enjoying every moment of it. I felt like I was learning something new every day.

Slowly but surely, I developed my capabilities well under the training provided by my Chief Investment Officer.

And as I got better at what I did, I was eventually entrusted with managing close to ⅓ of the fund (which is a high-7 figures!)

At the beginning, I got excited when I started seeing significant returns on my investments.

10%. 20%. 30%. I’d never even seen so much returns before in my life. I felt starry-eyed to think that I had been the one who accomplished this. My friends and I celebrated as I soaked in the joy of my achievements.

And it went on. I began to achieve those returns consistently, month after month. My boss congratulated me, and my friends cheered me on… but if anything, I began to feel numb. In my head, the same thing echoed over and over – “what’s next?”

But yet at the same time, there would be a second voice fighting back. “This was my dream job! I had a stable income! I even had a permanent contract…man, I shouldn’t have the right to complain and should be thankful instead.”

And with that, I would go back to my computer. Research, buy, sell, next. Repeat. Again, again and again.

Then one fateful night, while I was staring at the screen, looking once again at the returns that I’ve generated for the fund, this question came into my mind:

“Is this really all I can do?”

While I was generating great results for the fund, my soul felt empty. Day after day, it was just numbers, numbers and more numbers. And every day, the numbers meant less and less to me. I felt frustrated, and even a little trapped. Life could not just be about seeing digits moving up or down in a Profit and Loss statement. It had to be more. There must be more to it, more I can do.

And with that, I became obsessed. I wanted to do something that would make an impact on society, but what? What would people need? I began listing, searching and digging up ideas on how I could use my skills to do more for others. The whole time, a quiet fear had been welling within me. “What could I even do for others?”.

But I knew what I had to do first.

That morning, I fidgeted all the way while walking up to my boss, and with a deep breath, submitted my resignation letter. In that instance, it felt like time stopped for a moment as the room became very still. Everyone, even my boss, was thoroughly shocked as they never expected me to quit.

And it was a truly terrifying leap of faith for me. I barely left with anything – only my diploma and my investing skill sets.

But deep within me, I know that it was a decision I had to make. I needed to find myself first. Was it a reckless or brave move? I had no idea too. All I knew was that I wanted to throw myself back to the wilderness to rediscover my true passion.

A New Journey

The first few days of being unemployed felt liberating. I could visit the supermarkets at off-peak hours. I could exercise in the morning. There was no schedule to follow. I did not have to wake up to any alarms. This time-freedom was a luxury that I could afford because I had a healthy investment portfolio and kept a low expense lifestyle over the years as well.

I even took the opportunity to finally travel around the Asia-Pacific region during this period of self-discovery.

But over time, I came to notice something. It didn’t matter where I went…Every day without fail, the early mornings, the lunch hour and the evenings were filled with people rushing. If you’d just taken a moment to fumble for your train card, the lines would divert, and people would rush off into the platforms. There, they would proceed to alternate between staring anxiously at the tracks, and scrolling through their phones at breakneck speed, willing the trains to just come a little bit faster so that they could reach their destination ASAP.

I related so well to that, because just a few weeks agoI had been doing exactly the same thing. Rushing through my life to work, and then cramming myself with hundreds of other people, just so I could have a little bit more time.

And that was when it hit me. This crazy, but painfully obvious answer, that made me wonder how I never saw it in the first place.

“What if I could help others reclaim their time?”

You see, while helping people reclaim their time may sound almost impossible, I came to realise one thing.

I had been able to take time back for myself because I had the investing portfolio I created for myself over the years. And this is something that I am good at, through the experiences I’ve gained in my years of work.

Now that I am no longer weighed down by the shackles of debt and fear of having no money, I can finally pursue my own dreams – the dream of being able to give back to society and helping others have more time with their loved ones.

I want more people to experience what I am enjoying. 

No schedule to follow, no more waking up to alarm clocks. Just being able to pursue their passion in life.

The Long Road

Of course, I couldn’t do it alone though. There were alot of people who doubted this idea in the beginning. I did get very skeptical and negative comments, but I knew that I had to surround myself with the right people. I needed a group of like-minded individuals to work together with me so that we could develop a simple, yet sustainable method of investing that even the layman could understand.

So I reached out to my  investor friends, and we formed a small team to design an improved investing framework made out of growth companies.

But, when we first shared it with some of our friends, many of them had (understandably) horrified expressions.

“Growth companies? Isn’t that risky?”

“US market? No thanks, that’s too volatile for me”

“Loss-making companies? You must be nuts.”

Despite that, we were unwilling to give up. We continued refining, tweaking and improving our process while teaching our friends how they could actually take advantage of these misunderstood companies to earn the money that would help them break away from the rat race.

Eventually, we created our own Masterclass called Growth Investing Mastery (GIM) and conducted our first class. Then our second. Soon, we had our very own community of investors, and all of us continue to report higher portfolio returns every year with our group research.

And today, I see many portfolios reporting 30 – 50% or in some cases, our members obtaining multi-baggers. I no longer feel numb.

I feel a huge sense of pride because I know that each time someone joins us, we are able to help them reclaim their own time back. 

And that makes me want to work harder every day for them.

With that, I feel grateful for everyone whom I’ve met in this journey and I continue to meet more great people in my life!

In closing, here are my takeaways for you:

• Learn how to invest because it gives you the option to pursue your interests in life.
• Don’t live life with regrets. Listen to your heart because your heart knows what you want.
• Always surround yourself with good people who have good intentions for you. 
• Trust in the process and keep believing in yourself. 

P.S. Want to learn more about our GIM Masterclass? Click here to find out more!