Why I quit private banking.

I could still remember the meeting with my Country Head vividly:

“ChiMan, you did well this year, but due to the fine being imposed on our bank, your bonus has to be significantly reduced.” I walked out of the room wondering if that was still the right path for me.

As a Hong-Konger who graduated with a double major in Economics and Management Science, I jumped on the banking bandwagon as soon as I could. Graduate, get a job in banking and quickly jump to private banking. Live. Die. Repeat.

If I had bet on myself back then, I would have hit the royal flush on the flop. I started in a well-known overseas bank as a trainee (they paid me to undergo training) and I hustled my way up to start the first International Relationship Management Department of another major local bank. Very soon, I collected more trophies than my cabinet could fit and subsequently a private bank headhunted me.

I was the top dog in all those banks I worked for, got remunerated well, made some great friends and learned a great deal. I travelled extensively, was chauffeured everywhere, met some of the top CEOs, started my own family and have 2 lovely kids now.

Did I enjoy what I was doing?

Well, I love managing wealth. But soon I realised that in banking, it was the bank versus my clients, I felt I was “compelled” to sell certain products in order to meet my sales revenue target. At some point, I was telling myself, “this is just temporary, next quarter I can come up with another solution to create a win-win situation for the bank and my clients.” Very soon, this became a routine, I could not serve my clients, whom I have a close affinity with adequately. I then knew deep inside my heart that only one party could emerge as a winner in those situations, either me or my client.

Epiphany number 1 – There is no such thing as serving the client and the bank well at the same time.

Was it my calling?

The motivation to become the “Wolf of Wall Street” no longer existed. I hated the endless meetings, office politics, bureaucracy and most importantly, the need to push for certain products that the bank wanted me to push even though it did not suit my clients’ needs. I wanted to do something more meaningful; something tangible; something that can change people’s lives; something that has a substantial impact.

Epiphany number 2 – It’s like running on a treadmill going nowhere and the sales revenue target doesn’t get lower. Money was great (I must admit) but I didn’t feel like I’m providing for the clients I really care about.

Whom did I want to be? – the client or the banker?

“Don’t go into banking, go and start your own company.”

That was back in 2008 when I just graduated and Lehmann Brothers was making headlines across the world. My cousin, who is also in banking, gave me this advice. His logic – whom do you think is a richer guy? The private banker or the client (the one who hires the private banker)?

As an ambitious fresh graduate, that didn’t make sense to me. Everyone around me wanted to be a banker so we could look cool when we handed out our name cards in the clubs.

A couple of years later, I met someone who was running a family office and he was negotiating on behalf of his clients with the private bank I was in. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, I realised I could be that guy too. It then struck me that I could be doing something I truly enjoy and still make good money.

Epiphany number 3 – I could be the guy sitting across the table negotiating with the banks on behalf of my clients

Enlightened by these three epiphanies, I decided to quit private banking to start my own EAM (External Asset Management) and hence, I founded Raffles Family Office.

The EAM concept is simple: a stand-alone company that is independent of banks. This “outsider” notion is fundamental because it gives EAMs the advantage of having aligned interest with their clients.

I often get calls from friends and ex-colleagues who are still with a bank, asking me how I summoned the courage to leave “banking”. I didn’t leave banking per se, I merely switched roles. On hindsight, this was how I went about it and what I was thinking.

1.  Get out because I couldn’t handle it or get out because I could do even better

I had a plan, I knew clearly that it was because I had a grander plan to be able to manage my clients’ wealth better, to provide more comprehensive and customised wealth management solutions to my clients. I went with my heart.

2.  Remunerated in accordance to my performance or in accordance to the banks’ parameters

Although I didn’t have to take this risk because I could pretty much “hide under the radar” once I hit my quarterly target at the end of the first month and chill out in the swanky office for next two months.

Having said that, I knew I would be making much more as an EAM, being remunerated in accordance to my performance and by not the banks’ parameters or performance.

3.  Ignore the naysayers

When I quit my well-paid private banking job, people thought I was crazy. Multiple people called me up to give me unsolicited advice. In the end, it came down to just completely ignoring most people. By ignoring, I did not completely shut people off. I listened to them, you never know when someone is going to give you a piece of valuable advice. Absorb the important information, ignore the rest and stick to my guns.

It has been two years since I left the private bank to start my own EAM and family office, and I’ve been ticking things off my bucket list – going on more vacations, doing crazy things (btw, that's me skydiving in Queenstown, NZ in 2016), volunteering and spending more time with my family. Most importantly, I can better serve my clients with other services which my clients require but are unavailable in a bank (think: multiple private banking platforms; true needs-based selling; independent family trust; residency planning etc.) I can truly say I can deliver a better, more holistic and comprehensive service to my clients. And now I know both clients and I can emerge as winners.

Leave me your thoughts below.