Dear readers, it is my pleasure to have with us today Mr Sun You Ning, Co-CEO of Endowus. Endowus is a financial advisory firm that allows individuals to invest their CPF, SRS and cash savings on Endowus’ proprietary platform. Let us get to know more about You Ning and understand his take on investing and all things financial.
Q1: Can you share with us a quick introduction of yourself?
I am an investment geek. I studied Economics & Finance in university, my whole working life has revolved around finance, and my idea of fun is reading an annual report!
Work-wise, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with and learn from some brilliant people. My first job was in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, followed by a stint at Blackstone Private Equity, an equity long-short investing at a US-based hedge fund, then back in Singapore as CIO of a $1bn+ family office. I am currently Co-CEO of Endowus.
Q2: What is your investing approach like? What do you invest in and how did you get started?
I believe in:
1) Starting early so you have time on your side, and you can let compounding work its magic.
2) Keeping costs low as it directly affects your bottom line.
3) Start a regular investment program and have the discipline to stay fully invested regardless of what happens and never let your emotions get the better of you.
4) The power of markets. In the long term, stock market returns are positive.
5) Simplicity. For the average person, it’s almost impossible to beat the market. Get some passive exposure and forget about it.
I started early – My mother has always been an avid investor, back from when people actually had paper stock certificates! Being around that made me naturally curious about the markets.
Q3: What is your portfolio distribution like?
I have 80% of my portfolio in Endowus with a 80% Stock / 20% Bond allocation. This is my Core portfolio, something I believe will safely make me 6-8% per annum over the long run. I have also setup a monthly recurring investment on this account.
20% of my money is in a “fun” portfolio. Because of my training as a financial investor, I still enjoy reading financial statements, investor presentations and research reports. And if you’re doing all that work, you might as well invest!
Q4: Who has inspired you the most in your investing journey?
Warren Buffett. As a stock picker, there’s no one better. As a teacher, there’s no one more open. As a philanthropist, there is no one who has given more.
Having built his fortune picking stocks, it is incredibly telling that he has left instructions to invest his money in index funds after he dies.
Q5: Can you tell us what Endowus is all about? Tell us what you do at Endowus.
I am the co-CEO and CFO of Endowus. Endowus is a Singapore-based digital advisor that wants to keep investing simple and convenient for everyone. Open to accepting cash, SRS, and CPF funds, our proprietary system helps our clients construct investment portfolios based on their risk tolerance, and we provide access to institutional-quality financial products at the lowest cost possible.
Endowus is a fee-only independent advisor paid solely by its clients, allowing our advice to be unaffected by conflicts of interest. We provide an end-to-end digital solution to both individual and institutional investors.
Q6: What do you think about the Singapore and international stocks markets in the next one to two year time frame?
Over the years, I’ve come to realize it’s impossible to predict the direction of the stock market in the near term. But I do know it is going to be a really exciting couple of years, with the world’s largest economies tied up in a Trade War that is likely to continue, the Wuhan virus, and US elections around the corner.
Q7: What is your advice for the average Singaporean who wants to become Financially Independent Retire Early (“FIRE).
Save, invest and spend well. And don’t forget your CPF!
You need to save well to ensure that you have a comfortable egg nest to retire on.
You need to invest well to grow that nest egg so that you can retire earlier.
You need to spend carefully as retirement sufficiency is driven as much by what you have as it is what you spend.
Be serious about your CPF — 37% of our income goes into our CPF, and learning how to leverage it can make a significant difference in your wealth accumulation.
Q8: Why should we invest our CPF?
For most people, ⅓ of our income goes into our CPF. If you can optimize that, you’ve taken a huge step towards a better retirement.
CPF is a program where you make monthly contributions from your early 20s until your retirement in your 60s. The regularity of contributions is perfect for a regular savings plan which allows you to invest through the cycle, and the super long 40+ year duration allows you to ride through multiple economic cycles. There is no time period in history where buying and holding the MSCI World for at least 15 years, would have returned less than 2.5% per annum. You should quite literally set up a recurring investment and forget about it!
It’s also a great diversifier as most of us have a high concentration of Singapore in both our investments and income – Endowus portfolios literally hold thousands of securities.
Q9: What’s great about Endowus?
We provide institutional quality investment portfolios and advice at the lowest costs in the industry. More importantly, we are the first and only digital advisor for CPF monies, which means we are the only place that Singaporeans can holistically manage their Cash + SRS + CPF.
Q10: What are the three things that matter most to you and why?
My family. There’s nothing more important. They are the people that love you unconditionally and will do anything for you.
Always doing the right thing, it’s essential to sleeping well at night.
Endowus. We’ve put our blood, sweat and tears into it. We’re trying to help people, one investment plan at a time.
Q11: Last but not least, any other things to say to readers of SG Stocks Investing?
If you haven’t started already, there’s no time better than today, using your ang pow money, and doing with Endowus. If you’re already invested, stay disciplined and stick to the plan.
SG Stocks Investing would like to Thank You Ning for his time here and you the readers for tuning in! Stay tuned to SG Stocks Investing for more upcoming interviews and new features!