He continued: “The whole two-year period that fuses all the exposure from multiple nations into the MBA program was the best time in my life. Curriculum from UK, tutors in Malaysia, and work life in Singapore. I enjoyed the diversification, commonwealth culture and business environments all in a package. I attended the graduation ceremony in Sunderland in November 2017 and made a few friends there.” 

In March 2020 Kok Suan was made redundant from his engineering job and took this opportunity to start a home-based hedge fund for family members and friends. 

He started the fund in July 2020 and made 8% growth within a quarter.  

“I am thrilled that it prudently generated value better than the initial expectation, which just to beat interest and inflation,” he said. 

“Hedge funds generate income through holdings of long and short positions in alternative investment vehicles. To conventional asset managers, hedge funds may be deemed quite risky because they deal with uncertainty. Hedge funds normally carry the size of assets above 10 million dollars, but mine is not opened to the public, so its size is much smaller. I am working from home now. The day-to-day activities will be to monitor the market, assess the portfolio's risk and adjust accordingly,” he added.  

Kok Suan advice to current students on how to get a foot on the career ladder is to “follow the feelings”.  

He advised: “I am in my mid-career and I still need a lot of advice from people. However, with what I have experienced, I would like to say that it is very important to follow the feelings. If you feel pain, do something about it. Do something with your natural drives, ambition, empathy, grief, love etc. Do not supress it.”

Kok Suan’s plans include continuing to grow the family fund on a sustainable path to deliver value for the participants.