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WITH one-and-a-half years of stock analyst experience, Shirley Wong considers herself a relative newcomer to the industry. But she still came in second overall on StarMine's ranking of Singapore's stock pickers, and was No 1 among those covering real estate stocks.
Beating her industry benchmark by 11.5 per cent, Ms Wong chalks her win down to 'rigorous analyses and guidance from senior analysts', and benefiting from their experience and perspective.
'As an analyst, you always have to try to find new ideas and new ways to add value. Because there's a lot of existing coverage, especially for the major stocks, you always have to find new perspectives.'
Ms Wong holds a Masters degree in engineering. Her first exposure to the finance industry was a stint at Macquarie Securities.
After that, she says, she was 'blessed with an opportunity at UOB Kay Hian', before joining Credit Suisse as an analyst in 2007.
StarMine highlighted her 'underperform' call on Saizen Reit and 'underweight' recommendation on CapitaCommercial Trust last year as particularly profitable.
Ms Wong explains that real estate investment trusts (Reits) had been more affected by the credit crisis than most sectors. 'The Reits had been riding on acquisitive growth before that and to sustain that growth, you need fresh equity. On top of that, the property cycle seemed to be turning then, and the Reits had substantial existing debt to be refinanced,' she says.
Credit Suisse was one of the first houses to call for a sell. But, Ms Wong says, making that call was not actually the most difficult part. 'It was harder to convince investors why we think the Reits were worth less than a dollar then, than underweighting the sector, as Reits had never experienced a bear market before, so historical reference was not possible. As a result, there were some initial resistance from investors.'
Ms Wong is no longer with Credit Suisse, but intends to remain in this industry as she likes its challenging nature and the fact that there are continually new things to pick up.
'It can be more challenging when things are going down, but it could also be a lot more rewarding. You're given more opportunities to prove yourself, and also be appreciated for what you do,' she says.
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