Meet the Members of the House of Mulans
Latest update was made on 24 May 2024.
CHAN Yong
Research
Based in Singapore
Joined Star Magnolia Capital in 2023
Singaporean
What do you do at Star Magnolia Capital?
I spend most of my time working on investment research and sourcing. Meeting investment managers and conducting due diligence on them is my bread and butter.
What did you do before joining Star Magnolia Capital?
I managed my family’s investment activities and worked for a contemporary Chinese art collector in Singapore. During that time I honed my investment skills from scratch, as I developed an understanding of what type of fund managers or asset classes were suitable for the family’s needs and also which ones to avoid. The investment process also granted me valuable first-hand experience in managing due diligence. Previously, I worked at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, and focused on anchoring key financial institutions in Singapore – facilitating job growth for Singaporeans in the process. That experience gave me a deep understanding of Singapore’s global status as a competitive financial and wealth hub and seeded my curiosity in investing as I simply asked myself “Where is all this wealth going?”.
What is the Most Important Life Lesson from Your Parents?
My parents taught me to always take care of the downside first and generally have low expectations especially when things appear optimistic as the world is more complex than you think. Against this backdrop, they emphasized that the appropriate response was to put in your best effort in any endeavor to cultivate your mind and spirit to be ready to seize big opportunities when they eventually present themselves. Their lives embodied the lesson “Luck favors the prepared mind.”
What is Your Passion Outside of Work and Family?
I love reading history on a variety of subjects – ideas, countries, politics, society, technology, and investing. Apart from satisfying my curiosity, reading history has given me tremendous appreciation for many things in life that I previously took for granted and allowed me to learn from the successes and mistakes of others.
Charlie CHAN
Operations
Based in Hong Kong
Joined Star Magnolia Capital in 2015
Hongkonger
What do you do at Star Magnolia Capital?
I oversee all operational projects to ensure the sustainability, stability, and growth of Star Magnolia's investments and business. I believe that smoothly running operations provide significant relief and confidence for our research team, allowing them to focus fully on their investment expertise. I also spend effort on enhancing and optimizing team communication and understanding, as I believe team bonding is crucial, particularly for a growing team. Additionally, I assist with business development matters.
What did you do before joining Star Magnolia Capital?
I joined Star Magnolia right after graduating. Like many fresh graduates, I initially lacked confidence and sufficient knowledge to contribute effectively to a company's operations. However, someone believed in my potential and gave me a chance. I still vividly remember how shocked and grateful I was. Since then, I have dedicated myself to learning and applying that knowledge to honor the trust our founder placed in me.
What is the Most Important Life Lesson from Your Parents?
My mother always emphasized the importance of independence – to not seek help when you can solve problems yourself. This approach helps you grow stronger in knowledge, skills, abilities, and mindset. These are unique assets that truly belong to you, and no one can take them away.
What is Your Passion Outside of Work and Family?
I am passionate about anime and manga! Music is also an indispensable part of my daily life.
FAN Fan
Family Relations
Based in Shanghai
Joined Star Magnolia Capital in 2021
Chinese
What do you do at Star Magnolia Capital?
I spend most of my time working on Capital Allocators China initiatives including communication with followers and organizing investment-related events. On the Business development side, I contribute mainly through a charitable event called Impact Night.
What did you do before joining Star Magnolia Capital?
I just finished my master’s degree and wondered about life after graduation. The internship opportunities with Capital Allocators and Star Magnolia Capital seemed to appear, encouraging me to step into a whole new investment world. I remember after my first meeting with a manager, Shinya asked for my opinion. I was lost and the only word that came out was “professional”. I was lucky to be a part of this wonderful team and was allowed to meet with the brightest investors and learn from them.
What is the Most Important Life Lesson from Your Parents?
The most important lesson from my parent is independent thinking. Unlike the tiger moms and dads in most Chinese families, my parents are super open-minded. The freedom and trust they offered shaped me during my journey and I’m very thankful for this valuable quality.
What is Your Passion Outside of Work and Family?
Dancing has been my greatest passion since high school, and it’s one of the few habits that I carried on till now. When I feel stressed, I would devote myself into music and movement. I consider it as my way of meditation.
Persis HOO
Compliance
Based in Singapore
Joined Star Magnolia Capital in 2022
Mother to a young child
Chinese
What do you do at Star Magnolia Capital?
As I used to be a lawyer, I mostly work on legal matters for Star Magnolia Capital and also assist for research and/or business development matters. For the most part, I am the Business Manager of Gen Z Group and Next Gen Investors Endowment, investment education subsidiaries of SMC.
What did you do before joining Star Magnolia Capital?
I practiced as a lawyer for 3 years before leaving to join a fintech/legal tech startup! It was a good few years of training and exposure to various people and the business world. As a lawyer, I tried all sorts of areas like general litigation, corporate law, probate, and so on. In the startup, I did everything from business development, marketing, sales, hiring, and so forth. These experiences cumulatively gave me a good base to build the current business of Gen Z and Next Gen together with the team.
What is the most important life lesson from your parents?
When I used to be teased as a child for being too '乖’ (i.e. a good girl) in school, my dad told me that it doesn't matter what others think about you. What matters is what you think about what they think about you. This piece of advice changed my perspective completely and from then on, I learned how to assess whose opinions mattered to me. For everyone else's, they just flew off my back.
What is your passion outside of work and family?
I serve in church and also love to read and write! Recently I started my newsletter on Substack - Fundamental Living with Persis - where I share thoughts on life and everything in between. I love connecting with people too!
Shinya DEGUCHI
Research & Family Relations
Based in Shanghai
Joined Star Magnolia Capital in 2012
Japanese
What do you do at Star Magnolia Capital?
I am responsible for the overall success of Star Magnolia Capital and am involved with the firm’s three functions: Investing, Family Relations and Operations. On the investment side, while I’m the final decision maker and research director, I am still one of the generalist analysts and meet 300-400 investment managers every year. I’m also the main point of contact for all our families as we don’t want to create a wall between the investment team and our families. I keep learning something new every day from investment managers, our families, and other business acquaintances and that is the biggest motivation for me.
What did you do before joining Star Magnolia Capital?
There are two types of people in this world: fox or hedgehog. The fox knows many things; the hedgehog knows one big thing. For my career, I am the hedgehog as I only know how to allocate capital to people who are smarter and more responsible than I am. In 2003, I started my career as an analyst at Melco Holdings, a Japanese manufacturing company, where I helped hedge fund investments. In 2006, I joined Cook Pine Capital as Associate and later became Director of Research. I worked closely with Eiich Kuwana, founder of Cook Pine Capital, to manage portfolios of the wealthiest families in Japan. Eiich is a great mentor and taught me how to trust people.
What is the Most Important Life Lesson from Your Parents?
In fact, it came from my calligraphy teacher, not my parents. He is a classmate of my grandfather and a soldier who fought the World War II. For almost 10 years, I had a lesson every week and learned so many things from him. The most memorable wisdom he gave to me was “life is all about studying and never stop learning.” I think I didn’t appreciate this when I was a teenager, but now I know how important it is.
What is Your Passion Outside of Work and Family?
I love reading manga (Japanese cartoon). I also realized that I liked teaching. So, these two hobbies eventually became a new business opportunity. In 2020, Tiffany and I started Gen Z Group to promote investment education using manga called INVEST!.
Tiffany LIU
Research & Family Relations
Based in Singapore
Joined Star Magnolia Capital in 2021
Chinese
What do you do at Star Magnolia Capital?
I spend most of my time on investment and research, covering both public and private managers, as well as managing our subsidiaries Gen Z Group and Next Gen Investors Endowment. You will find me conducting due diligence on managers, but you will also find me working with artists to create educational webtoons and developing investor education curriculum for our next generation.
What did you do before joining Star Magnolia Capital?
I took a path less taken by Singaporeans and studied my undergraduate in Tsinghua University, Beijing. After graduating from Tsinghua, I started my career in finance as an investor relations professional in a Hong Kong-based hedge fund called Ivyrock Asset Management. It was when I was working for Ivyrock that I met Shinya Deguchi, founder of Star Magnolia Capital, and we decided to start Next Gen Investors Endowment together to groom the next generation of responsible, long-term investors. After Ivyrock, I joined About Capital Management, a quantamental fund based in Hong Kong, I continued as an investor relations professional but also took up some equity research work. In 2020, I decided to embark on a new journey and did my MBA at Oxford University. Upon completing my MBA, I joined Star Magnolia.
What is the Most Important Life Lesson from Your Parents?
My dad used to tell me “年轻时只要做到三个字，不要怕，年老时只要做到三个字，不后悔” which translates to the only thing you need to abide to is don’t be afraid when you are young and don’t regret when you are old.
What is Your Passion Outside of Work and Family?
I love painting and reading manga. When I was in high school, I was part of the 6-year Art Elective Programme (AEP). The AEP allows Singaporean students with artistic potential, aptitude and passion to pursue an in-depth study of art, from theory to practical. Because of my interest in art and manga, it made perfect sense when Shinya, another manga lover, suggested that we should use manga to promote investing. This is how the world’s first investment webtoon INVEST! was born.