This is part 6 of our series of profiling professionals of Chinese/Taiwanese descent in the financial services sector in South Africa. It showcases the contribution of these professionals in the South African economy. What's your name and age? Kevin Chang – age 36 What has been your experience? PwC – Trainee accountant and Assistant manager RMB – Financial accountant, business partner, project accountant, financial solutions analyst What do you do? Leveraging off my Financial Reporting experience, I am now in space that works very closely with business technology, finance and business to delivery finance related projects. The work involves understanding the various technologies capabilities, data, project management, stakeholder communication and influence. Your area of expertise? Financial Management, Financial Reporting, Project Management, Product Ownership, Coaching, Strategy. What is your place of birth? Taichung, Taiwan. When did you immigrate to South Africa? What brought you here? Came with the folks that were seeking for new opportunities in a different environment. Where did you study, and your qualifications? UCT – Undergraduate in Finance and Accounting & postgraduate in accounting SAICA - CA (SA) Wits – Masters in innovation management (expected 2021) Why did you choose your line of studies? I was interested in the commerce space and felt this qualification was going to give me a good entry ticket to the game. How did you get into the financial services sector? Started being financial services focused during my training for CA. The initial entry was really a simple reason because it was the more complex business service and that appealed to me. Since then I have enjoyed working in this space. What are your hobbies and interests in your spare time? Running & doing HIIT exercises Enjoy having friends over for dinner/braai Going out and have a good time from time to time Cinema nouveau movies Big foodie Travel How do you see the future of South Africa? Cautiously optimistic – the country faces lots of social economic and political challenges. A strong and clear leadership is needed to implement and drive the structural reforms that are needed by the country to solve these problems. Clean public sector governance and effective implementation is key in providing workable solutions. In some aspects the government is moving, infrastructure projects, energy reform, some prosecution of corruption suspects (not enough), telecommunication reform – auctioning of high speed mobile communication. The effective implementation on many of these are yet to be seen. Serious red alarms: sovereign debt level, level of crime and corruption in government Also don’t forget we have a lot of good people in the country, it’s the small minority that is spoiling the country. Over time, the majority will rise. SA is traditionally good at solving big problems and we have quick wins. What advice or encouragement do you have for university students who want to enter the financial services sector? Do lots of research to understand the vast amount of opportunities that are available and the different entry points. Build relationships early with interested companies and get mentors from the companies or more broadly in the industry. Lots of talent in this space which makes it quite competitive to get into a desired role, hence consider building competitive advantage by perhaps being cross disciplinary focused e.g. IT and Finance. Or leadership skills. SA’s financial services sector has a good standing globally and many companies are focused on Africa expansionary strategy. Lots of learning and growth opportunities with the right focus and exposure.
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