We have the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Du Yinliang, the CEO of Prescient Investment Management China. This is part of our series profiling professionals of Chinese descent in the financial services sector in South Africa. Your full name? Age now? Liang Du, 37 What has been your experience? CEO - Prescient Investment Management China Limited What do you do? Business development strategy, investment strategy. Your area of expertise? Investment management What is your place of birth? Shanghai, China When did you immigrate to South Africa? What brought you here? I went to Zaire in 1986 and went to South Africa in 1990. In the 1980s and 1990s, China was still a very poor country. Parents want to go abroad to help their children have better opportunities. Since my aunt married a Zairian resident, our family went to Zaire. Zaire had a huge coup in the 90s. During the riots, the first plane to leave Zaire was to South Africa. I stayed in South Africa ever since. Where did you study, and your qualifications? MBA (University of Cape Town), B.Bus.Sc – Actuarial Science (UCT) Why did you choose your line of studies? I didn’t know what to learn when I was young. I was doing well academically. I heard people say that UCT is the best university in South Africa. B.Bus.Sc-Actuarial Science is the most difficult undergraduate. As a young person, I don’t know what actuarial science was, let alone finance. Anyway, I thought to myself, I would learn it first. Fortunately it suits my nature. How did you get into the financial services sector? At the University of Cape Town, the boss of Prescient Investment Management was a professor of finance. In the Honours year, he was my supervisor for my Finance Honours project. The topic was how much money does a person need to retire? At that time, most of the students who studied actuarial science went to the insurance companies, I originally planned to go to Old Mutual. After completing the research, he said he liked my way of thinking and asked me if I wanted to join his company. I joked by asking for a salary doubling Old Mutual's offer, unexpectedly he agreed. I have been with Prescient for 15 years, I have found that I like this industry very much and it suits my abilities. The company is also very supportive of entrepreneurship. What are your hobbies and interests in your spare time? Reading, playing squash, playing video games. How do you see the future of South Africa? I have lived in South Africa for 26 years. I am both Chinese and South African. I love South Africa very much. I certainly hope that South Africa’s future will be successful. South Africa has many characteristics. Unfortunately, after many years of weak policies and corruption, it now faces a dilemma. Looking at the data of South Africa objectively, the risks are high. The economy needs reform, a lot of investments and infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and transportation. But the financial resources are limited, the national debt is high, and there is too much corruption. There is a danger of a vicious circle of shrinking the tax base due to the massive brain drain. The labour law does not support the development of a large number of small businesses. The lack of infrastructure makes it uncompetitive in many industries. The future of South Africa depends on everyone's contributions and sacrifices, but for everyone to sacrifice, the people need to unites, everyone needs to have a shared dream. It is difficult to say whether South Africa today has any determination to change. Of course I very much hope that South Africa can change and will definitely come back after retirement! How do you see China's future? There is no perfect government in the world, but China's general economic and social development has been very successful over the past 30 years, which can be said to be the opposite of South Africa. Infrastructure, planning, education, healthcare, anti-corruption, and opening-up for business have all made great progress. In 1990, China's per capita GDP was 300 US dollars, South Africa was 3,000 US dollars. In 2018, China's per capita GDP was 9600 US dollars, exceeding South Africa's 6200 US dollars. Today's China has the foundation of a successful country. Although there is a certain degree of friction with Trump, through the efforts of the Chinese and the current scale and foundation of China, there should be very successful development in the next ten to twenty years. I returned to China in 2016 and has lived here for four years. I can understand why China can succeed. People are united, transportation efficiency is high and cheap, general education is of high quality, basic healthcare is almost free, super safe, and the economy is active. Every day you can feel the energy of China. Naturally, the gap between the rich and the poor is also very large in China, but unlike South Africa, the older generation with poor education works hard every day to do blue-collar jobs and entrepreneurship, and the younger generation’s education has caught up with the level of developed countries. Whether starting a business or working, ordinary people all have jobs, and have more than enough. Everyone works hard. So in the near future, China will be a country capable of development. China now has capital, talents, infrastructure, and a good business environment. Of course, the biggest risk for China is to rely too much on good leadership. Just like Singapore, the Chinese government is very strong and the country will be very successful when it is well led. After Xi Jinping took office, he did a lot of anti-corruption work and changed the direction of China's development. After years of rapid opening up, China shared many similarities with South Africa a decade ago. There were too many corruptions, government agencies were becoming more and more ineffective, national assets were lost, and policies Just looked at the short-term, and let the next leader solve the long-term problems. Through many improvements and hard work, be it pollution, anti-corruption, product quality and safety, deleveraging, shadow banking risks, and transparency of government agencies, it can be said that the direction has changed. These changes are something everyone can experience. Although there are risks, I am confident that China will continue to grow and develop. What advice or encouragement do you have for university students who want to enter the financial services sector? Finance is a very fulfilling career, which gives me everything in my dreams, but young people who want to join the industry must like this industry before joining. Competition is fierce and pressure is high. If you choose the finance sector just for money, you will collapse. I have seen too many people burn out after five years. To be successful, you must have a passion for this industry and it matches your personality. The second point is that if you decide to join, you must be determined to work hard. Finance contains too much specialised knowledge. Only through hard work can you become an expert. I have never met a lazy person who is successful in finance. Everyone is not only smart but also working hard. People who are successful in finance must have high IQ and EQ, as well as the spirit of continuous improvement.
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