Editor’s note: In today’s Female Leadership for Business, Steffanie Yuen (pictured), Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong at Endowus, a digital wealth platform in Asia shared with FutureCFO audiences how she moved from investment banking to wealth management and why she loves mountain climbing.
FutureCFO: Can you briefly describe your career journey? What drove you to wealth management?
Steffanie Yuen (SY): I started my career in investment banking with Barclays and Deutsche Bank. After a few years, I decided to seek new experiences and made the transition into the asset management sector.
I moved into venture investing and began my journey as an investor in fintech as well as healthtech, with a focus in Greater China.
This experience sparked my interest in technology and the vast potential of leveraging that to drive the development of the burgeoning wealth management in China.
Subsequently, I transitioned from an investor to an operator role and joined the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, Ant Group.
At Ant, I helped our fintech joint ventures across India, Thailand, Malaysia build online wealth platforms and also helped set up a joint venture between Vanguard and Ant Group in China which became the first independent fund advisory business in the country and garnered 1 million users within one year of launch.
During the Covid pandemic, I moved back to Hong Kong to be with family in early 2021 and joined the largest local fund manager—Value Partners—to head up direct distribution, marketing and strategic projects.
In 2022, I was captivated by the work Endowus was doing in Singapore. It was refreshing to see a wealth management firm so transparently advocating for conflict-free investment advisory.
They were also leveraging technology to expand and scale their offerings. Learning about the plans of Endowus to expand into Hong Kong and speaking to the co-founders—Sam and Greg—about their ambition, made the move to Endowus a very straightforward one.
Hiking trains my tenacity, as it is often easier to give up than to persevere, especially at high altitudes.
FutureCFO: What do you enjoy doing the most in your current role?
SY: What I find most fulfilling in my current role is contributing to Endowus’s mission to enable individuals and families to invest better to live better.
We strive to drive industry change by eliminating misaligned incentives and commissions, ensuring that our interests are aligned with those of our clients.
An example of this is the removal of trailer fees or commissions in the distribution of wealth management products.
Working with our clients in a collaborative manner towards their goals is a huge source of motivation and fulfilment for me in my current role.
In addition, I greatly enjoy collaborating with a driven and capable team that is equally committed to this purpose and mission.
FutureCFO: What are some of the biggest challenges facing you as a business leader in wealth management?
SY: One of the most significant challenges is establishing Endowus as a notable and recognisable brand in an industry where many of the incumbent wealth managers have been established for a long time—some even over a century.
However, I firmly believe that treating clients fairly, transparently, and genuinely prioritising their best interests will earn their trust over time and contribute towards deepening our brand trust and recall. The most important thing to do is to stay committed to our mission and goals.
At my previous firm, we had a saying, "Believing is seeing." Many of the initiatives we are pursuing at Endowus are innovative, and it is common to hear phrases like, "it cannot be done" or that "clients are not ready for such changes".
However, I am convinced that if there is genuine belief that what we are doing can create value for our clients, it can and will happen.
The challenge lies in rallying the entire team around this belief, but once that hurdle is overcome, success will naturally come.
FutureCFO: What’s your advice to female professionals who aspire to become a business leader in wealth management?
SY: My advice is to never stop striving for your goals.
While it may sound cliché, it is not uncommon for females to feel a sense of imposters’ syndrome in a traditionally male-dominated financial industry, especially at the leadership level.
It is natural to experience occasional self-doubt and sometimes you are your biggest critic.
While it may be beneficial to question ways in which you can do better or differently to achieve greater success, you should see this as a process to progress, not as something that hinders you from reaching your full potential.
FutureCFO: Tell me something about yourself: What are your hobbies? How do some of these help you relax outside work? Do some of them inspire your work?
I'm an avid hiker and have climbed mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kinabalu.
Hiking trains my tenacity, as it is often easier to give up than to persevere, especially at high altitudes.
Ultimately, it comes down to mental strength and fortitude, qualities that I find applicable to my professional life and refreshing to engage in when it comes to my personal life.
