SGX Bull Charge Challenge Investors’ Insights: Chicao

SGX Bull Charge Challenge Investors’ Insights: Chicao

Recently, we got in touch with Chi Cao, one of the top contestants of the SGX Bull Charge Stock Challenge, to understand more about her investing strategies, her philosophy, and what motivated her to get started in the first place.

With less than a month to go, some of the top participants have achieved double digit portfolio returns within the timeframe of just 3 months. Impressive! For those who are wondering, the SGX Bull Charge Stock Challenge is only open to professionals and influencers in the finance industry.

But the question we should really ask is, how did they do it? What is their investment or trading philosophy? Who inspired them? What styles of investing or trading are they using?

We believe that every one of these professionals have different styles of investing, expertise in different types of securities and also have their own story to tell.

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This is what Chicao had to say:

Tell me more about yourself and how did you get started in investing or trading?

I graduated from Texas A&M University in 2015. During my university time, I was captivated by the financial market and was curious of what caused the market to move. I applied to many firms for a trading role and I managed to get an opportunity to join as an assistant trader for one of the largest brokerage firms in Singapore.

Over the course of the two years, I managed to trade in some of the most volatile periods, e.g. Brexit and 2016 US Election. It is through those rites of passages that I grow to fully respect the adage that the market is always right!

What are your best investment and worst investment since you started investing?

My best investment was Chew’s Group. I bought Chew’s based on its fundamental-sound factors and sold it off after the Group announced a mandatory offer from Goldhill Trust. It was a 24% profit investment in less than one month.

Fortunately, I do not have any notable losses so far. But one thing I regretted is not starting my trading career earlier as I could have made better decision if I knew then what I know today.

Do you have an idol in investing or trading? If so, what’s the most memorable teaching from them?

I started my trading role without any trading experience. With good guidance from my mentor who patiently guided me through all the market idiosyncrasy and thus avoided many pitfalls, I have learned to become a consistent trader in less than two years.

Trading is like driving a car. A good driver will know when to speed up and when to slow down. Sometimes unexpected things can happen on the road just like how market might swing up or down, as long as you follow the rules and don’t let emotion lead the way, you will reach your destination.

Do you have any rules to stock picking?

I tend to pay attention to news catalyst and the subsequent spikes in the stock volatility. I would run some technical analysis to determine if the stock price swing can be justified by the new fundamentals. I would take a contrarian position if the swing movement is deemed to be excessive. Typically I would trade with a smaller size as the market can exhibit irrational behaviors longer than we think.

What do you think of the current market conditions in Singapore right now?

I am bearish on Singapore market right now. The emerging market debt crisis and the European monetary problems is a dark cloud that lies over the horizon. I am concerned that the next crisis would start during the next US midterm election in November.

Which industry and sectors are you currently looking at and why?

I see values in some of the recently listed real estate brokers. While it is true that the number of property transactions is going to be lower, the sharp fall in the price seems to be excessive. For the marco view, I would focus on the DOW as US is still the dominant capital market and any large swing would have an immediate impact on the Singapore market.

What is your day to day strategy towards investing or trading? i.e. a top-down or bottom-up approach for stock picking?

I use Mosaic Theory and apply it in stock picking, e.g. market sentiments, international capital flow, currency movement, interest rate hikes, etc…

How do you manage your portfolio, passively or actively and elaborate on it?

As I am a full time proprietary trader, I would not have much time during trading hours to manage my personal portfolio actively. I am a strong believer of diversification. Besides investing in the stock market, I would also speculate on the currency market and other alternative investments, e.g. traded endowment policy.

If you can go back in time to change one mistake about your investing/trading journey, what would it be?

I should have started trading earlier.

Last but not least, what advice would you give to new traders or investors?

Trading is all about discipline, not about making money from predicting what way the market goes. New traders should be patient in learning from experienced traders, and with discipline and patience, then your trading skills will develop and improve day by day. Making mistakes or losing money is a part of this trading game, but what more important is whether new traders can take this as opportunities and learn from their mistakes. Last but not least, respect the market.

Follow her to get the latest updates of her portfolio and all her transactions.

For more juicy analysis and personal stories by other financial influencers, check out our previous episodes on # InsightsInterview here: 

To learn more on how to get started, we have other topics on investing here. 

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