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Alumni Story| Shuzi Chen: March forward in his dream territory
Describing himself as "introverted", Shuzi Chen is an "engineering graduate" who loves philosophy and psychology as well. Majored in electrical engineering and automation, he has worked as an analyst in the power equipment and new energy sectors after graduating from SAIF MF Program. In just five years, he has already made a number of remarkable achievements. In particular, he and his team have won the New Fortune Award for “Power Equipment and New Energy” twice.
Finance as the inflection point of life
When graduating with a BE degree, Shuzi decided to continue his postgraduate study at Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) facing the choice between employment and further studies. He smiled, "I have a lot of affection for engineering, not too tired to love. As my father is engaged in finance, I am also influenced by him and was eager to try my hand in the financial sector."
In 2012, Shuzi received an offer from SAIF, which is known for tough admission process. Although it was only the 4th year of SAIF MF Program, it demonstrated its international strategy in terms of curriculum design, faculty and overall framework. Shuzi recalled, "Probably SAIF is one of the first business schools that clearly distinguish a skill-oriented master program from an academic-oriented one. This concept was extremely cutting-edge at that time."
As to his impression of SAIF and his campus years, Shuzi summed it up in several words, "Internationalization, pragmatism and hard work." “In one course, we were required to read 2-4 papers a week. Moreover, in the course of ‘Financial Mathematics’, Prof. Tan Wang used the projector to calculate the important theorems in detail. We often studied till midnight, not only me, but also every one of us.”
In his opinion, in addition to classroom lectures, many activities organized by the School also played an essential role in expanding thinking and developing soft skills. In a business etiquette workshop held on the Bund, for the first time, he was exposed to the sales force of yachts and private jets. He learned what make of yacht was suitable for what kind of individuals and this cross-disciplinary marketing idea opened up his vision.
Dealing with "cold stress" in the workplace with peace of mind
After graduating from SAIF, Shuzi joined Everbright Securities as an analyst. When talking about the early days of his career, he wasn’t without regret, "The platform was excellent. It may be that I wasn’t lucky enough at that time."
Unlike the cool and reserved image in our mind, the financial sector has a tradition of “mentoring”. Under the guidance of mentors, newcomers who have just joined the team can not only make a smooth transition from theories to practices, but also integrate more easily into the team.
But Shuzi’s case was different. Shortly after he was hired, the team leader suddenly left the company and the entire team remained unmanaged. Every team member had his/her own workload and burden, who had no spare energy to care for the newcomers.
"I was really depressed during that time and often suffered from insomnia. I felt unattended and lost. It is especially uncomfortable." But fortunately, Shuzi quickly changed his mindset. He began to regularly take part in some academic activities organized by SAIF or School of Physics Shanghai Jiao Tong University, communicating with other participants and following them at WeChat. Therefore, he developed his early network of contacts in the industry during the period.
Despite the “cold stress”, Shunzi independently researched and finalized 6 in-depth industry reports, 4 in-depth corporate reports and updates, 64 briefings and 10 databases within over one year, which is remarkable for a novice analyst. He admitted frankly that the reason why he was able to help himself and grow up quickly is mainly due to the courage and confidence derived from SAIF.
Passion is the true “eternal driver” at work
In 2015, Shuzi joined the China Merchants Securities R&D Center as a senior researcher in power equipment and new energy. As the market picked up, his finding helped the major funds to achieve outstanding return on investment in the photovoltaic field.
"To some extent, I benefited from the accumulation of my four years of engineering study. I have always been interested in the new energy sector, and before the end of 2016, I was one of the few analysts who could explain photovoltaics in a clear manner. So naturally, I won the trust of clients.
For him, being an analyst is actually exhausting and boring. “In this profession, when you start working, you can stick to it because of the yearning for lucrative compensation package. When the impulse derived from money fades, you will only stay in the business purely out of passion.”
He suggested younger graduates talking to themselves and listening to their inner voice. Do you really choose finance industry because you like it, or choose to be an analyst as your career? “It is critical to where you will arrive at in this domain,” said he.
Five years after graduation, Shuzi chose to change from a sell-side analyst to a buy-side analyst. He shared frankly, “Being a buy-side analyst better corresponds to my way of thinking. Back to SAIF, the professors paid special attention to developing our ability to explore. To be a buy-side analyst, it is important to study something thoroughly. On contrary, a sell-side analyst may spend more time in services than research.
As long as you really love and stick to it, every "can" will be followed by countless possibilities and will eventually make your career journey more exciting.