Alumni and students of the Master of Science in Wealth Management (MWM) Programme got together for the annual Chinese Lunar New Year dinner on 6th January 2017 supported by the SMU MWM Programme Office and the SMU Office of Alumni Relations (OAR). The response was overwhelming as over 120 alumni and students gathered at The Chinese Restaurant at Raffles Town Club for a fun and boisterous evening, to exchange well wishes ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Rooster.
Vice Provost and Programme Director of MWM Professor Francis Koh welcomed the crowd and expressed his delight at the strong familial ties of the MWM alumni. He also wished for the MWM alumni to grow from strength to strength and to maintain strong ties with SMU. Programme Director of Wealth Management Institute (WMI) and Guest of Honour Dr Mandy Tham congratulated the MWM programme for its success of being the 3rd in global ranking and 1st in Asia according to the Financial Times (FT) Global Masters in Finance survey. In her address, she encouraged the MWM Alumni to contribute actively to the financial and wealth management industry and invited experienced alumni to join WMI as guest lecturers to teach and share their extensive industry knowledge.
As an annual tradition, the MWM Alumni Group presented the MWM Alumni Study Award to deserving students. Spearheaded two years ago by Immediate Past President and MWM Alumni Executive Committee member Mr Fong Wai Sun, the MWM Study Award is an important initiative that encourages MWM Alumni to contribute back to the University and society. With the generous donation from the MWM Alumni, friends of the financial industry and the dollar matching from the Ministry of Education, the Study Award gathered a total of more than $250,000 funding. This allowed the Group to give out two Study Awards of $3,000 each per year in perpetuity to aspiring and needy SMU students. This year, due to strong investment returns from the SMU endowment, the MWM Alumni Group gave out two Study Awards of $3,500 each to two deserving students Tay Qi Rui and Nur Aishah Binte Subahan.
Another significant moment came when President of the MWM Alumni Group Mr Heng Koon How launched the MWM Alumni Professional Directory to expand industry networking amongst MWM Alumni. The objective of the Professional Directory is to showcase the wide breadth and depth of the working experience and professional knowledge of MWM Alumni across different facets of the financial industry, ranging from public to private sector, from front office to product specialists, not just in Singapore, but across Asia as well. Both Professor Francis Koh and Koon How strongly encouraged all MWM Alumni to actively participate in the directory by including their work-related information. Participation however is voluntary and the integrity of the data would be curated by OAR.
The SMU MWM Programme and the MWM Alumni Group wish all a prosperous year of the Rooster and a successful start to 2017!
View the Facebook album for more photos from the event.
This article was submitted by the MWM Alumni Group.
Testimonies from MWM Study Award Recipients 2017
Tay Qi Rui
I am Tay Qi Rui, currently a Year 2 student from SMU School of Accountancy. Before admitting to SMU, I was a student from Singapore Polytechnic, who pursued a Diploma in Banking and Financial Services. Personally, I have a huge passion in investing, and I aspire to become an Equity Research Analyst in the future. I am extremely privileged and humbled to be awarded this year’s SMU MWM Study Award 2016. This award would encourage me to pursue greater excellence in my academic studies, and will be used to offset my school fees. I would like to thank all the donors, the MWM Alumni Exco and the selection panelists for making this award possible. I will continue to work hard and I hope that I will be able to make similar contributions in the future.
Nur Aishah Binte Subahan
I'm Nur Aishah Binte Subahan. Currently, I'm a year 2 student pursuing my Bachelor in Business Management in SMU. I don't believe in restricting myself to one specific area of study as I find it pertinent to be a well-rounded person to give yourself an extra competitive advantage. Hence, I will be majoring in Finance and Psychology. I'm interested to work in the Commodities Trading sector and I aspire to make a mark in the Finance Industry.
I am extremely grateful and humbled when I got to know that out of so many candidates interviewed, I have been chosen as the recipient for MWM Study Award. This is a big thing for me as MWM Study Award is a prestigious award. The sum that I will receive from this award will help to loosen my financial burden as I can use it for my school expenses such as textbooks, transport and lunch money. I am planning to buy my financial calculator the first thing I receive the money. Hence, a big thank you to MWM alumni! I will work hard and do you proud!