Episode 4: Femina Huddani
At The Real Finance Mentor, we will continue bringing you interesting stories and insights from some of the most experienced people in thE CFA SPACE.
In episode #4 of our podcast, we have Femina Huddani.
I have huge respect for working women who succeed despite multiple challenges. And this lady has reached where most CFA students aspire to be – a portfolio manager!
Femina left India for the US when she was a teenager. She competed her degree, fought biases, got into research, transplanted to the UAE, struggled her way to the top and oh yes raised a family and nailed the CFA charter along the way. Classic narrative of sheer ambition and persistence, a story I’ve seen at close range for a decade.
Listen and be inspired.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
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Binod:
This is Binod Shankar and you're listening to the Real Finance Mentor Podcast, from therealfinancementor.com. The Real Finance Mentor is your go-to resource for insight and inspiration on careers and finance, CFA and more. I would think, "Why this podcast?" Well, my goal is to deliver insight and inspiration for your finance career, but making it one, relatable. This is not theoretical stuff. We zero in on the critical practical issues. Number two, authentic. No bullshit, no sidestepping. The topics, guests and questions are all from that perspective. And number three, take a chartered accountant, CFA charter holder, add 17 plus years as a corporate warrior, mix in 10 years of entrepreneurship, throw in a decade of full-time CFA training, add speaking, mentoring, cycling, and mountaineering and that's me. Welcome to the Real Finance Mentor. Or as they call it, RFM.
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Binod:
Welcome to episode number 4. And my guest today is someone I've known since she was so high. Well in CFA terms, I mean, yeah, Femina Huddani is a CFA charter holder with a BBA in finance from Georgia State University in the U.S. Femina works in a role which many CFA candidates aspire to, as a portfolio manager with The National Investor, an Abu Dhabi based investment management and advisory firm. She's been doing my CFA prep class from level one all the way through level three. Now she's on the show because along the way to get the charter and her dream job, she's faced & dealt with lots of challenges, challenges that would have defeated someone with less ambition and determination. I mean from going to a distant land alone, to struggling to enter finance, to juggling work, family and studies as a working mom, to facing failure multiple times along the CFA journey. She's seen it all. So I want you to hear her special story, and get some insight and also be inspired. Femina, welcome to the show.
Femina:
Thank you so much, Binod. It's my pleasure and honor to be here with you.
Binod:
Thank you. Now, just before the show started, you said that actually you were in the U.S .before you came to Dubai, before you came to the UAE. So I'm curious what took ... what I'm assuming you were at a very young age and a young girl to go from India to the U.S. for studies. So tell me about it.
Femina:
Yeah, exactly. If you had asked me when I was graduating if I would ever move Dubai, I'd be like, "What Dubai? Where is Dubai?" But such is life. Life is full of surprises. So when I was 18 I went to U.S. I wanted to be independent, I wanted to study and I had only one condition with my dad to just buy me one-way ticket and I will take care of the rest. And that's how my journey in U.S. started to pursue my bachelor's. And I sponsored it all by myself by working on ad hoc jobs, manning a jewelry cart to check cashing, being a teller at the check cashing store, working full time as well as studying full time, and trying to keep my grades up so that I still get the waivers, foreign student waivers. So I started off in a community college. I got the diploma from there and then I moved into GSU, which was the reasonable version to get a bachelor's there.
Binod:
That's quite tough. A girl, young girl, far away from home, from parents, from family. You're in the U.S. you have to make money to make ends meet, and you have to keep your grades high and you have to get your waivers and all those things. So, I'm very curious, what really kept you motivated and going? What was the reason?
Femina:
I just knew that I wanted to be independent. While growing up my mom always told us that you need to stand on your own feet. And I think that stuck to me. And I just didn't know any other way, and I always felt like failure was never an option, I had to keep going. There's a saying from Rumi, as you start to walk out on the way, the way appears. and I think you posted this just recently and it resonates with me so well. And that is exactly what happened, I just kept going and the way kept appearing. Until I did my diploma, I did not know what my bachelor's was going to be in. But the moment I started my first semester at GSU and my finance class, the very first finance class was about CAPM. And oh my God, I'm like, "I love this world. I just want to be able to manage people's money. That's all I want to do. I don't want to do anything else."
Binod:
The first time I'm hearing anyone being turned on by CAPM, or beta for that matter.
Femina:
Well, that's me! Yes, yes I was very enthusiastic about finance.
Binod:
So I'm going to stop you there before ... So, why exactly did you decide to pursue finance, or accounting and finance? Because you mentioned you were in a GSU class in finance. So why finance?
Femina:
Because I was fascinated with this whole CAPM and alpha and beta and you know, being able to manage people's money, making money off of money. How is that?
Binod:
That's cool.
Femina:
I had really felt that that was very interesting, and I was just good at it. I got all A's and A pluses from my derivatives class to all my finance classes. And I also in a way figured that, "Okay fine, if I want to be in finance, I better be able to understand the financial statements." And that's when I thought that, "Okay, I need to also understand accounting along with finance."
Binod:
Although I think you mentioned to me at some point, you didn't really fall in love with accounting?
Femina:
No, accounting wasn't my favorite subject ever. Even today, I am not big fan of accounting. I always scored a B, never more than a B. I promise.
Binod:
So we are polar opposites. I hate derivatives. And you hate accounting. So that's the way the world is. Right. So yeah, right. I mean, absolutely. I think something I tell students in class and mentees, is that you cannot ignore financial reporting & analysis if you want to become a good equity analyst. Accounting is the language of business, and you've got to understand the grammar. So how are you going to be good in finance, either financial management or asset management or portfolio management, if you don't understand the financial statements?
Femina:
Exactly. It's a fundamental. I never understood when my peers said that, "Oh, I'm taking finance, but I just don't like accounting. I don't understand accounting." I'm like, "How can you say that as a finance person?" Whether you're in private equity, asset management, equity, bonds, whatever. You have to look at the financial statements. That is the language of finance.
Binod:
So that's about the ... with your graduation in accounting and finance. But what about the days after that? You mentioned a internship earlier over lunch. So tell me about the internship, tell me what happened, what do you learn, what are the challenges there?
Femina:
Plenty of challenges. Plenty. Plenty. As I told you, I was a student, I was completely broke. And there were days when I had zero dollars in my account, and sometimes it would go to negative one and Wachovia bank would charge me another $50 because it went to negative one. So I've seen those days. And in those days, I tell you this because I took an internship, which was unpaid, but it was with Citigroup financial advisors. And that's where I learned that that's what I want to do when I retire. I wanted to be a financial advisor for high net worth individuals. When I retire, I can see myself doing that.
Binod:
Right, right. But it must have bee intimidating at times. Here you are working in the U.S., far from home again, in a new industry with new people, mostly not belong to the same gender or nationality or community. I mean...
Femina:
Culture.
Binod:
Culture…
Femina:
Exactly.
Binod:
So...
Femina:
Yeah. So after my Citigroup internship, I got another internship with an investment boutique firm in Atlanta. I started off and within one month they gave me a full time offer, but I still had the internship to finish for the next eight months. But over there I was the only Indian, the only girl, the only Muslim working in the team with another 15 white men as traders.
Binod:
So truly a minority, minority in a minority. A subset of a subset, right? That sounds very difficult, so how did it keep going then, and how did you blend in with this ... like you said, this very culturally different demon and succeed? How does it work?
Femina:
So I think ... couple of things. So you have to work really, really hard, because you have to prove yourself, that you deserve the seat on the table. And I loved my job, I just loved everything about ... I used to manage ... look into closing funds then. I didn't know anything about closing funds because there was just one paragraph in a bachelor's, CFA, sorry ... finance book in my GSU schooling. And everything I learned was on the job. And I just loved what I was doing and I used to go in early. My senior used to come in at seven in the morning, and just to get a headstart, I used to go in at 6:00 or 6:30, and I just let my work speak for itself.
Femina:
There was this one task, for example, I can give you, where they told me to look into bonds, something to do with option rate preferred securities back then when the whole financial debacle was happening. So I looked into that, I gave the notes to my ... circulated internally, and they happened to publish it on the website. So I just let my work speak for itself and I was soon put on the emerging managers list within the firm.
Binod:
so interesting. So here you are at this stage of 2009, 2010 I'm assuming, somewhere around there. You have done your graduation from GSU, your intern, you worked as a search associate, and now the next step, logical next step in your mind was CFA?
Femina:
Yes, yes, because both my managing directors were CFA charter holders, and they both spoke really, really highly of it and they were encouraging us to take it. But I know for a fact some of my peers, a couple of them just went to the exam, the very first exam level one and they left it halfway, and they said, "We're not doing this ever again to ourselves." So I know how difficult it was.
Binod:
So I'm going to come back to this whole easy example, just three levels, right? How difficult can it be? Level one, level two, level three, and that's it, right? But before that, I want to talk about your journey asset management, because looking at your career right from the intern, associate analyst and now portfolio manager, it's a very, very clear focus, which honestly I rarely see among mentees and students. So CFA, yes, we'll talked about the journey separately, but how did you get into asset management?
Femina:
So, the investment boutique firm I was working for was asset management as well. And when I moved here ... so life, like I said, life is full of surprises. So, I got married and we happened to move here to Dubai, and I moved here in 2009 so it was the time when everything was just going down. And then I was trying to find a job here, I could not find any job. And then in 2010 an opportunity presented itself, Deloitte Management Consulting, I got an offer with them. So my first job in Dubai was to build IT policies and procedures.
Binod:
Exciting stuff.
Femina:
They had railways.
Binod:
Wow, okay.
Femina:
Yes. And I had no clue what I was doing to be honest.
Binod:
Right. So that was your first break, in other words. So what’s next? What is the next step for you?
Femina:
That's when I realized ... because I worked on very different projects with Deloitte, so this is a good advantage you get with Deloitte, because you get to work with people from all around the world, and you work on very different projects and you get different perspectives and you learn a lot. And I did couple of finance projects with them as well. I build the very first financial statements for Department of Transport here, and Department of Economic Development.
Binod:
Well, so here we are. You've passed as a graduate with a degree in accounting and finance. Then you are working as an intern. Then as an associate, that's the entry into asset management, right? And then of course, you came to this part of the world. So tell me more about that.
Femina:
Yes. So this part of the world, there weren't many job opportunities when the debacle happened. So I ended up taking a role in management consulting with Deloitte, and did a lot of projects with the government. But soon I realized that that was not my calling, I wanted to get back to asset management.
Binod:
So how did you know? You were lost in doing something else, consulting. So how did you find your way back to your passionate… the area you’re passion about, i.e. asset management. Tell me about that.
Femina:
So first of all, I was open to any role in asset management. I did not just stick to one role, and I was open to even going in as a middle office assistant. So one opportunity came across to me in a middle office. I took that opportunity, but my condition was, and I had spoken to them earlier, that this has to be a way to analyst, because that's what I wanted to do later on. And they said, "Yes.", But three months into the job I realized this was not going to take me there and I had to decide ... take a very difficult decision to quit and look for another opportunity.
Binod:
Because this was with the big bank, if I remember correctly, right?
Femina:
Yes, yes.
Binod:
The job you were talking about where you could not get the break into analysis. So big job, decent pay, I'm assuming?
Femina:
Very good pay.
Binod:
Very good pay.
Femina:
Yeah.
Binod:
So the next jump was to ...
Femina:
Next jump was again. To another bank, but in asset management, again. Again because they were looking for middle office support, but they did promise me an analyst role. So it was 80% middle office, and 20% analysis, for the first six months of my job and once they get someone else to support them, I would move on completely to analyst. And this is what I had agreed upon in the very beginning. And I took a huge pay cut when I took this opportunity, because they weren't willing to pay as much as my previous opportunity. So I took 40% pay cut. And at that time I used to live in Abu Dhabi, and I used to drive down to Data every single day for this opportunity, two and a half hours of commute each way, and I did this for nine months.
Binod:
So that's interesting because, that's what I tell a lot of people who come to me and say, you know what? At that age, that stage of your career, you've got to take risks and money's not the most important thing, right? You've got to take a pay cut, you've got to work the hours. Five hours of commute is a lot, but I think finally you were heading towards what you wanted. That was the most important thing, right? For you?
Femina:
Yes. Not the title, not the money, just the direction that I was heading and what I was getting to learn every day. I was not putting in 20 hours. I was putting in 40 hours of research, and I was delivering as a research analyst.
Binod:
So, now you're right now getting into analysis and as an analyst, which is exactly what you wanted to do, but your ambition was of course further moving up, right?
Femina:
Yes.
Binod:
So how do you work your way up from analyst to portfolio management. What is the game ... It's what a lot of people struggle with that. That's what you're doing now as a portfolio manager.
Femina:
Yeah, I'm living my dream.
Binod:
So how-
Femina:
Very few people can say that.
Binod:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Femina:
Yeah. So I always wanted to be a portfolio manager. I still remember my very first class in GSU, I saw myself as managing people's money and that's exactly who I am today. And from analyst to portfolio manager was a very, very long journey, and very difficult, but just a lot of fun. But I was brand new to this part of the world ... In the U.S. I would understand because I'd already worked there. But the dynamics here would be different for GCC so I had to relearn everything. So as in when I was going in and learning about equity valuations and GCC markets, the backgrounds of the companies, I used to bother my peers and my manager and bother them at lunch, pick their brains after work. Ask them as many questions as you can think of to get all the answers to learn from them. And I learned a lot and then I delivered, I started delivering investment ideas. And I used to do a mock portfolio on my Bloomberg terminal myself and see how I'm performing against my peers and our fund.
Binod:
Almost like paper trading kind of thing, right? Simulated portfolio or things like that.
Femina:
Yes. Then I think two years into my job I was given portfolios to manage.
Binod:
Okay. That's effectively when you became portfolio manager.
Femina:
Yeah.
Binod:
Very interesting. I had the dream job for most CFA students, right? They want to get their analyst role, yes, but where is it heading to and what should they do? Very importantly, what should they do to get there? What it did was basically that the pay cut, that the shift in cities, the shift with jobs, basically going out of your way, but then what the job required.
Femina:
I think the key here is to have that learner attitude, the enthusiasm towards work. That's what I keep telling my junior associates as well that, you need to be able to understand and have that enthusiasm towards what you're doing. If you're missing that, then you're missing the whole point. And I also feel with experience and skills, portfolio management is somewhat innate as well. It comes naturally.
Binod:
So I assume that people are born with it or not?
Femina:
No, I think you get that naturally once you have the skills and the experience under your belt, when you understand the market dynamics.
Binod:
Right. So now you're going to go back to a very, very important journey of yours, which basically we talked about, which is briefly, which is the CFA journey. Because you had a fairly tough, hard journey during CFA, and I was there throughout, and I know a lot of it, I don't know all of it. So tell me, start from the beginning and omitting no details.
Femina:
Okay. I'll be as honest-
Binod:
A honest as possible for people who are writing the exams.
Femina:
Yes.
Binod:
Level one, level two, level three. Starting from level one, how did it go? How easy or difficult was it?
Femina:
So my decision to take level one was when I was at management consulting and I was really missing finance back then. And as I go, "Okay, this is the way, and I want to do CFA and I want to see those three letters after my name." I really wanted to see, that was my dream. And I told myself, "Okay, I'm going to do it." And that's when you came to Abu Dhabi, to pitch your classes, and I spoke to my husband and he said, "Why don't you sign up?" And I did sign up.
Femina:
Unfortunately that year my grandmother passed away just before the exams so I couldn't appear for the exam. And then next year told myself, "Look I'm going to study ..." Because I had done the classes with you anyways, so I had a good understanding, and it was all from bachelor's. I felt like everything was just a recap from bachelor's. So I took a month off, my vacation days from management consulting, and I took the exam and knocked it off.
Binod:
Okay.
Femina:
Next year, in two-
Binod:
I don't want people to get the wrong impression that you can pass level one with one month's study.
Femina:
No. So this is why I said ... because I finished the classes the year before. So I did finish the classes year before, and it is quite difficult because the way they word it, I think it's more about understanding the wording. Most likely, unlikely ....
Binod:
Least likely.
Femina:
... all that ... least likely. Exactly that ... that throws you off.
Binod:
So level one done. Now, the next one, which was level two, which a lot of people say is the toughest level, like a CFA exam, which I found not that tough. I found level three tougher, but that's my journey. So what was your level two journey like? And you mentioned to me that it is full of challenges, what kind of challenges that you faced?
Femina:
Okay, so level two was a completely different animal. I wasn't an expecting-
Binod:
In what sense, exactly?
Femina:
In terms of valuations, the PE, the venture capital, the FRA was so much to study. Accounting, oh my God, so much accounting and a lot of practice. Yeah, exactly. You and I are complete opposites because I loved level three, I just loved level three, studying about level three.
Femina:
But level two was a completely different animal. And unfortunately for me at that time I also had some family hardships, so I could not take the exam. I enrolled each year, I believe, after my level one, but I could not appear for the exam two years in a row, and the third year I studied and I did not pass. And then next year I told myself, "I'm not going to take it." But then I was told from my place that I was working that I should take it, and I had my colleagues that were taking, so that helped as well. And we took it together and I got through.
Binod:
So what is the principal difference between level two and level one? Give me three differences that you found. The key differences. I'm told volume is an issue.
Femina:
Value, volume.
Binod:
Yeah.
Femina:
Yeah. Accounting was very, very difficult. Valuations, the DCF, the venture cap, I think PE alternatives, all that takes a toll on you. I felt like level one was very basic, just giving you a basic understanding of finance and accounting. But level two was very in depth.
Binod:
Yeah. I tell people level one is like foundation, seriously. And if you've gone to a good college with a good accounting and finance course, level one should be very doable. Level two is like a big huge jump between level one and level two.
Femina:
Yes. Yes. And the vignettes that you had to answer...
Binod:
The case studies exactly. The format of the questions in level two is also very different, right? It's not the standalone multiple choice questions that you have in level one. Exactly. So level one done, level two done. So at this stage you are two thirds CFA, although I should not use the word two thirds CFA, it's quite unethical and probably violation of the standards as well to use that. So next challenge, was for level three.
Femina:
Yeah. But before that, let me just add one thing, what my strategy for clearing level two was because it was so difficult. Do you remember I sent you an Excel sheet with 20 mock exams/
Binod:
Very vaguely. Very vaguely.
Femina:
Yes, exactly. I did 20 mock exams and I'm not kidding, I still have the Excel sheet. And I remember showing you the progression from starting from 50% to 75%, through all the 20 exams. So this is how I passed the level two.
Binod:
Yeah, that must have given you a lot of confidence, right?
Femina:
Yeah. Because you start to see a pattern. You start to see questions, pattern that helps you.
Binod:
Right. Okay. So level one done, level two done, right? The final frontier, what I call the final frontier, level three. Tell me about level three.
Femina:
I loved level three. It was everything that I was actually doing at work.
Binod:
Finally, something that we agree on is level three was the only level, I truly enjoyed in my CFA journey, but over to you. Sorry, go on.
Femina:
Okay. So I loved everything about level three portfolio management. It was what I was doing actually. I do this on a daily basis so I loved it.
Binod:
Challenges?
Femina:
Challenges would be the essay writing. Yeah, the essay writing was the only challenge, I think.
Binod:
And how did you crack that?
Femina:
By practicing a lot, lot of practicing and doing as many mock exams as possible and answering all the questions. Writing ... I must have written another 20 papers for this exam as well and my poor husband had to correct all of them.
Binod:
Okay, well that's the obligation he is saddled with if he is married to a CFA student, right? This is what people get, right? So, okay. So fantastic. So you finally cleared the CFA level three exam, that was in 2018? That was last year.
Femina:
Last year, yeah, yeah.
Binod:
Exactly. Right. So I must ask you at this stage, although you have hinted at it, right? What are the top three CFA challenges and how do you crack them? What are the top three that you had to face and how did you crack those challenges?
Femina:
I feel like first, you need to tell yourself failure is not an option. So I saw this ... I had gone to NASA in Houston to see my friend and we ended up going to NASA, and I saw the sticker there, Failure is Not an Option. I believe that's their motto as well.
Binod:
It's from there they got the motto, I used to wonder where this Failure is Not an Option came from. Okay, interesting.
Femina:
Yeah. So I bought that sticker, bumper sticker, it's very famous in the U.S. I had that bumper sticker, I'm like, "Oh my God, I have this bumper sticker, I have to live by it." And that just built into me. So I never quit. I just didn't see any other way other than having those three letters after my name. So that, and I worked really, really hard. So I have no friends.
Binod:
Even now after CFA?
Femina:
Yes.
Binod:
You must have some friends, right?
Femina:
No I'm having very, very, very hard time.
Binod:
We must get you connected maybe through some alumni network or something.
Femina:
I'm bribing my friends, but no luck. And so you have to sacrifice quite a bit, but you also have to always keep your eyes on the prize, and you have to have that big picture in mind that yes, once I get through this I will become the CFA charter holder, and then that's what I want to do.
Binod:
So I have to ask, was it worth all the effort? I mean...
Femina:
Yes, I'm living the dream.
Binod:
Fantastic. Well, lucky you.
Femina:
Yes. Thank you. I love what I'm doing right now.
Binod:
So now the question I always ask mentees and students of mine, right? Especially if they are from the female gender, because my understanding is that women have specific challenges that they face at work, studies, life. What were your challenges as a woman in career, studies, et cetera?
Femina:
Oh yeah. I have to mention this though. I studied in U.S. My first job was in U.S., right? I knew for a fact, and I learned from my colleague that I was the best paid new joiner there, and my colleagues are getting less money than me. And I was appreciated very properly there, monetarily and otherwise as well. But here, this part of the world, uh my God, it's crazy. When I used to go for interviews, they would just look at my CV, my name, and they would ask me weird questions like, "Are you Sindhi?" I'm like, "Are you serious? You're asking me what my religion is?" And then like, "Okay, so you're married, so are you going to have babies anytime soon?" I'm like, "How is that relevant?" So I can write a whole book on just about interviews in the UAE. And I've never said no to an opportunity to interview ever, ever.
Binod:
One of the challenges-
Femina:
It's true even today.
Binod:
Another challenge that I know you faced, for sure, is because while the CFA journey was going on, you delivered and you had a daughter as well. Now that must have, of course, affected the whole exam taking process, right?
Femina:
Yes. I was so determined, because I had taken level two, I had passed level two and I was so determined to finish level three next year. But just ... life is full of surprises, and I was surprised that I was pregnant. And then my daughter was due just before my exam in Feb. So even then I told myself, because when I went back home to U.S. to deliver her, I took all my CFA books. You will not believe this, but my luggage was full of CFA books, and I was studying till the last day I delivered. But the moment I delivered, my life fell apart and there is no way I could gather my thoughts or anything, and I couldn't even appear for the exam.
Binod:
Right, right.
Femina:
I understated it, I think.
Binod:
You understated the risk exactly of being a mother at that stage, right? So I have another question I have to ask you again ... mentors and importance of a mentor in your career, specifically in in portfolio management. So tell me a few things about mentoring that you experienced. What is your view on mentorship and mentoring and has it worked for you, and why?
Femina:
It has worked wonders for me. I honestly believe that life is too short to do all your mistakes by yourself. You have to learn from others and it's always good to have someone else's perspective, especially the person who has your best interest in mind, because that's what a mentor is for, right? To encourage you, to give you the confidence that you need, and to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Because sometimes you just have this focused thinking where you're not able to think differently, and that's when the mentor comes into place, and the best part is they're free.
Binod:
Exactly. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. I always tell people, try and find a mentor at work, try and find a mentor at work if possible, or from your professor in college, or someone who is able and willing to help you. But again, it's tricky, because what I find is the, mentors have to believe in you as well.
Femina:
Right, it's two way street.
Binod:
It's a two way street. I mentor very few people, as you know. And I'm quite picky about that because you have to believe in that person, that that person will listen to you and implement what you have told him or her, and it will become successful, and will take the initiative, and not wait for me to ask, follow up on meetings, et cetera, et cetera. So it's a very interesting, but I think much neglected part of someone's career, you know.
Femina:
And there's also studies done, like the Lean In book by Sheryl Sandberg. She mentioned that there's a high chance of you being successful if you have a mentor.
Binod:
Right. Absolutely. Yes. It's not just by the way in career, but also in business, or if you're an entrepreneur.
Femina:
Yeah. Business, career, whatever. Yeah.
Binod:
Absolutely, I've seen quite a few research studies. So how are you working on yourself now? Because right now there's no CFA in your life anymore, in all the studies is ... by the way, do you miss the studies or the books?
Femina:
No. Far from it.
Binod:
I see a lot of people saying they miss the classes and hit me up.
Femina:
I don't miss it, no, I have a life.
Binod:
Okay, moving on.
Femina:
I missed that life for a long time.
Binod:
So what is your life like right now? How are you working on yourself, these days? What's happening?
Femina:
So my mentor, which is you, was pushing me to write articles.
Binod:
Which you are slowly doing.
Femina:
So I am working on that. I am also working on taking care of my health, and I also read, I love to read. So I love to read self development books, read a lot of books. You keep posting. I'm tempted to post as well, but I don't post it.
Binod:
So what are the good books that you have read recently?
Femina:
But I keep sending it to you.
Binod:
Yeah.
Femina:
I've read a lot of books. Recently I finished Michelle Obama, Becoming Michelle Obama, Lean In, The Happiness Advantage, Tara Westover's Educated. And you learn so much from these books, every time I finish a book I have sent it across to my friends to just push them to read the same thing.
Binod:
Yeah, absolutely.
Femina:
Yeah.
Binod:
I've learned a lot reading books over the last many, many years and I find books are the best friends and the best tutors sometimes. You learn a lot that you cannot learn anywhere else.
Femina:
They give you a completely different perspective on life, it's amazing.
Binod:
And of course, as you know, I'm obsessed with health and fitness. So you have all sort of ... after the exams sort of ... tell me more about that.
Femina:
Yeah, I did work on my health, so I got a personal trainer and I did start working out. I love to swim, so I'm now taking a lot of time for myself at the pool, trying to go back to swimming and hopefully I will take up golf.
Binod:
Okay. Well why golf? I mean, know that's-
Femina:
I just want to see green pastures, which is very difficult to find here in the desert place. So I don't mind it.
Binod:
Yeah, exactly. Of all places, right?
Femina:
And it's a sport. It's categorized as sport. So, well, why not?
Binod:
Well, to each his own is what I say, to each his own. Fantastic. So self-development books, writing articles, working out, fitness. And of course, I have ask you as well, at this stage, key lessons for life and career. And I'm asking from the perspective of someone who wants to be a CFA charter holder, wants to be in portfolio management, probably wants to have a career like yourself, and learn from what you have done, including your mistakes and your lessons. So what do you think?
Femina:
I think the key thing that you need to know if you want to grow in your career, is not to have the ego. To always be a learner, be flexible, be adaptable, because life will throw you in different directions and you need to be able to just keep moving forward. And especially if you're starting off, you need to have that learning attitude. And that's what got me one of the asset management jobs here, because I was so enthusiastic and I had this hunger to learn about the markets and I wanted to be good at what I did. And that's the only thing that drove me. And I think that is the key thing I would look for even when I hire someone.
Binod:
The fire.
Femina:
The fire. Yeah. I don't want you to tell me, "Okay. I have CFA charter so I'm an analyst already." I want you to tell me that I don't know this and I'm willing to learn.
Binod:
I'm willing to be mentored, for example?
Femina:
Yeah.
Binod:
Okay.
Femina:
Yeah.
Binod:
What are the lessons would you want to tell others about ... ?
Femina:
the tough times. So when I was 13 actually, I read this book, Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do. And that stuck with me for the rest of my life. And I still remember the stories from that book, and I cannot agree more with this book. And I've seen that in different phases in my life, and I could not agree more.
Binod:
I mean, you're quite tough, aren't you? Until I got the script for the podcast, I had never really realized how tough and what you have gone through, your personal journey. Traveling from India to U.S. when you were young, working on odd jobs to make ends meet, working with a different culture with white men, et cetera, when you were young. Shifting to Dubai, working in middle office, then slowly and painfully trying to get into the front office as an analyst role, and becoming a portfolio manager. And then passing the CFA exam during all this, and having a child and being a mother. So you have been there, you've done that. Is there anything else? Any other words of wisdom you want to tell about your journey?
Femina:
Yeah. Choose the right partner in life who can encourage you every step of the way.
Binod:
Right. It's a bit of a risky thing because-
Femina:
Especially for women out there.
Binod:
Especially for women, exactly. I think you're right, because if you have a family and you have kids, I think it's very important ... I've heard, I wouldn't know personally, but I have heard from lots of students and mentees, that you need to have that supportive system at work of course, and definitely at home as well. Yeah.
Femina:
Yeah.
Binod:
Fantastic.
Femina:
The last thing I would want to leave the listeners with is a saying from MLK Jr., "If you can't fly then run. If you can't run then walk. If you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward." And this describes my CFA journey - in complete.
Binod:
Fantastic. I think we couldn't end the podcast in a better way. What a great quote, and what an inspirational figure. Thank you so much Femina, for coming on this podcast.
Femina:
Thank you Binod for having me.
Binod:
It's been very inspirational, very insightful, and I'm sure we'll keep interacting. And like I told you earlier, my ambition, my dream, is that you would become a senior portfolio manager, a CIO, and maybe branch on to become bigger and better things in life. And hope I'll be there to see that, all that happen.
Femina:
Yes, yes, you will be there. You're not going anywhere. I'll make sure you're not going anywhere. Thank you for having me, Binod.
Binod:
Thank you so much.
Right guys, so this is Binod Shankar. This is the Real Finance Mentor podcast, delivering insight and inspiration for your finance careers. I hoped you liked this particular session with Femina Huddani. She's a CFA charter holder and portfolio manager and VP working with TNI in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. And she's been describing her journey from the beginning ever since she went to the U.S. up till now when she's a portfolio manager, and looking forward to better things in life. If you have any feedback on this podcast, please let me know on the email address on the website, et cetera. If you know of anyone else who you think can deliver insight and inspiration for finance careers, also reach out to me. I would love to interview such people, and basically record their experience of life as well. So that's pretty much it for now. Talk to you then, talk to you later. Bye.
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