"The level of self belief required to take the plunge in to a new business venture is awesome. No matter the outcome, generally people grow stronger from the experience. Overnight success stories generally take 10yrs to create!"-Daniel Weston
Finding one’s way in business and life is never easy, however this Australian has done so from an early age and proved that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it. FirstStep.me spoke to him about his career in trading and his life ambitions.
Where are you currently located on the planet? Living in Munich, Germany. From Perth, Australia
You work as an investor and a trader? Yes, I’m very fortunate that I get to do what I love! I have three aspects of my career as an investor and trader. I manage my own small global macro hedge fund portfolio. I invest with a unique strategy I have developed called the “Aimed investment cycle”. This process helps me stay disciplined in assessing the global economic environment and helps me decide what countries to invest in through equities, bonds, or commodities.
At Schroeder Equities in Munich, I’m the assistant adviser to an Australian focused equity fund which is based in Europe, called the Nestor Australien Fond.
Also, I'm an investor in commodity and technology companies around the world that are at various stages, from start-up to producers. From gold mining, to data analysis. (FirstStep.me say’s: Nice One!)
Where did you kick-start your career and how did you progress to get to where you are now? Fortunately it was through turning hobbies in to businesses. Gratefully, my Father introduced me to the Australian stock market when I was 15 and that’s when I first started trading mining company stocks with around $500 he gave me to invest. I didn't really know what I was doing, but it was a great learning experience. I developed a passion for the markets and was curious as to what would make them move up or down.
Further thanks to my Grandfather and Uncle, ever since I was very young I was always fascinated by computers, and at eighteen I started an IT consulting business which turned out to be a great success, which I sold when I was 23. I had fantastic clients which were mainly schools, part time technical staff, and I personally undertook management of operations, accounting, supply chain, marketing, sales, and service.
Whilst running the IT business, I continued to trade in the stock market, and bought my first investment property. I had some fantastic wins - and some significant losses which ill talk about later, but I realized in these years that investing was my real passion and what I wanted to focus on long term. After selling the business and the investment property, I went travelling in Europe trading shares from my laptop with no fixed plans. The first stop on my trip was Munich, and after only a week I got itchy feet to get in to business again. Through a fortunate turn of events, I met Wilhelm Schroeder, who is a very successful and highly respected investor. He was previously running the Munich office of the Australian investment bank, Macquarie Bank, and was now setting up his own business advising European funds on Australian stock market investments. We spent a few hours building a friendship and discussing my background and experience, and although he hadn't planned on employing anyone, he offered me a job! I gratefully accepted!
From the first day working with Mr Schroeder back in 2007, I was given great freedom in my role. I discovered that using my IT skills to analyze economic data to make investment decisions was what I enjoyed the most. I have used this opportunity as a platform in recent years to build my own investment strategies and philosophies with success.
In terms of the global economic climate, what are the concerns and opportunities that you see? My biggest concerns are based around high levels of western world government debt, financial engineering, and the value of money. History has shown that debt can't be fixed with more debt, and paper backed money made by governments isn't sustainable.
Therefore, the biggest opportunities are in taking advantage of these concerns!
I believe that the real value of commodities will increase through demand, scarcity and a devaluation of currencies. Innovation in science and technology will always be in high demand. Most importantly, the biggest opportunity is always for anyone to start their own business in a field they have an advantage in. (FirstStep.me says: touché)
Do you believe that your work day should be ignited with a cup of coffee in the Morning (note the FirstStep.me team is inspired by coffee)? I actually only just bought my first coffee machine for my apartment!
Any career is a challenging one, is there one challenge that is tougher than the rest? Being bold and standing out from the crowd, making tough calls, starting a business, and well prepared risk taking are huge challenges. They might not be the safest things to do, but usually end up with a positive outcome.
Where do you see your career in next 5 to 10 years developing into? I desire to be an investor, and trader for the rest of my life. Whether it is with my own capital or for investors. I have a plan and a process in place to ensure my career is sustainable. I also love to be involved with great people and ideas, helping innovative and extraordinary businesses grow, so I will always be open to those opportunities.
In the long term my goals are pretty simple. Freedom of time, freedom of place, Freedom of money.
In terms of the working world, do you feel that sustainability is most important, or is the good old “work hard and sleep when you dead” ideology better? Working hard is important, as long as you ask yourself if you’re "working smart".
Long term it’s a focus on sustainability which is the key. Although we all learn this the hard way! There has been many times over the years where I’ve been working until 3am, and start again at 8am. Either through excitement in solving a problem, or trading 24 hours a day on markets in different time zones! This isn’t sustainable, and stops you from performing at your best.
What has been the most insane experience that has happened in your career? In my early 20's, I invested everything, and then borrowed more to invest more, in to one stock. This company had a legal decision go against them which crushed the share price. I was forced to sell and lost everything! The problem was, My IT Company was 9 months away from landing its next contract, and the investment property I had at the time had a big mortgage which had monthly repayments, and needed to be renovated! I was using credit cards to pay for the renovations, and cash advancing from the credit card to pay for the mortgage repayments for 6 months! This was a horrible time but taught me fantastic lessons such as, the importance of risk management, leverage, debt, and diversification. Which I am sure will prove to be the most important in my career. Fortunately I was able to sell the property at a great profit, and my IT business got the contracts. However for 6 months it was very difficult! I've also been flying on a private jet with a multi-billionaire, while he spent the entire flight on phone calls, screaming at his stock broker, geologist, and architect.
Are there any people in business that inspire you? Anyone who starts their own business inspires me. The level of self belief required to take the plunge in to a new business venture is awesome. No matter the outcome, generally people grow stronger from the experience. Overnight success stories generally take 10yrs to create!
What words of advice do you have for the youth of the world who want to take on a career with the sort of ambition that you have shown? I would recommend to youth of today to learn a computer programming language. Start by buying a book on the basics. The opportunities for people with programming skills are endless and will only improve. My favourite short poem I recite to myself is "Believe in yourself, and in your plan, say not cannot, but I can. The prizes in life we fail to win, only if we doubt the power within." I also frequently ask myself, what is my aspiration, inspiration, motivation, and dedication. I think that if we can answer these honestly to ourselves, then we can create a path of where we want to head.
Finally if you could name your own planet what would you call it? Aspiration
Find out more about Daniel Weston and his project's on his personal website: danielweston.com
