Welcome to our brand new series of #MeetTheATeam! Are you curious to know who are the faces behind the brand? Why did our Head of FinTech Solutions leave a world's leading bank and join robo-advisory company AQUMON? Meet Jacky Lin - our Head of FinTech Solutions. Read on to learn about his #AQUMONLife working in Asia's leading FinTech company! 

 

 

Questions for Jacky 

 

1. RAPID-FIRE QUESTIONS!

 

Fun fact about you? 

 

I am actually a licensed pilot with 500 hours in flight, certified to fly a boeing 737. 

 

 

Craziest thing you did?

 

I did a solo and flew to Martha’s Vineyard from Boston when I was in the U.S during late November as a student pilot. During the season, the route was known for its extreme climates and blizzards, luckily I came back in one piece. 

 

What are you scared of? 

 

Being jobless! When I was studying for my bachelor and masters in the U.S, I worked extremely hard in a Chinese restaurant as a part-time staff to pay off the tuition. I had to do all the dirty work but it was a life lesson in disguise! Because of this experience I learnt that to get things done right, you have to roll up your sleeves and get involved, no matter what position you get promoted to. 

 

If you had to choose one superpower?

 

Personally, I do not believe in superpowers, I believe in hard work. Fate is in your own hands and you are in full control of your future. Perhaps, I would like to have more hours in a day.

 

What is your biggest accomplishment?

 

Having a diverse background of having worked in the U.S, London, Hong Kong and China. This allowed me to meet interesting people and to be exposed to different cultures. I’ve learned to adapt and thrive in a variety of environments. 

 

2. Why did you leave your previous job at a world's leading bank and decide to join AQUMON? 

 

Intuition.

 

I was in a Multinational Bank as Head of Engineering and looked over the sub brand from 0 to 3 million users. It was definitely one of my accomplishments that I treasure in life, however now looking back, the reason I joined was mainly about the salary. That one is a 150-year old brand versus AQUMON a 5-year old startup, no one truly understood why I gave up my high paying job.

 

When I met Don I actually “fell in love” with him. During the first meet up the instant spark and chemistry kept us chatting so deep into the night we actually forgot to have dinner. I remember we started discussing quants, models, solutions, and all the technical stuff at 7:30 pm and we finally ended up having hot pot together at 1 am. 

 

Extended reading: Meet Dr. Don Huang: Breaking out of the Ivory Tower

 

That night I told myself I have to join the #AQUMONteam. It is not about the benefits nor the money, for me it is trusting my gut and the synergy we both had. Plus believing in how AQUMON can disrupt and transform the traditional wealth management industry!

 

You’ll see it when you believe it. 

 

Now, I strongly believe in AQUMON’s mission to empower every investor. Here I have so much more freedom and what we created becomes a solution for our clients. I truly believe in the brand’s potential and going IPO in coming years and by then I can be the CTO of my own products. This is something I would not have been able to achieve if I was still working in that multinational bank.

 

 

 

3. What does the daily life as the Head of FinTech Solutions look like?

 

As a head of anything it is basically self explanatory, I am constantly steering the wheel. I have back-to-back meetings solving retail and institutional clients’ technical issues and there are always messages and emails to go through during the day. Other times, I would be in the zone reading technical articles and programming codes, this is what I enjoyed the most as it's the only time I can focus on my own thing. 

 

If I have to choose one aspect that I can improve about my job, I would just hope there will be less meetings in order to increase efficiency and deliver more tangible results. As meetings tend to overrun and there were days that I worked overtime till 2am. Don’t get me wrong I love what I’m doing at AQUMON, I just think it is wise to always have a work life balance and not bring back work to my private life, to keep the passion going. 

 

 

 

4. What do you do to de-stress from a busy week at work?

 

If my stress level is mild I would go to the gym and jog or I can just stay home and do something that is relaxing like doing my laundry while listening to music. 

 

The thing that relaxes me the most is when I am in the air doing my flight training. No cell phones, just 100% focused on the present. For me flying is simple. I just set a route from start to finish with pre-set parameters, unlike at work where situations can be extremely unpredictable. 

 

 

 

5. What interests drove you to focus your career on I.T and Fintech?

 

This was not one of those passions at a young age. In 2001, I actually studied Computer Science first, however the tech bubble burst, companies like AOL(America Online) went bankrupt (that was the OG of Social Media) and then based on INTUITION I decided to switch to studying for a double major in Finance and Information Technology as I felt that both fields are going to be the next big trend. 

 

Will I ever get out of the industry? Yes, anything is possible and frankly I would love to retire when AQUMON lists in the coming 3 years. Who knows? I might even start my second chapter in life and become a certified flight instructor CFI.

 

 

6. Who are the people who impact your life and your success?

 

This will be my father. He was born in a village and due to the social upheaval at the time, he was not given the opportunity to finish his primary school education. He worked as a mini van delivery driver and worked extremely hard to be the breadwinner of the family. During my teenage years he would wake up at 5:00 am and get back home at midnight, and at times I would work with him as well on the job to earn my allowance.

 

I would always be thankful for his contributions, which allowed me to embark on my own journey. His attitude towards life always motivated me to work even harder and be grateful for what I achieved. My belief ever since was that hard work will always pay off.

 

 

7. What is the biggest difference between AQUMON and other FinTech companies? What is the AQUMON spirit?

 

This is my first time working in a startup after 15 years being in the financial industry. First initial thought is that AQUMON’s working environment is just like a university. No matter if it’s the Algo, BD, or Marketing team, the majority of them are fresh out of college. I love working with young passionate talents and I can guarantee we are not just a bunch of people wearing ties in “monkey suits”. The younger talents are eager to make a difference in the FinTech industry, and as upper management, we value their voices and make the effort to nurture their growth. If something is not working out and we hit a few bumps on the road, it is not a big deal as we always bounce back and learn from it. Now THIS is the AQUMON startup spirit. 

 

 

8. What is the biggest misconception towards FinTech?

 

There is always this misconception in movies where FinTech is the hippest and coolest industry. In reality, it is quite tough and as a team we always have quite a few hurdles to overcome. In a FinTech startup, resources are very limited and the hierarchy is flat; this usually means you have to do anything and everything no matter your level and title, especially learning to go beyond your comfort zone. There was one time, I went to a university recruitment talk along with two HR colleagues. We were in a hurry and only had instant noodles for lunch, while scattering and carrying our luggage to reach the venue. There were only 3 students who showed up for one session, but we still needed to make it happen and put on a good show. Moments like these are good reminders to work even harder to get our mission and brand name across to the public. 

 

 

9. How did AQUMON impact the current Hong Kong financial market in your opinion?

 

AQUMON’s slogan is Investors, Tech empowered. We are a FinTech giant in terms of data volume, processing more than 200TB data and we continue to grow rapidly. Our Robo advisory as a Service (RaaS) is a very unique model that solves multiple problems in banks, insurance companies, mutual funds and brokerage funds using quantitative investment algorithms with a scalable IT framework. The cloud base service actually reduces 90% of development time and saves over 50% of operation costs. It impacted many financial institutions and will continue to transform the wealth management field in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

 

 

10. What is the next trend in FinTech? 

 

Everything on Cloud. 

 

Back then we had a lot of data centers, which were costly and difficult to maintain. I believe many fields, including finance, manufacture and e-commerce would also want their services to be on cloud. This is just a matter of time as it is easy to access, maintain and make changes. 

 

Everything on Subscription. 

 

Nobody will be able to predict AQUMON’s future business model. Currently, we are working with a brokerage firm and the business model will probably last for 2-3 years. When institutions invest on a premise solution,it will cost them money after a few years when they need to change the system. For subscription it will be just like your Apple iCloud, it can be online when clients decide to use the service and can be offline any other time. 

 

Everything on Plug and Play

 

API, technical framework and interface have to be standardized. The onboarding process will be simple and instant, saving cost and being more efficient.

 

 

11. What is your biggest breakthrough in AQUMON? 

 

I am quite amazed by how many projects we rolled out in the past year. We are trying new things every month and it feels like five years compressed into one. Back in the day, I was the person who pushed everyone and made sure they delivered. Now imagine having 10 Jackys in the team with the mentality of “I want it today, I want it now!”  It is no longer about strategizing perfection but rather learning and improving as we go along. When we are climbing up fast, there are bound to be obstacles. It is tough, but when I am at the peak, it just feels awesome. 

 

As seasoned pilots always say, “the toughest environment produces the best pilots.” There is a known fact, Alaska produces the best pilots in North America due to the harsh weather conditions. AQUMON strives to be Alaska and in this industry as we produce the best talent across all teams.

 

 

 

If you are interested in working with AQUMON and would like to join our mission to revolutionize the financial industry, check out our vacancies HERE. 

 

Talents define the essence of AQUMON and what we stand for. That’s why we treasure the uniqueness of each individual. Eager to learn more about the working culture of AQUMON? Stay tuned for our next #MeetTheATeam interview and follow AQUMON’s Linkedin for more exciting updates!

 

Extended reading: Up Close and Personal With The A-Team CEO: Kelvin Lei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About us

AQUMON is a Hong Kong based award-winning financial technology company. Our mission is to leverage smart technology to make next-generation investment services affordable, transparent and accessible to both institutional clients and the general public. Through its proprietary algorithms and scalable, technical infrastructure, AQUMON’s automated platform empowers anyone to invest and maximise their returns. AQUMON has partnered with more than 100 financial institutions in Hong Kong and beyond, including AIA, CMB Wing Lung Bank, ChinaAMC, and Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, affiliate of BOC International Holdings Limited, Zheng He Capital Management and Cyberport are among AQUMON's investors. 

 

The brand is held under Magnum Research Limited and is licensed with Type 1, 4 and 9 under the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong. AQUMON is also licensed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).

 

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