Having changed my jobscope from an operational role to a credit analyst has been challenging. In the past, my work in an operational space was structured and clean - there were daily tasks which had to be done and mundane repetitive work which numbed my brain. For example, the endless photocopying, scanning and data input of ISDA agreements when I was in CDG; then the mountain of overlimits transactions for investigation and resolution. It was always the same story that I sent out requesting for help in the trade investigation - it was either a settlement excess, peak exposure excess, tenor excess, trade booked wrongly, overstated credit exposure due to wonky credit feeds or a mixture of the above. The repetition was boring but once you got the hang of it, you got faster at your work, could solve problems better and efficiency improves. It felt good to me at the end of the work-day to reflect that I had completed input of 3 ISDA agreements or had completed 200 overlimits. Maybe it is just a me thing; but I like the idea of having had a productive day (in terms of quantity).
As a credit analyst now, my work has become much more varied - I totally enjoy it. I have gained plenty of structured finance product knowledge and understand the credit thinking behind transactions. It makes me happy to know that I can speak intelligently about Chinese real estate and how it is a growing asset bubble; yet is fundamentally different from the US's real estate crash because Chinese real estate developers are not as leveraged. It is sustained by real demand due to China's rapid urbanisation and less of speculative demand and bad underwriting standards. I like it that I finally understand all those Master Confirmations agreements I used to input in CDG. In the past, they were some unknown agreement to me except that I knew they were for some form of iTraxx index trading (and I did not know what was index trading to begin with). Now, I know that iTraxx allows one to take on credit exposure to a basket of 20 credits grouped by their ratings (e.g. high yield = sub-investment grade or high grade = investment grade) so that the index can be a macro hedge against the general credit environment. Of course, I could go on and on about my work and what I have learnt (which I think I already had - but I could still rattle on).
Unfortunately, the sad bit about my work now is that it is not quantifiable (except some small bits of it). Therefore, I find it hard sometimes to answer "How has your day been?" My work day is full of scattered bits of work and credit analysis; so much so that sometimes, my day is just spent escalating issues, writing e-mails or surfing the internet to search for information. The daily sense of 'achievement' is not strong anymore (since my work is hardly quantifiable) but I take pride now in the knowledge I have gained. And not to forget; my truckloads of readings related to work that I have to catch up on. I am a true believer of job satisfaction (versus only monetary satisfaction) and am happy I took the road less travelled with Chris and my work.
min on Friday, April 04, 2008
The hairstylists were not particularly innovative; I noticed that 8 ladies out of 10 had their hair curled (even those who had curls in their hair; they just had curlier hair after their make-over). I had contemplated having my hair curled when I finally muster the patience to grow it to an appropriate length. After this make-over session, I am quite sure that I will not be curling my locks anytime soon. I look like a Barbie doll and was quite uncomfortable with it since I felt quite like a Stepford wife. While waiting for my turn at the make-up counter, here is a picture of my two BFF since secondary two; Shiling and Peixin. We were catching the evening show at Lido and they graciously waited for me to get made over while catching up on the latest gossip.
Finally, the make-up was done and here is a picture which Shiling took with her new digital camera. The shot that the photographer took was rubbish as he posed me in quite an uncomfortable position. 
Last self-portrait of the day. My brother saw me when I got home and said I look hideous with my curled hair; my housekeeper said I looked 30; and Chris summed it up best "You look like an SPG". Nope, I think curled locks just are not meant for me.
The letter paper weighs 8 grams and the envelope weighs 10 grams. Therefore, a hand-written love letter weighs 18 grams. Given the technological age in which we live, one can easily express love via SMS, e-mail or a phone call and there would be no need for the old-fashioned love letter. It takes effort to fold the letter, put it in an envelope, affix the correct postage and finally carry 18 grams to the post office for mailing. Therefore, if you ever receive a hand-written love letter, you know the love weighs 18 grams.