On the move: Hartmut

Previous role:

Head of Wealth Management Research, India (and then Singapore)

Current role:

Head of Equity APAC, Wealth Management, Singapore

When I changed location and job, I felt a great confidence and a sense of responsibility. I knew my managers had put their own reputation at stake by assigning me this new role. I had to find opportunities to grow the portfolio of our teams in a way that made sense for the business (and I was expected to prove it, too). I thrived on being given only high-level guidance and the empowerment to deliver results by myself.

I was fortunate enough to have numerous line managers who took talent development very seriously. My own development was shaped by jumping in at the deep end, rather than formal training. The latter clearly helps and is invaluable for networking, but nothing can replace being given a real life project to solve.

Occasionally I’d be invited to present our work at management committees. This is very good practice and it also sharpens your focus, helping you to rethink and demonstrate your contributions.

In my view, there are two main factors that help you qualify for a change of roles and relocation:

1) The first is to build a very clear and visible subject matter expertise that is hard for an external candidate in the region to replicate.

2) The second aspect is to develop a network that makes you an obvious choice to be sent. After all, it is tremendously beneficial in a new role to be very familiar with existing procedures, to come with ideas for improvement already in mind, and to have a network of colleagues in both locations to help.

Hartmut in a nutshell

Living and working in Singapore, Hartmut makes regular appearances in Asian and international media. As well as a love for cycling, Hartmut has a deep interest in Indian and Asian history.