Introduction
Financial Literacy for Youths: Malaysia (FLY) is a student-run non-profit organisation that aims to empower youths and spread awareness of the importance of financial knowledge through the education of finance, economics, technology and investment. We aim to achieve our purpose via CSR Programmes, Journalism Interviews, Research Articles, Finance-Centred Seminars, etc. To cater to these objectives, we have designed our annual flagship event, the Malaysian Youth Finance Series (MYFS), to equip participants with ample financial knowledge.
Theme
MYFS 2022’s theme was ‘Start-up to IPO’ which was set to enlighten youths and nurture their skills, from having a correct mindset to getting funding to turn a creative idea into a commercial reality. It was a one-day event consisting of a series of webinars, panel sessions, and interactive activities to give a glimpse of what are indeed the essential building blocks of a successful start-up. A short writing competition with the same theme was held simultaneously to spice up the event.
MYFS 2022 D-Day (9th July 2022)
The event started with opening remarks by the President of FLY Malaysia, Cheong Hien, followed by 2 panel discussions, a webinar and ended with our interactive sessions. Scroll through the page to learn more about each of the segments!
Session 1 : How to Kick-start Your Entrepreneurial Journey
The Panel was moderated by an internal moderator, Hariz Shah, Research Executive of FLY: Malaysia. The panellists were:
- Mr. John Huo, Co-founder of FIRL LLP
- Mr. Wong Chun Weng, Co-founder of Taverndao
- Mr. Shahryn Azmi, Co-founder of MakeTimePay
- Mr. Jan Wong, Founder of Openminds
In this riveting panel discussion, we covered:
- Stories of the entrepreneurs in their startup journey
- Challenges faced before and after launching the business and steps taken to overcome them
- Changes to adapt to in the current working norm
- Advice to youths who are interested in starting their own business
In the sense that many young minds are fueled with enthusiasm and passion to bring their ideas to the table, feasibility has always been the major pain point threatening the profitability of the project. Ultimately their ideas are being tested for long-term viability, whether it is sustainable or too good to be true.
“Not just with your own money, but rather, start with none at all to see if you can reap the first dollar on your own. It is proof to validate that your idea, product or service is potentially marketable. I am a huge advocate of bootstrapping, to always test and validate until I see return generated from every dollar incurred, before taking a step further pitching to investors.” – Mr. Jan Wong
Riding on the trending wave of content creation across social media which has been influencing society at large, paving a career as a YouTuber is becoming mainstream in today’s world.
“Content creation is the least concern to me, what prevails is whether I am effectively building a good connection with the audience. There must be a balance in juggling between coming up with a message that appeals to the masses and the capacity to understand to make sure the thoughts are getting across.” – Mr. John Huo
We concluded the panel discussion with an interactive Q&A session. Our audiences were delighted to gain an array of perspectives from successful entrepreneurs possessing rich expertise in their respective fields who have achieved remarkable milestones in their own ventures.
Session 2 : IPO & Industry Trends
We proceeded with the later phase of a start-up in its journey towards scalable fundraising in the primary market. This panel discussion was a long and fruitful session moderated by Zachary Lim Hong Sern, Journalism Executive at FLY: Malaysia. The panellists were:
- Ms. Liza Tan, Senior Manager in Audit and Assurance
- Mr. Shawn Kueh, Senior Associate in Equity Capital Markets
- Mr. Muhammad Izzat Asri bin Azmi, Manager of Corporate Finance
A number of key subtopics were explored including:
- Introduction and objectives of IPOs
- Process of how a company goes public and the role IPO plays in that process
- Key differences between a traditional IPO and going public via SPAC
Our audience undoubtedly gained new insights from our experienced panellists on this topic. A few highlights of the session:
“It happens that some homegrown start-ups opt for initial public offering overseas due to less stringent listing requirements such as the one enjoyed in Thailand, the greater potential of the amount to be raised in some high demand markets, and the nature and marketability of the company’s offerings in those particular markets to guarantee investors’ confidence. For instance, technology companies generally receive more compelling valuation in the United States, while Malaysia tends to favour or bias towards retail players with more predictable and consistent earnings alongside steady streams of dividends.” – Ms. Liza Tan
“The most prudent measure as a retail investor is understanding one’s own risk appetite, and studying the prospectus to have a better gauge on the company’s competitive positioning and standing among rivalry in the industry while evaluating the quality of financial performance. This essentially helps avoid being a victim when the company is apparently undertaking account manipulation or falsifying the true nature of the business.” – Mr. Shawn Kueh
Moreover, Mr. Muhammad Izzat touched on Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), also commonly known as a blank check company in the industry that is absent of commercial operation by nature and formed strictly to raise capital from IPO and subsequently engage in merger & acquisition with another company. It has been gaining attention over the years as some high-growth start-ups are adopting the approach. 
We wrapped up this segment with a Q&A session to address the questions our audience had about the topic, and due to the overwhelming responses, the panellists were only able to reply to a few of them and the rest were addressed differently in a post on our social media accounts.
Session 3 : Warrants 101 We had a lunch break after the 2 long panel discussions and resumed with an investment sharing, focusing on structured warrants by derivatives specialists from RHB Investment Bank. The speakers were:
- Ms. Amy Ng, Warrant Specialist
- Mr. Zac Chooi, CFA, Unit Head, Origination of Group Equity Derivatives
“Warrant sensitivity simply means how fast the warrant moves, to understand to what extent the warrant moves along with its mother share. Effective gearing is a leverage effect uniquely found in warrants that are likely to deviate in a bigger magnitude as compared to mother shares, whereas time value is always subject to time decay as it approaches maturity and important for investors to know whether it is cash settlement or expiration.” – Mr. Zac Chooi, CFA
“Warrant is designated for short-term trading, which is different from buying shares in a bid to enjoy dividends and voting rights. For instance, if you are anticipating near-term fluctuation in the share price within a certain range either upside or downside, a warrant is just right to capture the expectation as the warrant generally expires in less than a year.” – Ms. Amy Ng
Mr. Zac further explained that it is worth holding for a year or longer if you opine that there is a chance the share price will skyrocket to more than compensate for the time decay and will yield a good payoff. To conclude, Ms. Amy suggested referring to the warrant matrix when it is near expiry but the share price is drifting from the exercise price by a great amount, which implies an enhanced risk of expiring out of the money. It is best to cut losses by selling at the best available price with sufficient liquidity, and bear in mind that the maximum loss is capped at the initial capital contributed to buy the warrant.
They also demonstrated how to navigate through the RHB’s Investment platform and use it for warrants trading. 
A warrant quiz was conducted via Kahoot to assess participants’ grasp of warrants after listening to the talk. They were equally assigned to two breakout rooms to attempt the quiz. All winners were eligible to be awarded cash prizes, and Chong Wei Kang and Yeoh Wern Jie emerged as the quiz champions in their respective breakout rooms. 
Lucky Draw Contest
The last session of the day was the much anticipated lucky draw with a prize pool of up to RM1000, specially designated for the attendees that stayed throughout the event. The lucky winners were randomly picked by using the Wheel of Names, and they were:
- Sabirah Rasyiqah
- Chiew Qian Hui
- Jolene Tham
Short Writing Competition (IPOs : Selling Them The Haystack)
Prior to the commencement of all the sessions on the event day, a short writing competition was launched to serve as an avenue for honing the critical thinking skills of participants in exploring the realm of equity fundraising by producing a 500 – 800 word essay within the period of 21st June to 17th July. The intensive competition was judged by:
- Mr. Lee Yang Ler, Private Equity Analyst
- Mr. Edmond Yap Kam-Yuan, Business Development Manager & Ex-Investment Banker
The evaluation of the IPO in the case study involved:
- Current trends and how they will allow for a fair/unfair price discovery in the market
- Possible risks associated with market competition and investors that could affect Mall-E’s future valuation and growth
- Real-world examples
We were glad to reveal the winners on our social media after the judges’ deliberation. These fellow contestants had great substance in their short essays, which surpassed expectations. Participants were judged based on their degree of understanding towards IPOs by including well-developed examples and elaborations to illustrate the entire process of an IPO and its purpose using the information given in the text. After a close competition, the results were concluded as below:
- 1st Place : James Lai
- 2nd Place : Chong Wei Kang
- 3rd Place : Yiaw Xue Er
Conclusion
MYFS 2022 was a huge success, and it would not have been without the support from our sponsors, collaborators, speakers, and not forgetting, all the participants joining the event. 
A huge shoutout to:
- RHB Investment Bank
- Financial Planning of Association of Malaysia (FPAM)
- Smart Finance
- Deloitte Malaysia
We are immensely grateful for having them in our annual flagship event. Their kind support had definitely motivated us to deliver our best and brought MYFS to greater heights! With that, this marks an end to the Malaysian Youth Finance Series (MYFS) 2022. From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank every one of you who contributed to the event’s success. We hope the sessions were beneficial and have given you new perspectives on the topics discussed during the event. We have more to offer in our coming events, so stay tuned!
Writers: Chia Jing Ying & Hariz Shah
Reviewer: Ho Jia Jing
Editor: Angelina Choo
