From tour guide to HSBC strategy chief: How a Dutch student found his future in Asia

Résumé détaillé

From tour guide to HSBC strategy chief, Herald Van der Linde shares his investing lessons and love of Asia. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Hong Kong-based Dutchman Herald Van der Linde, head of Asia equity strategy at HSBC, worked as a tour guide in China and Indonesia in the 1990s to earn money to fund his university studies.

SINGAPORE – In the early 1990s, Herald Van der Linde wanted to earn some money to fund his university studies in the Netherlands. He also wanted to broaden his horizons and travel.

The Dutchman decided to take on several jobs, including working as a tour guide in China and Indonesia.

He recalled: “My first trip to China was particularly eventful: I was robbed of US$100 in Shenzhen and later found myself on a plane that made an emergency landing in a padi field near Guilin.”

But he continued his journey, and the experience changed his life, he said.

“From that point onwards, I knew that I wanted to stay in Asia and live and work there.”

After getting his master’s degree in economics, Van der Linde bought a one-way ticket to Indonesia and became a financial analyst there.

The 56-year-old is now head of Asia equity strategy at HSBC and is based in Hong Kong.

He also channelled his love for the region into books. In addition to his financial leadership role at HSBC, he is a historian who has published books including a biography of Jakarta, an exploration of Majapahit, which he calls Indonesia’s greatest empire, and a book on Srivijaya, Indonesia’s first maritime empire.

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