He Engineers a Career in Forex Trading (Joyce Teo, The Straits Times Sunday, 11 March 2012)

The Straits Times – Sunday, 11 March 2012. Editor: Joyce Teo

FX1 Academy chief ventured into a completely different field and struck gold after learning from the best

Some people think they can make $50,000 a month or 10 times their money within a few months when they do forex trading, or trading in currencies.

But it is like gambling, and if the exchange rates do not go their way, they can easily lose all of their money, said forex trader Mario Sant Singh, 35, the chief executive of FX1 Academy, which teaches investors to trade based on fundamental and technical analysis.

‘It depends on the capital you start with,’ he said. ‘If you start with $10,000, then a return of 5 per cent a month will yield only $500. If you start with $1 million, the same 5 per cent will give you $50,000 a month.’

He added that it is not difficult to make a return of 50 per cent to 100 per cent a year, but few make this amount because they are not disciplined when it comes to cutting losses. Trading is very much about the way you manage your impulses and how disciplined you are, he said.

‘Not many people are disciplined. What they should do is just set a stop-loss limit. You literally key it into the platform,’ he added. ‘This will allow the market to take you out so you don’t have to wrestle with the notion of hanging on to a losing trade.’

Mr Singh, who writes a weekly forex column in my paper, has appeared many times on CNBC to give his views on the currency market and global finance.

He graduated with a third-class honours degree in chemical engineering from the National University of Singapore in 2000 but did not bother to pursue a career in the field after he applied for a job at Shell but did not hear from the company.

Instead, he joined a network marketing firm selling health products and conducted training sessions as its head coach in South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

‘I was trained to think like an entrepreneur. What I learnt was that any mentor can guide you on knowledge and action but no one can help you with desire. You have to want it. You can do anything as long as you want to do it,’ he said.

He started cleaning company Spick n’ Span International in 2004 and sold it for $150,000 in 2007 before starting FX1 Academy.

Mr Singh is married to housewife Shalyn, 43. Their daughter Chantelle is 21/2 years old and their son Elliot is four months old.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

Both. My wife and I do not spend much on ourselves, but we do spend on the children. We tithe 10 per cent of our income to City Harvest Church, save 20 per cent, invest 20 per cent and spend the rest on household expenses and the children.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

I’ve never been a big fan of credit cards because my mum taught me not to rely on them.
I prefer debit cards, but now that I am travelling more for business, I am starting to use credit cards more often. I charge about $5,000 to the cards every month, mostly for flights and hotel stays, and accumulate points to redeem rewards.

The bills are always paid on time. I also withdraw about $500 to $700 a week for my daily expenses.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

I have life and term policies with a total coverage of $1 million. My critical illness and accident cover cost $500,000 each. My family is covered in these areas.

Apart from my business, I have my forex trading accounts and I also keep some cash. My business is almost on autopilot, which is why I can focus on travelling and opening up new markets.

I started forex trading six years ago. Because I trade with leverage, my goal is to double my two accounts every year. The game plan is to achieve 6 per cent monthly returns and compound them every month. That will give me 100 per cent returns annually.

I have made a six-figure sum from forex trading in the past five years. I start small, with $5,000, and roll over the profits, which I withdraw about once a year.

Leverage will amplify your gains but it may not amplify your loss. The key thing is to be consistently profitable. You should not risk too much of your account. Look at it from a year’s perspective.

Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

I am a middle child. My brother Mark is a year older and sister Maria is five years younger. My mum and dad were teachers. They worked hard and instilled solid values in all of us. My parents taught us the value of money since we were young – that we had to earn money to buy what we wanted.

During the He-Man craze when I was eight, I literally begged my parents to buy me a figurine each time a new one came out. I did not get one most of the time.

I must have an entrepreneurial streak in me, because I started renting out my comic books to my classmates in Secondary 1 for 50 cents a day. That gave me a passive income of $10 a month.

My dad died when I was 16 and my mum took it upon herself to see us through university. It certainly was not easy and I am forever grateful to her for that.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

I did a bit of contra trading in my university days and that opened my mind to trading and investing.

I was part of a small group who found it difficult to focus during lectures. Hence, we would huddle and discuss our ‘hot picks’ during those times.

My first lesson came when I started a forex trading account with US$3,000 several years back and went short on British pound/US dollar. Each time the price went up, I clicked ‘sell’, hoping to catch the reversal. I burned the account in six days.

I realised it was because I did not have a proper knowledge of the markets. Forex is linked to everything. Since I was not trained in economics or finance, I knew I had to get good mentors to coach me. I wrote to Mr Ed Ponsi and Ms Kathy Lien, the biggest names in the forex trading arena. I found out they were coming to Singapore for a talk, so I went for it and asked them to be my mentors, and they agreed.

These people, who are good at what they do, they do not mind teaching others. I am also inspired by Dr Alexander Elder, who wrote Trading For A Living and Come Into My Trading Room.

WORST AND BEST BETS

Q: What is your worst investment to date?

This happened three years ago when I invested $30,000 to buy two plots of land in Britain that were marketed by Land Wealth Centre.

My friend was an agent and recommended it so I decided to support him. I also wanted to diversify my portfolio and own some land.

I was receiving regular quarterly payouts of $150 for a year when it suddenly stopped. I made a trip to the Tanjong Pagar office after getting no reply on the phone.

I realised it was a goner when I saw that it was totally cleared out. My friend, the agent, told me the company was going through some problems with the British authorities. It wasn’t long before the company folded.

Q: What is your best investment to date?

My company FX1 Academy has pulled in a net profit of over $1 million within the first two years of starting operations, just from the training division alone.

And last year, I invested $200,000 in a consortium which owns 1,500 sq km of land in Papua New Guinea that is earmarked for a large-scale oil palm plantation.

The entity will list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in less than three months and I am expecting a return of at least five times my capital.

Q: What property do you own?

In 2006, I bought a flat in Singapore’s first Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project, The Premiere@Tampines, for $371,000. The 1,200 sq ft five-room flat is now worth almost $700,000.

Q: What’s the most extravagant thing you have bought?

It would be a princess-cut diamond ring for my wife Shalyn. It cost almost $8,000. I have no regrets as the smile she wears with it is worth a million dollars.

Q: What’s your retirement plan?

I have found my flow in the forex world and plans are on track for me to be financially independent by 40. As a family, we now need about $12,000 a month.

I do not know if I will retire, although the thought of sipping pina coladas on a beach sounds nice. I love what I do. Meeting new people every day and touching lives through forex trading drives me.

Q: Home is now…

My DBSS flat at The Premiere@Tampines.

Q: I drive…

A black BMW 5.23i.

(Source: MarioSingh.com)