Ashley Dale, Harvest Global Investments
Job title: Chief business development officer and chief marketing officer.
Previous job: International head of distribution and chief marketing officer, Mirae Asset Global Investments.
Years in the region: Eight years in Hong Kong.
What do you consider to be your home town? London.
Educational background: Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
First job in the industry: Portfolio manager at GLS Capital in 2003. Prior to that I was a stockbroker at CLSA, SG and Barings.
What is the toughest challenge you’ve faced in your professional life? My first tour to Northern Ireland as a 22-year-old second lieutenant. I had command of a platoon of 30 soldiers, operating in often very dangerous situations.
What achievement are you most proud of? What we are achieving at Harvest. Taking a very successful Chinese asset manager and turning it into a respected international player.
What advice would you give to someone who is beginning their career in the funds industry? Come with a sense of optimism and always look towards the future. Do not be afraid to air your views because it is your generation who will shape the future of the industry and therefore your own career.
If you could change one thing about the funds industry, what would it be? Over-regulation. The industry will struggle to remain relevant and value creative under the weight of ever more complex regulatory requirements.
What is your greatest ambition? To give my children the happiest and most fulfilling of childhoods, and to equip them with as many tools to be the best they possibly can be.
What’s the best investment you’ve made? Buying my first property in South London with my wife when I left the military. We sold it two years later and doubled our money. It’s probably worth ten times that now!
Tell us something about you that most people don’t know: I was brought up in a pub.
Favourite country to visit? Kazakhstan. I took the family skiing there a few winters ago. It was wild, spectacular and great fun.
Favourite type of food? French. My desert island meal is escargots, steak and frites, crème brûlée. I love French cuisine.
Favourite book or film? Catch-22. It is multi-layered, sad, funny, horrifying and mad. A great read!
Your house is burning. Your family is safe. You have time to rescue one object. What would it be and why? Our cat, the much-loved Buster, which might make him finally like me.
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