Grow by CNBC + Acorn - Here is My Story

Grow by CNBC + Acorn - Here is My Story

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https://grow.acorns.com/how-self-made-millionaire-maurice-ng-built-wealth-plans-to-give-back/

Maurice Ng and his family were in serious financial trouble when they immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong in 2008. That struggle spurred Ng to help his family, though he didn't speak English and had no idea how to succeed in the U.S.

Thirteen years later, Ng, 30, is a self-made millionaire in Queens, New York, who has worked on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley. And he wants to give back. He quit a lucrative corporate career at the height of the pandemic in December 2020 to pursue his calling: "Investing into the community where I came from."

"It's scary because ... you have no corporate cushion," Ng says. "Once you become an entrepreneur, it's all you now. Every decision you make can have either a positive or negative correlation to the success of your business going forward. No one's going to check your work. No one's going to tell you what to do.

"Ultimately no one cares about you as much as you care about yourself. You have to be extra self aware, extra cautious about everything you do, every step you take. There's no safety. But the safety I have is the financial safety I have."

Ng left a six-figure job as a strategic finance partner at SurveyMonkey to start Tings Capital, a venture capital fund that will invest in minority entrepreneurs: people of color, first generation immigrants, women, and those who identify as LGBTQ.

"We're using our personal wealth to take a bet on ourselves," he says.

Immigrating to the U.S., broke

Ng's father owned a jewelry and antique shop in Hong Kong that suffered during the financial crisis. He had to resort to loan sharks to keep the business afloat. "I think the loan sharks were getting to him to the point that we were in danger," Ng says. "That, you know, he just couldn't do it. We had to move."

The family of four relocated to Flushing, New York, in 2008, where Ng's parents initially picked up minimum-wage jobs. They shared a bedroom and a bunk bed at the home of Ng's uncle.

"I couldn't sleep because like, it was just so traumatizing," Ng says. "And also saw the eyes on my parents' face, you know. Like, I saw how sad they were, how crushed he is. You know, he used to be a business owner. Now he has to start over in this country, completely brand new for the first time."

Ng sought financial success in order to help his family. "I am their way out, right?" he says. "So I put on my shoulder to work for them. I wanted to help them."

Becoming a self-made millionaire

Ng studied finance in college, with a goal of working on Wall Street. He eventually landed his first job as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan, and then worked as a private equity associate at Farol Asset Management.

At his earnings peak, he made close to $500,000 a year, including his base salary, bonus, and carried interest, which is a share of his firm's profits. But he wasn't relying on just his paycheck to build wealth. Ng was putting his own money into the stock market.

"Over time, I realized that there's a specific way to invest, right?" Ng says. "And then I started deploying my personal capital on the side, right, while at the same time being frugal." Ng says he uses a five-factor methodology when evaluating investments:

Invest in a growing industry

Invest in companies with strong management and a solid business model

Invest in companies that are steadily and sustainably growing revenue and profits

Check the stock's valuation. Are you buying at a discount or a premium?

Have a plan for when to sell

Ng wasn't surprised when the balance in his brokerage account surpassed $1 million in his late 20s. "If you know how to invest thoughtfully and logically, there's always a path for you to get there," he says.

Helping 'the underdog'

In September 2019, Ng left private equity investing to work in business operations at SurveyMonkey, in order to understand what it's like to run a company from the inside. Despite his success, he wondered during the pandemic lockdowns, "What is the real thing that I want to be doing?"

That's when Ng decided to quit his corporate career to focus on building Tings Capital, a VC fund that invests in startups founded by minority entrepreneurs, whom he calls "the underdog in the ecosystem." Tings Capital has yet to make its first investment.

Ng says investors have verbally committed $700,000 to the fund so far, while he is also investing $1 million of his own money. He plans to spend the next couple years meeting with potential investors around the U.S. and abroad to raise enough for a $100 million fund.

"I'm more alive than ever, I will say," Ng says. "When you are fully pursuing your mission, your life mission, you are completely aligned with everything you do. You're no longer exchanging your time for money to pursue someone else's dream. You're doing exactly what you're destined do."

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