Women’s Month Profile: Tumi Loate, Investment Analyst at 36ONE Asset Management

Early leadership influences

Loate went to Jeppe High School for Girls, where she had her first leadership experience as head girl in her year. She mentions the late Dina Gonçalves, the school’s former headmistress, as an early inspiration. Gonçalves was revered within provincial and national education circles, not only as an impactful and lauded leader but a brilliant mathematics educator at the school since 1990. She passed away in June 2022.

“I used to meet up with her once a year, and catch up on what old and current and girls are doing to impact the communities they form part of” recalls Loate. “She had an unmatched level of energy in everything she was involved in and was a reminder of how much one person can do to inspire the lives of many.’

Everything and anything was numbers to Gonçalves, says Loate. She says the late educator would make one realise how numbers are intertwined into almost everything. Loate tells MoneyMarketing that it was Gonçalves who partly influenced the decision to go into education. “I am very passionate about education too besides business, especially finance education.”

Professional and academic development

Asked why she pursued a second Master’s degree, she says the first was quite research intensive while the second was more application-based. She says she was yearning for a programme that offered that and more. Most especially – being surrounded by a group of highly intelligent people that stimulate your growth and allow you to dream big.

“The nice thing about an MBA too, is that it is extremely broad. The electives that I picked were based on my interests: corporate valuation, financial markets trading, the nature of the corporation, among others.” 

Loate says the MBA was also an opportunity to work on one’s soft skills. For instance, “a lot of international business leaders would be brought in to talk about the leadership aspect of managing big corporates and businesses. I enjoyed that and looking at responsible leadership, what qualities the CEOs of the next decade need to possess, and the future of work, for example.”

Upon completing her MBA, Loate set her sights on a career that was going to challenge her every day and an industry which encourages continuous learning – about capital allocation, business, strategy, government policy and impact on markets etc. “I didn’t want a static environment –– and, of course, asset management, or investing, is one of those industries where no one day is the same. One day you’re talking war probabilities; the next day, there is a war.”

Investment management as information management

“The investment industry is one that has so many contrasting environments,” says Loate. One needs to learn to quickly adapt to any information changes and either deem them to be relevant or not relevant, she says. 

“In the world that we are in right now, there is so much data and information that is being bombarded. Investment teaches you to filter through all this data and come up with a view, based on what you think is important and not so important.”

Investment lessons

Loate says that as investment professionals, they do not have time to absorb and slowly think about what is happening. During this time, businesses are also reacting and regulators are doing the same. While covering financial service providers during the height of the pandemic and market shakeup, it suddenly became important to her to track the relief portfolios that each of the banks granted to support economies and estimate the strength in the capital ratios following the SARB recommendation report to not pay dividends.

For example, there was a grave general concern that credit defaults would rise. “I learnt to look at the way businesses adapt to change and in the same way not go into a state of paralysis as panic is never profitable.”

During the Covid-induced market turmoil, everything also was turned around. “I learnt not to let emotions cloud my analysis – but to steadily and incrementally make changes without being too pessimistic” says Loate.

“Analysts are also taught to be so razor sharp and focused in the companies that they cover. However, all the while, new sectors emerge. Therefore, I have learnt to not only be razor sharp and focus on how the companies I follow are reacting but also keep an open mind as to other new sectors that are emerging as a result of these changes.”

Issues confronting women in finance

People reflecting their convictions differently is something of a challenge, says Loate. “If I have a high conviction for something, I might not express it in ways expected, and having to learn to effectively communicate with a team that have very different communication styles”

Loate says she used to think that she was an assertive person who had no qualms with sharing her opinion and views. However, when she started in the finance and investment industry, for her to be heard, she needed to relook at how she voiced her conviction. She says she has learnt that this is more personality driven. “I have come to learn that regardless of ways of communicating – being firm can go a long way but balancing honesty and respect can get even further”

Addressing pain points

Though she is not a person who expects things to have been catered for her all the time, she says this does not take away from the fact that something is tough.

“If something or a situation is a pain point for anyone, male or female in finance — it is a pain point for a reason, a chance to do something about it,” says Laote. She says this is also an opportunity to create awareness around the issue and leave an indelible mark. 

Approaching financial education

If she is not analysing financial service providers, Loate is also a part-time lecturer at the Wits Business School, University of Pretoria and Kwa-Zulu Natal, in fulfilment of her passion for financial education.

Asked about the state of our financial education, Loate says there seems to be a lot more focus on technical knowledge in financial education. Critical thinking and complex solving problems, which are some of the most intricate skills to teach, are equally critical, she says.

Laote believes in case study-based learning and is an advocate for it. “Are we teaching people to always be completely prepared for an exam and only apply their minds to problems in fixed settings, or teach them a skill of always adaptability and resilience too?”

What recent book on investing/professional development did you read — and why would you recommend it to others? 

The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel