Employee Spotlight: Wesley Oh, Valuation Analyst, Eqvista

In this edition of our employee spotlight series, we talk to Wesley Oh, who joined our team as a valuation analyst mainly responsible for onboarding clients to the Eqvista platform and performing valuation analysis.

Hi Welsey, it’s great to have you in this interview. Firstly, congratulations on your new role!  Can you briefly introduce yourself?

Hello, thank you for the opportunity given to serve and contribute to Eqvista. I am from Korea, but spent half of my life outside Korea. I studied at an international high school in China, then came to Hong Kong to study marketing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Within this program, I completed a business finance course and found it incredibly interesting. I then found myself motivated to direct my career to finance and therefore began to study for the CFA level one examination, which I passed. I am currently studying for the CFA level two exam to broaden my skills and knowledge in a professional environment. 

What was your experience prior to working at Eqvista?

Before joining Eqvista, I was a corporate banking analyst in the corporate loan department of a bank. Through this experience in analyzing financial statements and conducting market research, I have developed analytical skills and honed my knowledge of accounting and finance.

How did you hear about Eqvista? Why did you want to work here?

I found the job posting on Linkedin and did some background research from the company website. The reason why I applied for the position was that I wish to work with seasoned professionals who are capable of doing quantitative, comparative and cash flow analysis in addition to financial modeling, asset valuation and calculating discounted cash flows. Now, I am learning a lot from the valuation analysts in Eqvista and utilizing the skills and knowledge that I acquired from my previous experience and study. 

What are your current responsibilities at Eqvista?

Since Eqvista is a rapidly growing company and getting more clients, I am assuming various tasks including setting up a cap table on our platform for the client but mainly I am assisting the professional valuation analysts with performing valuation analysis by using various valuation models and researching data.

What’s the most unique part about working at Eqvista?

In terms of valuation, Eqvista deals with the private market, making every case very unique. Most of the clients are private companies with VC funding and in various industries, such as cryptocurrency and software related. It’s a  great opportunity to learn a lot of new things that are not taught in school.

What is the toughest challenge you’ve had so far in your work?

I feel that most of the clients are sensitive to the value we calculate for them as it can be used for taxation purposes and investment purposes. Some clients would argue for lower or higher valuation and it’s tough to walk them through the reasons for the corresponding valuation and convince them. But I feel very rewarded when the clients are satisfied with the valuation in the end.

What’s one important lesson you have learned at Eqvista?

While learning something new may be challenging, it can also be heaps of fun.

Do you have any advice you’d like to share with someone who wants to join Eqvista? 

If you are a motivated person and willing to work hard to grow Eqvista and your knowledge in the valuation field, you will be more than qualified to join Eqvista. Looking for change and fun? Join us!

Thank you so much for your valuable time. We wish you all the success for your career at Eqvista. 

You are welcome!