Learning the piano as an adult? You are not alone

There is a reason why people learn piano quicker when they were kids. Because they haven't got bad habits to break.  As adults, we have been using our fingers in the most quirky way on electronic devices for years. Some examples here, our right index finger is repetitively clicking the mouse, our thumb is stretching uncomfortably on smart phone screens, our thumbs also hit space key too hard (because we enjoy hearing the sound it makes?!), and people who use a lot of short cuts on a computer keyboard may find their left little fingers hurt.  Oh, have you noticed your right hand fingers are bending slightly towards your middle finger as a result of holding the mouse upto 8 hours a day, 250 days a year?

So much for the inconvenient truth. When I started learning piano early last year, one of the hurdles is to get all ten fingers to sound the same by specially controlling the fingers that have been abused on electronic devices in the above-mentioned ways. So for adults, it is harder because our brains know what our hands should do but our hands are resisting the brain's order.  I was lucky that my tutor pays much attention to the techniques and never tolerate a bad habit. So under the proper guidance, a few problematic fingers are more under control. Now I can start to enjoy the sound I can make on a piano. 

To progress, daily exercise is essential, even if it is half an hour. I am a new mom and also work from home. So when the baby takes a nap, I do a few sight readings or exercises.  The baby also gets very excited and makes operatic octave changes when hearing me playing.  He might remember that I took the Prep Test when I was 7 month pregnant.

Yesterday I joined a number of primary school boys and girls to take the ABRSM grade 1 exam.  I set no ambitious target for myself or any grand plan for my child. I embark on this journey just to fulfill my childhood dream.  For readers of my blog who have been thinking about learning a music instrument for some time, my humble opinion is that you should invest your time and £ to give it a go.  Just be patient when overcoming the hand and fingers coordination issues which office workers all seem to have.

Do you have the E-factor? 你是否有创业者气质？

我有幸在2013年底的一次创业者的活动中结识了剑桥汇智教育的创始人兼总裁潘晓菡博士。她毕业于剑桥大学生物技术学院，盖茨奖学金学者。随后加入伦敦一家对冲基金专门研究亚太区股票，四年后成功转型到教育领域，创办了自己的公司 Wedge Education

第一次见面就感觉晓菡有很强的气场。她略施淡妆，齐肩的直发别在耳后，着一条线条简单的深蓝色的长袖连衣裙，除了左手无名指上耀眼的婚戒再没有多余的首饰。她说话底气很足，也非常有条理。但让我印象最深的是她在讲述自己的事业时那种发自内心的快乐。她的经历和理念也让我对教育的意义有了新的思考。她把自己比喻成一个门楔子，用自己的能力帮助有抱负的年轻人打开一道面向世界的门。但她远远不止是一个平凡的门楔子。晓菡在剑桥，牛津，和伦敦金融圈有多年积累下来的资源和关系，使得她有能力邀请资深人士共同打造一流的课程。不同于国内市场上琳琅满目的游学项目的以游为主，晓菡设计的课程会给学员以智力上挑战，观念上的冲击，和社交上的开阔视野。所以我更觉得她是站在一个制高点，把有抱负的年轻人拉上了一个新的平台，把他们的眼光放远拓宽，以达到树立人生目标改变人生轨迹的教育目的。

和我一样，晓菡也是个新妈妈，所以我们有不少共同话题。最近我约她在塔桥附近喝下午茶，聊了聊她的收获和挑战，也想听听她对我的一些想法的建议。很多女性在孩子诞生后在心理和观念上会发生了很大的转变，生活重心毫无疑问会变，而且对自己的责任和角色，都有了新的规划。英国一年的产假可以给很多职业女性一个机会回顾自己的日常工作，梳理思路，并设定职业上新的目标。晓菡在这期间选择转行做教育并不是突发灵感。2009年还在剑桥就读的她组织过一次交换项目，其中一位中国学生感慨到那次经历改变了他的人生。她觉得这一行能综合她多年积累的经验，知识和资源，所以公司成立之初就能请到资深的咨询和得力的合伙人加盟。她认为合适的合伙人需要有相似的价值观，互相兼容的性格，和能力上的互补。有点像选终身伴侣一样！另外创业也非常需要家人的支持，因为毕竟不是朝九晚五，每月固定时间拿薪水。

作为公司创始人，她不仅要考虑如何推广品牌和制定长期的策略，还要有耐心和高效地办妥各种琐碎的事情。她跟我分享了第一期课程中的出现的一些小插曲，毕竟几十号不同背景年龄段的学员从中国到伦敦来生活学习了两个周。如何处理这些“状况“，并达到超出预期的效果，这是在考验她的危机处理能力。

让我欣赏的是她毫无保留地分享她的经验，甚至一些诀窍，让我确实有听君一席话胜读十年书的感觉。我希望她的事业继续发展，让更多的有创业激情的人从她的课程中受益，从她身上学习创业者的素质。难怪剑桥的盖茨学者联盟把她的经验作为典范。

The modern practice of value investing

I do like the idea of value investing. In daily life, there seem to be three types of value. One: "Tesco Value Range",  these products have a lower price point than brands with better quality. Two: Brand Sales, they are good quality products but are on discount for a certain time period. Three: Competitive Brand, they are good quality products at slightly cheaper prices than other brands with similar quality.  My shopping basket is made of a bit of all three - they all make me happy.  The following three managers have all managed superior performance but with very different take on the principles of value investing.

At the end of February, I was invited to an oval table lunch/presentation by two co-managers of the Schroder Recovery Fund,  Kevin and Nick, who are passionate advocates for value investing. They publish investment views regularly through their website and twitter account @Thevalueteam.  They describe themselves as contrarian, disciplined and open-minded. There is historic evidence that biggest annualised return over the last 10 years have been achieved by companies with lowest cyclical adjusted P/E. They believe the biggest driver of whether you make money is what you pay. Therefore, cyclical adjusted P/E is probably the first and foremost thing to look at when they select a stock.  Under this approach, you could end up having stock ideas that are very unpopular, and may remain so for very long time. So, investors of this type of strategy must be hardheads who are able to endure pains and be different to the consensus. What motivate them is the possibility of some stocks making staggering returns. Although the managers don't think the macro is playing important role in their investment approach, it is fair to say that the macro environment has been very favorable to their recovery strategy. The obvious beneficiaries of monetary and fiscal policies post financial crisis are UK bankings and home builders. Low interest rates also allow many small business to survive, or being bought, rather than fall into bankruptcy. I am inclined to view them as deep value investor.

Organised by CFA UK Value Investing Special Interest Group, I joined a talk/discussion led by Tim Sanderson of Sanderson Asset Management  in a pub. They are more along the line of investing in "good companies at reasonable prices" (Buffett).  Recognising the importance of initial purchase price in determining long term return, they place equal emphasis on compound profits' growth at a higher rate thereafter. Guided by this belief, their selection process tend to produce many ideas in the mid cap space. They look for solid balance sheets, proven profit growth over 5-10 years and potential for further growth in profits and dividends. I would say they are more conservative in pursuing returns.

An Investors Chronicle article drove my fascination in value investing higher by studying John Neff's investing approach. He looked for reliable, conservatively valued companies to hold for the long term. Specifically, he screened out the cheapest stocks - the lowest quarter of PE, as well as the most expensive. I would think this is also along the line of good companies at reasonable prices.

The principle does not only apply to stocks. In a fund update given by the country's top bond manager, Richard Woolnough, he shared one example of picking values with me after the event. At the start of the Euro Area Crisis, many institutional investors were selling the whole European stock indices in a heartbeat.  Nestle suddenly flashed on the computer screen in front of him at a price that could't be justified by its valuation. He made a decision to purchase the stock and the rest is history.

Finally, the view from Alex Grispos at Ruffer, who does not label himself as either value of growth but is also very successful, may provide an interesting perspective on this subject. Stock is a share of a business, he must like the business first. Hence his stock selection does not start with a quantitative screening. Surely there are many ways to invest successfully, please feel free to share your views and experience under this post.