What a Woman Managing $1 Billion Taught Me About Wealth: Meet Jun Bei Liu

In this episode of Get Rich, Molly sits down with Jun Bei Liu, founder and lead portfolio manager at Ten Cap, who went from moving to Australia at 16 to becoming one of the country’s most successful fund managers.

They dive into:
📈 What women get right (and wrong) about investing
💖 How Jun Bei built confidence in a male-dominated industry
🌏 How she built a $1 billion portfolio and still stays grounded
👶 Tips for juggling motherhood with a high-pressure career
💰 The small daily habits that lead to big wealth
📊 A quick reality check on how the market’s tracking right now

It’s an inspiring, down-to-earth chat about confidence, money and mindset, from a woman who’s proof you can lead, invest and thrive on your own terms.

This episode is brought to you by InvestorKit, Australia’s #1 Buyers Agency for 2023 and 2024. They specialise in helping investors find high-growth properties utilising industry leading AI and data driven research process across Australia. 70%+ of the properties they purchase are off-market and they have consistently outperformed national average capital growth rates by over 49%. Whether you’re looking to build your property portfolio or secure your first investment. Check them out here.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome to Get Rich
01:16 – Today’s Guest: Jun Bei Liu
02:14 – What Does a Fund Manager Do?
03:09 – Money Beginnings & Early Market Memories
05:04 – Analyst to Portfolio Manager: Making the Leap
07:18 – Getting Started: First Steps for New Investors
09:25 – Why Women Make Great Investors
10:35 – Jun’s Investment Rules
12:18 – ETFs vs Active Funds
14:36 – Introducing the TCAP Active ETF
15:04 – State of the Aussie Sharemarket
16:59 – Motherhood, Boundaries & Energy
19:52 – Bring Your Whole Self
21:31 – A Message to Women in Finance
21:58 – Final Note & Ticker

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Jun Bei Liu – Tribeca Investment Partners
Website: https://tribecaip.com/
TCAP Active ETF (Jun’s Fund)
Ticker: TCAP
ASX Listing Info: https://www2.asx.com.au/markets/company/tcap
Australia Sharemarket & Investing Basics: Home - Moneysmart.gov.au

CONNECT WITH JUN BEI LIU

Website: https://www.tencap.com.au/jun-bei-liu
Website: https://junbeiliu.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jun-bei-liu-16948811/

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

Join our free Facebook group - Ladies Finance Club Money Chat
Website: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladiesfinanceclub/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-finance-club/

TAKEAWAYS

• Fund managers are essentially investment managers who invest on behalf of clients.
• The journey from being an analyst to managing a billion-dollar fund requires a mindset shift.
• Women excel in investing due to their pragmatic approach and ability to adapt.
• Investing should start as early as possible to take advantage of compounding.
• Active managers can protect investments during market downturns, unlike index funds.
• The Australian market is currently attractive with potential for growth.
• Balancing career and motherhood is possible with the right mindset and flexibility.
• Authenticity in one's personal and professional life is crucial for success.
• Investing is about understanding what you are investing in and why it matters.
• Women can thrive in finance without compromising their family aspirations.

SOUND BITES

"I want to buy this."
"Don't let it sit in cash."
"I love to be me."

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Molly: Welcome to Get Rich, the podcast that helps you do just that. Get rich and stay rich. Hey, I'm Molly Benjamin. I'm the founder of Ladies Finance Club, one of Australia's largest financial education platforms for women. But before I started helping thousands of women take control with their money, I was a hot financial mess when it came to my own finances and not the fun kind of hot, more like crying in a supermarket, wondering where all my money went kind of hot.

[00:00:29] But here's the thing, if I can go from financial mess to owning a share portfolio, investing in property, and building wealth. Then you can too. My mission is simple to make women rich because when we have financial freedom, we have choices, confidence, and control over our future. Every week on Get Rich, I sit down with some of the best experts in the industry to break down how we can all start investing, growing our money.

[00:00:56] And creating long-term financial security without the jargon, boring bits or overwhelm. Because when women get rich, we don't just change our lives, we change the world. So if you're ready to start making some smart Money moves, hit that subscribe button and let's get rich together.

[00:01:16] Hello and welcome to another episode of Get Rich, the podcast that helps you do just that. Get rich and stay rich. I'm your host, Molly Benjamin, founder of Ladies Finance Club. Today's episode is a big one because I'm sitting down with a woman who manages over a billion dollars. Yes, that's a billion with a B.

[00:01:34] Her name is June Bailey, and her story is incredible. She arrived in Australia from Shanghai at just 16 years old, speaking very little English, and has gone on to become one of the country's top fund managers. So in this episode, she breaks down investing in a really practical way, what fund managers actually do.

[00:01:54] And what can we actually learn from someone who manages a billion dollars? So we talk about wealth, confidence, managing pressures and why women are naturally brilliant investors. And like always. If you are enjoying this episode, please hit that subscribe button. It is the best way to say thank you. All right, let's get into it.

[00:02:14] Jun: Thank you so much for having me, and, and it is me who's very, very excited to, for this chat.

[00:02:18] Molly: Awesome. So I thought we'd just start with like introducing the audience to what you actually do as a fund manager. Like what is a fund manager?

[00:02:28] Jun: I know, I think many years ago someone said fund manager is like a fund manager.

[00:02:33] Uh, well, it's kind of if you like it. So fund manager, essentially we investment managers. So your people, mom and dads gimme the money and sometimes the superannuation, they will gimme the money and then I go and invest it in the share market. And in my case, I invest only in the short, uh, Australian share market.

[00:02:51] And then I compare my, how I go with the overall. A SX 200. So if I do better, I've done a great job. If I do worse, I've done a bad job so far. It's been good.

[00:03:02] Molly: Yes. I, I hear you are very good at what you do. Mm-hmm. But I just wanted to kind of jump back to the start 'cause you've got quite an incredible story.

[00:03:09] So you moved to Australia from Shanghai at 16 years old. When you first kind of got here, what were your impressions of money, wealth, and success when you arrived?

[00:03:20] Jun: Yeah, so when I first arrived, look, it's, uh, it, it, Australia looks so different back in China. We come from pretty poor neighborhoods. So coming to Australia, I thought everything's fabulous.

[00:03:31] We initially sort of rented a downstairs or house, uh, in war woods, but we didn't take the whole house. We only took, my mother can only afford the downstairs two rooms from an Italian lady. Who grew her own tomatoes and make her own pasta sauce every year. So then my mother worked very hard. She had like three jobs, and our special outing is to go to KFC and that's really exciting for me.

[00:03:53] And, uh, so I always know you gotta work hard. You gotta, you know, find ways to let the money grow. Before she came to Australia, my dad was actually always being, um, punting the share market in China, but that's early nineties. Um, share market is, uh, incredibly. It's not very mature in China. It was all punters.

[00:04:11] Yeah. And it was quite funny. My early memory of those days was that because there was no computer, there was nothing. My dad used to get those lines paper and draw all the, where the share price is going, and then he'll come to a conclusion, he's a charter, and the next day he'll predict where it's gonna go.

[00:04:29] But because there's no computer, so you have. To get history. So you stick line paper every single day. Wow. And uh, so I got, I know we got those paper literally go through his room, through my room down the stairs into the living room. So we just got those paper all the way around. So I kind of grew up with that, you know, that early experience of investing in the share market.

[00:04:49] Molly: Okay. Awesome. And I guess, what do you think the biggest mindset shift was that helped you? From taking that shift from analyst to managing over a billion dollars, which is just so much money.

[00:05:04] Jun: Uh, yeah. Look, I think the mindset share, there's always something about me that you want to see what's possible you want to push, right?

[00:05:11] So coming to Australia, learning the language, it's almost like, okay, push the new boundaries to see what it's like. Yeah. And then you go to university, we learn the business and go, okay, that's very interesting. And then as an analyst, you learn. A little bit about every company. It's incredible. It's like treasure hunting, finding those, oh, I found the first, and then, you know, I make money.

[00:05:29] So it's very exciting. So I know I enjoy what I do. So obviously the next step is that I know a lot of people stops at analysts and they just want to be analyzing, finding the company. That's it. But I want to see where it ends. I want to see the ability to take it to the next. Level and invest, be the person in charge of those investment instead of just recommending it.

[00:05:50] So I wanted to do that. So before there was an opportunity, I actually went to my boss. I said, look, you know, I really wanna do this, and I know I had a couple of kids. I know I'm ready for the next step. And, and he said, look, we, why don't you use your spare time? So I use my weekends to put together a, some sort of.

[00:06:07] Paper portfolio, essentially just a phantom thing, you know, I said I wanna buy this, and then I said I wanna do global portfolio. So I come up with, you know, I spend my weekends and nights to come up with those, research those companies and put into my investment portfolio, which doesn't have real money in it.

[00:06:21] And then I was running with it and I knew I enjoyed it so much, but I was a one man band. Doing global portfolio clearly didn't work very well, but then when the opportunity came up. So the previous fund manager, he was running this fund, he left, and then the cut fund was in disarray. The performance was not good, as in they didn't do as well as they should.

[00:06:40] And then, so the clients was leaving and then, so then I thought, look, this is my chance. I just got to do it. So I step, I said, look, you know what? I will do this. And I went to all the clients that remained. I said, look, just gimme a go. I have lots of experience. Let me have a go. I probably was thinking, fake it till I'll make it.

[00:06:57] Yeah. And, uh, but I just go, just let me go. And then, you know, I was so surpris like, there was a few people that really gave me that chance that stabilized this fund. We, I started with 300 million and we super far the few retail clients from them. Every day. I just remember I can't let them down and I've got to prove everyone else who said I can't do it.

[00:07:16] Right. So that's that.

[00:07:18] Molly: Yeah. Okay. I love that. And we've got a lot of women listening who are new to investing or. They might feel quite fearful or that it's a bit too complicated, it's a bit too risky. What's your recommendation for where do they start?

[00:07:34] Jun: Yeah, there's a couple ways to do it, and you need to do it as soon as possible because the power of compounding, you put $1 in, you continue to grow, and it grows more and more and more.

[00:07:43] So it's very important. Don't let us sit in cashier. You go to a proper financial advisor that can say, okay, you got a hundred dollars. This is the way you split it up. Usually how it works is about, you know, 60% will, 60% will sit in the, like the, your, your share market. 40% will sit in your little bit income, give you a bit more income, and then the share market, you'll invest a little bit in the, you know, international share market and a little bit in Australia.

[00:08:10] And the share market will give you growth. Usually on average share market doubles every seven years. So, you know, forget about the volatility. It's actually not that risky. Just take time. Sometimes take longer, sometimes shorter. Bit like the housing market as well. Sometimes take longer, sometimes shorter.

[00:08:25] So what the financial advisor help you to do is it help you to diversify. This is what you do. But for the part where you put with the fund manager, you, you find a good fund manager. They do a day in, day out, right? Fund manager, like, you know, like us people who will watch. The share price is for you. Every single day we read, I get up two o'clock in the morning reading what happened in the US market.

[00:08:45] We read so much information, we absorb information and we know what it means to the share market, to the shares we invest in, and we protect it, we grow it. So give it to the experts that will do that and then to get started. But I also think if anyone feels strongly about certain company, certain shares, because we all do, right?

[00:09:04] You know, if you're in, uh, some people like Apple, some people like this. It doesn't stop you from having one or two investments that yourself. Just make sure you do know what they do, how they do it. Do they have a good track record? Are you paying a massive price or the smaller price? It does require a bit more work, but it can be part of a diversified portfolio.

[00:09:24] Okay, awesome.

[00:09:25] Molly: And what do you think women naturally get right about investing and maybe where do we hold ourselves back?

[00:09:32] Jun: Oh my God, I actually think women's so good at investing. Yeah. I tell you what, like, oh, I'll tell you what. Women are very good at investing. I look at my mother, how she controls the money, the finances.

[00:09:44] I think women's really good. If you look at women fund managers globally, they've done so much research. Mm-hmm. The performance is just better. It's partly because we are more pragmatic. We don't have that big ego saying, oh, I'm right. Mark is wrong. And they need to be proved right. Uh, we kind of just work with what's coming.

[00:10:00] 'cause think about as I'm a mother, you know, I have little kids coming through. I kind of, you've gotta negotiate, you gotta work out. They may be wrong, but I gotta work out ways to deal with them. So share market investing is very much the same. Be pragmatic. Invest and then, but with the mindset, the things are changing every single day.

[00:10:17] How do you incorporate those changes?

[00:10:19] Molly: Yeah, absolutely. And when you are managing billions, what principles or rules guide your decisions and how can, like me and the listeners, like our everyday investors, how can we apply those same ideas on a, obviously a much smaller scale.

[00:10:35] Jun: Of course. So look, I think when you directly invest in the company, in the share, share market, in those, buying those shares yourself is, uh, the principle is that you've got to know what it does.

[00:10:46] You need to know the best is something you can touch and feel. Whether it's a Kohls worth, you know, you first need to know what it does. We talk about doing homework, as in the, just knowing what it does. Why do people wanna buy this product? Why are they so successful? Ask why. And then the next one you look at.

[00:11:03] Have they done well? You know, is this a brand new thing that nobody ever heard of? Is there any track record? So you know, is that what it is? And then you go, okay, that actually looks pretty good. Now your next job, next step is go, okay, how much do I wanna pay for it? Then you gotta compare this thing to something that's very similar.

[00:11:20] If I want to invest in Woolworth, I wanna compare it to Kohl's. And if Kohl's is this expensive, then maybe Woolworth should be similar. If I think it's better, maybe it should be a bit more expensive. So then you compare to the next. Thing and then you work out the price go. You know what, I, I'm happy with it.

[00:11:35] I love to buy it. I think there's some of things to be wary of. Just be careful with the bubbles. Uh, sometimes say this host stock, be careful with host stock, right? Yeah. Anyways, if, if there's lots of people telling you, oh, this is a host sector, host stock usually means everyone else is already in it.

[00:11:49] That means it's very expensive. You're paying a lot of money for something that's a little bit popularized, so that's when the risk comes in.

[00:11:56] Molly: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, great. So. Watch out for, if everyone's talking about it, you might've missed the boat on that one already.

[00:12:03] Jun: That's right. Doesn't mean it's not great investment.

[00:12:06] I think it just, uh, you just gotta be careful. That's where the risk, it can fall a lot.

[00:12:09] Molly: And what are your thoughts on, I know a lot of our women, they look at ETFs or index funds. What are your thoughts on those products?

[00:12:18] Jun: I think with the index fund, essentially it gives you essentially to the return of the whole market.

[00:12:24] Market goes up and down and you get that return. Usually when we say you invest in the, the index this, or you invest in the active manager, which is the manager, we look to do better than the market and you know, I've shown to my investor, I've done better than the market. So you get more return every year and then you got someone you know watching it.

[00:12:43] If something happens, like for example, like. Pandemic or liberation day. You know, when things fall significantly, a manager like myself will watch it for you, will stop, we'll go into cash, we'll protect and we'll do all that. Yeah. Whereas index doesn't it just track whatever happens. So I think that's the difference.

[00:12:58] And these days you have active ETF. In fact, we are actually launching our own active. First ever Australian longshore active ETF, because what that is is you're buying the ETF on the share market, and then you actually essentially directly invest with the fund manager that's doing it for you. So you're making it much easier instead of stack of form, you have to fill out.

[00:13:19] Molly: Okay, so we've got active managers like yourself where you are actively buying in and selling and like again, when those big kind of events happen, you're protecting their portfolio. Whereas passive, you're just following whatever the index is doing and then active ETFs. Sorry, can you just explain again how active ETFs differ from the other two?

[00:13:41] Jun: Absolutely. So it is actually really interesting. So it's a new thing. So active ETF is essentially give people's access, directly easy access into the fund managers I just talked to. So if people wanna invest in with me, currently you have a minimum amount, $25,000, you gotta fill up a form. I just saw the form.

[00:14:00] It's huge. Fill out the form. Yeah, there's a process you gotta go through, whereas active ETF is essentially, you buy it on the share market and then you know, essentially your investment goes straight into my fund. I'm looking after it for you, and then when you need your money back, you sell it and the money comes straight out.

[00:14:15] So that's all it is. Essentially, remove the friction for you to be able to invest in the share market with active manager.

[00:14:21] Molly: Oh, brilliant. So then you are bringing out an active ETF that, that's right. Like myself can invest in, like let's say I don't have that 20 5K to be investing, so I could invest with like $2,000.

[00:14:33] And have you actively That's right.

[00:14:36] Jun: Yeah, just few hundred dollars. That's cool. My kids are very excited. Told them they have to invest. I love

[00:14:42] Molly: that. That is great. And could you maybe just give us a quick snapshot of the Australian market at the moment? Like what are we seeing? I know it's never, is it a good time or a bad time to invest because we always teach, it's all about time in the market, not trying to time the market.

[00:15:00] But yeah, just a bit of an overview of the Aussie market at the moment.

[00:15:04] Jun: Sure. Aussie market actually looks very attractive at the moment. The US market has been hitting all time high every single day. Well, often, more recently, Australia market has been in this holding pattern. We haven't really gone anywhere.

[00:15:17] Our market is not expensive. When we compare to the likes of, you know, your NASDAQ and others, and our companies actually. Doing pretty well now, there is an interest rate decision coming next month. You know, whether there's a 50 50, whether it'll be cut or not. If there is a cut, uh, on Melbourne Cup debt share, it'll put a rocket under the share market.

[00:15:36] But if it doesn't, we know there will be a rate cut coming in early next year. So still share market is looking pretty attractive. So company doing well. More interest rate will support the share market direction. And one other thing I should mention is that our market, there's a lot of money, cash being sitting on the sideline waiting to get in.

[00:15:56] And so now we are seeing a lot of deals as in like new IPOs, new companies listing, we got, um, mergers like activity company buying companies. We see a lot of that. Usually that's as. Sign that the market is very, very strong. So share market is looking actually really good. I think we will have this, uh, they call it the center rally starting from November, rallying into December.

[00:16:18] That's usually every year we see that in the share market.

[00:16:21] Molly: Okay. Interesting. Oh, and I love the way you speak. You're making it so clear. So thank you so much. This is just like, like when I hear some finance people talk, I'll be like. I have no idea what you just said, but this is all really fantastic, so thank you so much for speaking in layman terms.

[00:16:38] Jun: Oh, not at all. Not at all. That's how I explain to my kids.

[00:16:41] Molly: Yeah. I always say like whenever I speak to my account, more like explain it to me like I'm an 8-year-old please. So that's perfect. And I just wanted to do a quick shift because you mentioned you have kids, you have a huge job. I'm currently 26 weeks pregnant.

[00:16:59] I would love to know how do you balance it? How do you balance motherhood with managing a billion dollar fund? I guess what has worked for you and then. Importantly, what has not worked for you?

[00:17:11] Jun: Oh my God. Congratulations. Thank you. The one that you're glowing. Yeah. So you are absolutely glowing, beautiful.

[00:17:20] And look, I truly believe that life is not about. You know, choose, uh, I want career or I want family. You have to cut one off. You know, I did do that for some parts of my life, early years. You know, I initially I thought, oh, it's about my kids. When I first had my first child, it's this. And then I worked through, I realized it's all me.

[00:17:39] It's my personal growth, you know, to have child. It's actually making you a better person, a better investor. I grew up with my children and they made me a better investor today. In fact, I can see right now, my kids just sent me a text saying she did exam. Well, my daughter's 15 now, just had her test. It was too easy.

[00:17:57] You know, I think you don't have to choose. It's really about helping them to see who you are because that's you, right? So a lot of times when I'm in the car on the weekend driving them to the weekend sport, sometimes I'm on the conference call and they understand that, but I don't try to bother them and, uh, not hearing what we are talking about.

[00:18:15] I let them hear it and then they're very curious. In fact, my son's been wearing a zip T-shirt. For, since he was very little, but they changed the brand now, you know? So I almost feel like, just don't feel, it's two things. It's one, it's all you and your children is part of you as well, and they need to see whole parts of you.

[00:18:34] As a mother, I truly encourage women to, you know, to, to have whatever interest you always had. Don't drop them, just keep going. Once you have children, just makes them better. Initially it might be a bit hard, but you know, you'll make it work because we all do.

[00:18:47] Molly: Yeah. And I guess, how do you set boundaries or protect your energy in, I guess, an industry that could easily take over your life?

[00:18:55] Mm,

[00:18:56] Jun: absolutely. I always believe, because I enjoy my time with my children so much, I always believe. More flexible working environment because these days we have Zoom, we have things everywhere. Why do we need the eight to six o'clock in the office sitting in front of computer? Ultimately, I believe investing to be a good investor is not in front of the computer the whole time.

[00:19:17] These days, AI can do the computer modeling. I don't need to do a lot of those. It's what I get. The insight is actually go see people. I catch up with people in coffee shops and uh, talk to management, maybe goes. Do site tours and a lot of that. So I actually think being creative is actually very important part of the investing.

[00:19:35] Yeah. So that's how you get your energy. You only lose it when you sit in front of a computer all day. That just doesn't work. It's a bit like a gamer, like what my son is getting into.

[00:19:44] Molly: Awesome. I've read some interviews you've done in the past, and you've spoken a little bit about being judged for having a strong profile, a feminine style.

[00:19:52] I guess, what have you learned about confidence and being unapologetically you in this time?

[00:19:58] Jun: I think over the years I felt that. The higher you go, you know, the, the harder it is. And then there's, people always tell you to tone it down, to do all that, you know, because you're a fund manager, you gotta just tone it down.

[00:20:10] You gotta do, I did do it for a little while and then I just felt, you know what, ultimately it's actually I'm not trying to fit into finance. It's finance fit into my life. It's me. I do a good job for my clients and I should be able to be who I am, like my children seeing all of me. So I want the world to see all of me.

[00:20:29] Uh, so I think I talk the same, I act the same, and then I'm the same publicly and privately. So I often just feel, yeah, that should be the case. Yeah. Rather than. Fit into something else. I think early in my career, I remember I used to try to sound different when I go into a boardroom where filled with, you know, men, I try to lower my voice, I talk very deep like this and, and then I worked it out because I try to fit in.

[00:20:55] And even when I first came to Australia, my language wasn't great. So I try to fit in to whatever people are saying and then I just like, you know, I think it's, um, I love to be me.

[00:21:04] Molly: Yes. No, I love it. And I've got friends who are analysts. And they talk about you in such an inspiring way, and you're such a mentor to them and you've, and they've never even met you.

[00:21:15] So, and I think having more female, incredible role models, doing what you do is so incredibly helpful for women in this industry. So thank you so much for all. Amazing, amazing mentoringship you're doing with probably not even noticing half the time.

[00:21:31] Jun: Oh, you're too kind. You're too kind. I think I have a lot of, uh, girls that reach out to me and I just want them to know you can make it.

[00:21:38] You can make it. Just because we have children and family doesn't mean you have to change your career. You can make it in finance. There's opportunities everywhere. Yeah.

[00:21:46] Molly: I think that is a great last message to leave it on. So thank you so much Jube for speaking with us and also very excited to hear more about when this active ETF comes out.

[00:21:58] So we'll be watching. Thank you so

[00:22:01] Jun: much for having me. Active ETF coming out in November and the code is tcap. Awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you.

KEYWORDS

 finance fund management, investing, women in finance, Australian market, active investing, passive investing, mindset shifts, motherhood, career balance, financial advice