APU First-Year Banking & Finance Undergraduate Emerged Top 5 For CMT Association 2022 Internship

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Right after he completed middle school through homeschooling, Joshua Liew Jian Ch'rn who aimed to become a successful proprietary trader, enrolled on a Bachelor’s in Banking and Finance (Hons) degree programme at the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU).

Despite being only a first-year undergraduate, Liew has already demonstrated his expertise in banking and finance. He recently ranked among the Top 5 participants in the CMT Association 2022 Internship Challenge and has secured a 60-day remote internship from April to June 2023.

The challenge took place from January 9 to 11 and winners were announced on January 20. It aimed to recruit the best and brightest students from CMT Academic Partner Program Institutes across the globe to intern with the CMT Association’s Asia Pacific office as remote interns, deputed to domestic and international projects of strategic value.

CMT Association stands for the Chartered Market Technician Association. It is a global credentialing body with nearly 50 years of service to the financial industry. APU was selected as one of the CMT Academic Partner Program Institutes, which signifies its strong commitment to students’ career readiness and applied learning process.

The challenging task assigned to Liew was correcting the transcriptions based on a 45-minutes video about technical analysis. “My preparation was based on my perspicacity of concepts such as divergence and convergence, as well as more complex topics like Gartley patterns, Elliott wave theory, and Wyckoff Schematics,” said the 20-year-old undergraduate.

Because he needed to juggle ongoing classes and other academic commitments while taking part in this challenge, Liew said he pulled an all-nighter the day before the submission deadline to perfect his work.

“Although the task assigned during the challenge seemed simple, correcting the transcript of a 45-minute video on technical analysis and discussing the content wasn’t easy,” he said and explained his primary objective in taking part in this challenge was to showcase his comprehensive understanding of technical analysis by articulating them in his own words.

About his expectation of being a remote intern at the CMT Association’s Asia Pacific office, Liew spoke out frankly, “I am enthusiastic about learning more about technical analysis through the CMT Association and hope to earn a scholarship to pursue this subject further.”

As a future-ready young and aspiring professional in the banking and finance industry, Liew developed his knowledge and experience in the financial markets with various forms of education that value self-discipline and independent study, besides getting formal education on campus.

“I believe that staying up-to-date on the market's evolving dynamics, which are influenced by complex human psychology and the presence of algorithmic bots, is essential for success as a trader. While fundamental analysis has its place, I am convinced that combining it with technical analysis is the most effective way to achieve profitability in the markets,” he uttered.

Applauding Liew's achievement, APU's Head of School of Accounting & Finance Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chong Lee Lee commented, "Liew's achievement is a manifestation of his explicit professional development goals, as well as the School's academic rigour in delivering contemporary financial courses that align with the needs of the industry. The School's efforts in leveraging global credentialing bodies to nurture financial professionals for global careers are also attributed to this success."