79 The Romance of Trading Commodities with Mike Coleman of RCMA Asset Management – 1of2
Summary: "Commodities have this romance and physicality that is sort of missing in bonds and equities on pieces of paper." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)<br> Our next guest lives in Singapore, where he founded a firm that trades in the commodity markets. In this episode, we trace his upbringing in the UK and his first job at Cargill to the start of his firm. We discuss the growth and downsizing periods he has gone through and how he builds a successful business.<br> <br> Thanks for listening and please welcome Mike Coleman.<br> <br> <br> <br> Subscribe on:<br> <br> <br> In This Episode, You'll Learn:<br> <br> Where Mike grew up and how his upbringing shaped his career.<br> "From quite an early age, I was always trying to figure out how you might be able to make money." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)<br> <br> How he was interested in travel from an early age, and found out about commodity trading in his final year of university.<br> How he started out as a commodity merchant with Cargill.<br> How he fell into rubber trading which led him to Singapore in 1984.<br> About the beginnings of RCMA.<br> "We gave the market the product we had - and we were lucky that it happened to coincide with the period when the market really wanted the product." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)<br> <br> How the commodity markets have changed over the years, and what kinds of companies are still working with commodity trading.<br> The most important things he learned at Cargill that helped in the management of his own firm.<br> What he learned before computers become ubiquitous on trading desks.<br> "One of my jobs was to do the P&L by hand, hard to imagine these days." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)<br> <br> What Mike likes to do in his spare time.<br> How to make sure you are set up for success when you start a business or firm.<br> How you get through the hard times of your business as an entrepreneur.<br> What he does to organize his firm to make it run in the best way possible.<br> How they’ve dealt with a boom and bust phase in their business, including personnel.<br> "2011 was really the most difficult year for us and everyone." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)<br> <br> The way that he has built the culture in his business.<br> How investors should read a track record from a discretionary trader.<br> What patterns he looks for when trading for commodities.<br> "What happens in China is important, and it’s very important for many commodities." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)<br> <br> <br> Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:<br> Learn more about Cargill here.<br> This episode was sponsored by Swiss Financial Services:<br> <br> Connect with RCMA:<br> Visit the Website: www.rcma-commodities.com<br> <br> Call RCMA: +(65) 63322282<br> <br> E-Mail RCMA: info@tongteik.com.sg<br> <br> Follow Mike Coleman on Linkedin<br> "You have to be able to demonstrate to people that you can run a business as well." - Mike Coleman (Tweet)
