Chapter 34: Assembling a Trading Team

“Tell me, how can we increase the speed of stock accumulation for Wharf Holdings?” Lin Haoran asked.

“Mr. Lin, the simplest way is to increase the number of traders. We currently have too few people, making it difficult to compete with the trading teams of certain financial conglomerates. However, fortunately, from the current situation, these teams have been accumulating cautiously to avoid driving the stock price up too quickly. This has allowed us to scoop up some shares in the process,” Su Zhixue offered his suggestion.

Lin Haoran had not failed to consider increasing his subordinates, especially traders like Su Zhixue who were facing hardships.

However, during his frequent visits to Wan'an Group recently, he had not encountered any other talent facing financial difficulties like Su Zhixue. Therefore, even if he invited others to join, it would be difficult to guarantee high levels of loyalty.

Thus, Lin Haoran had temporarily set the matter aside.

But looking at it now, forming a trading team and increasing the number of traders seemed to have become a necessary step.

Otherwise, if the accumulation progress for Wharf Holdings was too slow, resulting in an excessively high final cost, it would be a losing proposition.

Furthermore, he faced another crisis that could erupt at any moment: the possibility of Li Jia Cheng setting his sights on Qingzhou Nickel.

Although he already controlled nearly 13.9% of Qingzhou Nickel's shares, if Li Jia Cheng's team began an acquisition, their strength would likely allow them to quickly surpass Lin Haoran's holdings.

After all, after Cheung Kong Holdings sold its Wharf Holdings shares to the Shipping King, its capital became extremely abundant; Lin Haoran simply could not compete with them in terms of financial strength.

One must realize that acquiring stocks is not limited to the stock market alone.

With Li Jia Cheng's connections and resources, he could likely persuade some of Qingzhou Nickel's shareholders to sell their shares to him, which would greatly accelerate his acquisition speed.

Therefore, Lin Haoran had to secure a certain number of shares as quickly as possible and make the news of his becoming a major shareholder public to Qingzhou Nickel.

This way, he might be invited by the Qingzhou Nickel board of directors to become a member. Such news would surely reach Li Jia Cheng quickly, and perhaps they would abandon their idea of acquiring Qingzhou Nickel.

Even if Li Jia Cheng continued to eye Qingzhou Nickel, as a director of the company, Lin Haoran would have more ways to adapt to the situation and ultimately force Li Jia Cheng to give up.

Additionally, once he had acquired close to his target number of shares, Lin Haoran would find ways to drive up Qingzhou Nickel's stock price.

This way, even if Li Jia Cheng wanted to acquire shares from the market, it would require more time and capital.

As long as Lin Haoran could smoothly obtain sufficient funds from Wharf Holdings, he could continue to acquire Qingzhou Nickel's shares, thereby achieving the goal of truly controlling the company.

What Lin Haoran lacked right now was time!

Moreover, most traders strictly adhere to professional ethics; they sign non-disclosure agreements before joining, and under normal circumstances, they do not leak company secrets.

Therefore, after hearing Su Zhixue's suggestion, Lin Haoran thought for a moment and decided to form a team of several people to accelerate the pace of stock accumulation.

“Zhixue, since you entered this industry, I assume you studied finance in university?” Lin Haoran began chatting with Su Zhixue.

“Mr. Lin, you are right. I graduated from the Department of Finance at Hong Kong University,” Su Zhixue answered truthfully.

Although Hong Kong University had not yet joined the ranks of internationally renowned universities in this era, its finance program's strength was growing daily alongside the booming Hong Kong financial industry, gaining increasing recognition from the sector.

“I want to build a trading team with you as the leader. For now, let's set the size at around five people. Do you have any trustworthy friends you can introduce?” Lin Haoran stated his purpose directly.

He believed that given Su Zhixue's 100% loyalty, if Su Zhixue recommended someone, that person's character and ability would surely be trustworthy.

Moreover, once they were brought in, he could use his "Golden Finger" to see their loyalty levels to judge what kind of people they were.

In the past, he had been too timid.

Hearing Lin Haoran's words, Su Zhixue's eyes lit up, and he said directly, “Mr. Lin, I know many people in this industry, and a large portion of my classmates are also in this field. A few of them are quite close to me; when I was raising money for my surgery, I borrowed most of it from them. I can absolutely guarantee their character. Recruiting four people is not difficult for me; as long as your salary conditions are slightly higher than their previous companies, they should be willing to jump ship.”

“Are there any who can start immediately? Resigning usually takes some time, right?” Lin Haoran continued to ask.

“Mr. Lin, with the rapid development of Hong Kong's financial industry, especially after the bull market of the 'Shark Fin Rice' trend, talent is the one thing we don't lack in Hong Kong. I have a friend who is currently unemployed; he left his previous company just over a month ago and is currently looking for work. His trading skills are definitely at a professional level. For others, if they need to resign, they generally require a week for the handover period,” Su Zhixue answered cautiously.

“Fine, then notify them to come for interviews tomorrow evening. I will provide a base salary of 4,000 HKD per person, and bonuses will depend on their performance!” Lin Haoran said directly.

A base salary of 4,000 HKD was quite good in this industry; in reality, a trader's income relies more on bonuses and commissions.

Take Su Zhixue, for example; when he was at Wan'an Group, his base salary was only 2,500 HKD, and it was only with bonuses and commissions that he barely reached over 4,000 HKD a month.

“Understood, Mr. Lin. I will notify them tonight. However, besides that unemployed friend, the other three will only be able to come for interviews during their lunch break. Their current workplaces are all nearby, so it won't be difficult for them to come over,” Su Zhixue replied.

“Mhm, then I'll trouble you tonight. Work hard; from now on, you are the head of this team. Follow me, and as long as you perform well, you don't need to worry about bonuses or commissions at all. You can head back and rest for today!” Lin Haoran said to Su Zhixue with a smile.

Watching Su Zhixue's departing figure, Lin Haoran sat in his chair and began to contemplate his next plan.

Once the right personnel were recruited, the speed of stock accumulation would surely increase significantly.

By then, he wouldn't have to worry too much about the Wharf Holdings side.

After all, his target wasn't actually that large—only about a million shares.

And the total share volume of Wharf Holdings exceeded 100 million shares.

Therefore, Lin Haoran's goal was indeed insignificant compared to the entirety of Wharf Holdings' stock.

What he worried about most was the situation with Qingzhou Nickel.

Even though he had become a major shareholder of Qingzhou Nickel, he still could not ensure total safety.

Since he could not obtain any intelligence from Cheung Kong Holdings, he could only rely on luck to deal with the upcoming situation.

After contemplating in the office for a long time, Lin Haoran finally decided to leave.

He knew that thinking too much now was useless; only by continuing to lay out his moves could he prepare for the challenges ahead.