You Never Know with Nicole Lee

What does the Iran war reveal about the current world order? What are we underestimating about China? Is AI as revolutionary as people think? Meng Keet Wong, Head of Managed Products and Alternative Investments at UOB Private Bank, discusses what most people don't see about what's happening in the world — and what history is actually telling us right now. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction 01...

Maaike Steinebach, former CEO of Visa for Hong Kong and Macau, walked away from 25 years of financial services and tech to found FemTech Future — an advisory platform closing the gender health gap through women's health innovation. Because even though women make up half the world's population, the products, services, and systems we rely on every day were never really designed with us in...

Max Chernov built a YouTube channel interviewing expats, entrepreneurs and billionaires across Asia. Born in Russia, lived in eight countries, and now calls Singapore home. We talk about living in Singapore, what it really costs to be a full-time creator, what billionaires actually teach you about success, and why so many foreigners never leave the expat bubble. TODAY'S GUEST 🌐 YouTube: http...

Most people think they own gold. They don't. I discuss all things gold with Christophe Numa, Founder & CEO of Gauld — who spent over a decade building businesses around physical gold, from running a multi-million dollar trading platform backed by global hedge fund Millennium, to now making physical gold ownership accessible to everyone, anywhere in the world. Enjoy! TODAY'S GUEST 🌐...

If you could live anywhere in the world, would you know where to go? I speak with Nirbhay Handa , global mobility entrepreneur & CEO of Multipolitan , about how cities are evolving, why global mobility is becoming more nuanced, and how Millennials and Gen Zs are shaping a more borderless way of living. We explore why cities are increasingly becoming “pseudo-states” where talent and capital con...

Your headaches, pain, and illness aren't random — they're your body telling you something. Sufen Paphassarang reveals how your body stores every suppressed emotion — knowing exactly where, what caused it, and how it manifests as pain, disease, or chronic conditions — to get your attention. We explore the three brains — head, heart, and gut — what your 3am insomnia is really telling you,...

Why do some rich people still feel poor? When is enough money, enough? Kees Stoute, former CEO of EFG Bank for Hong Kong and Singapore, and author of the book Help! I’m Rich! , believes the biggest challenge of wealth isn’t financial. It’s psychological. In this episode of the You Never Know Podcast, we explore why some of the wealthiest people still struggle with the idea of “enough”, how self-wo...

Many investors say they want to “make a lot of money.” But that’s not a strategy. Sameer Deshpande, Head of Wealth Management for Asia Pacific at Emirates NBD, reveals the investing mistakes that most people don’t realise they’re making. From turning short-term trades into long-term investments, to chasing yield over total return, to holding on to losing positions out of hope — we unpack the psych...

We trust hospitals with our lives — but what if the future of healthcare isn’t in hospitals at all? I sat down with Dr. Timothy Low, former CEO of Gleneagles Hospital and Farrer Park Hospital in Singapore, to explore what’s really changing in healthcare, and what most patients will never see. We talk about what goes on behind the scenes of running a hospital, why hospitals will get smaller, the di...

What does the world feel like to a 15-year-old today? In this episode, host Nicole Lee speaks with Joshua Goh, a student from National Junior College in Singapore, about growing up in a time of rapid technological change, rising competition, and the pressure to figure out the future earlier than ever. They talk about AI, school, emotional intelligence, and career paths — and the deeper tension bet...

Sales is like dating. You read the signals. You invest the time. And sometimes, you get ghosted. In this episode of the You Never Know Podcast, host Nicole Lee sits down with Jahnavi Bhagwati, founder of Koka Capital, as she shares candid insights on sales and private markets in Asia from over a decade in finance and deal-making at Goldman Sachs, Nomura, and Bank of Singapore. From learning how to...

Veteran banking leader Philip Kunz dismantles the biggest myths about rising in banking — from promotions and politics to influencing people who don’t report to you. Across 40 years in wealth management, Philip held senior leadership roles at UBS, ABN AMRO, and Credit Suisse, led Global Private Banking for South Asia at HSBC, and is now Senior Advisor & Group Head Southeast Asia at Nomura Inte...

Former Singaporean hedge fund executive Pei Chan opens up about her addiction to corporate burnout, the shock of being made redundant, why she transitioned to teaching breathwork full-time — and how success without self-awareness can quietly destroy you from the inside out. After nearly two decades in London at some of the world’s top hedge funds including Millennium, UBS O’Connor, and Balyasny, P...

Former Political Secretary to then–Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak , Ei Sun OH , shares his honest reflections on what it was really like working inside Malaysia’s seat of power — and why he eventually chose to walk away. From the early days of 1MDB to the 2018 elections that ended Barisan Nasional’s 61-year rule, Ei Sun opens up about the realities of politics and leadership — and weighs in...

Is there still job security in a bank? That's the question Urs Brutsch, Founder & CEO of HP Wealth Management, explores in this episode. After decades leading private banking in Asia across Credit Suisse, ABN AMRO, and Clariden Leu, Urs left the banking world in 2009 to build his own firm — now one of the largest Independent Asset Managers in Singapore. In this conversation, we unpack wha...

Plastic surgery. Is it vanity or empowerment? What if it helps give you back what you lost after childbirth, illness, or the hectic demands of life? And the question everyone asks: is it safe? In Episode 29 of the You Never Know Podcast, host Nicole Lee sits down with Dr. Michelle Ho — plastic surgeon & founder of Plastic & Aesthetics Practice @ TDP, mother of five, former breast reconstru...

If you're applying to U.S. universities from outside the U.S. — especially from Asia — this episode reveals what it really takes to break in. In this insightful episode of the You Never Know Podcast, host Nicole Lee speaks with Joash Lee — a former polytechnic student in Singapore who made it to Columbia University, one of the top Ivy League schools. But his journey wasn’t typical — and that’...

Could your anxiety, fatigue, or arthritis actually be coming from your gut? In episode 27 of the You Never Know podcast, Nicole Lee sits down with functional medicine coach Jo Brownlow to explore the link between gut health, hormone balance, autoimmune conditions, and emotional well-being. Jo shares her personal journey healing from Hashimoto’s disease, quitting alcohol, and transforming her son’s...

Many investors obsess over numbers, charts, earnings, and market noise. But what if the real edge came from something far less obvious? In this episode, I speak with Nirgunan Tiruchelvam — Head of Consumer and Internet at Aletheia Capital and author of Investing in the COVID Era — about seeing equity markets in a completely different way. We dive into why strong financials don’t always mean a stro...

Michele Ferrario, CEO of StashAway, didn’t set out to build a fintech company because it was trendy. He built it because the banks didn’t align with the kind of investment approach he wanted for his hard-earned money—and he believed there had to be a better way. Nearly a decade later, StashAway is now one of CNBC’s Top Fintech Companies in the World—for the third year running. In this episode, Mic...

What if gold could pay you like rent, without you having to sell it? In Episode 24, Eren Elvis Zekioglu returns to talk about one of the most important forces shaping the global economy—and one that powers how we live: commodities. From oil and agriculture to gold, we explore how everything around us is ultimately a derivative of crude oil—and how this often-overlooked sector is entering a new cha...

Did you know buying property in Singapore is a 5-move strategy—and most people stop at move one?   In this episode, I sit down with Farhan Adenan, a proud Malay-Singaporean who’s helping everyday people rethink what property really means—and how it can help them build long-term financial freedom.   We talk about what it’s like growing up Malay in Singapore, breaking out of cultural expectations, a...

He told his wife he wasn’t straight. Then became a father. Then came out as pansexual and gender-fluid. At 34 years old, Shawn Lim spent most of his life taking the arduous journey of navigating sexuality, gender, identity, marriage, and the emotional toll of suppressing who he truly is. From gang fights and getting arrested twice as a young teen, to building a new path forward as a husband, fathe...

From studying theatre to landing a job on Citi’s trading floor, building a hedge fund backed by Glencore, and running operations at Gunvor—one of the world’s largest independent commodity trading houses—Eren Elvis Zekioglu broke into finance without a degree, armed only with a bold letter, acting experience, and a lot of hustle.   In Part 1 of Episode 21 of You Never Know, we talk about how he nav...

You’ve seen it on screen. But what’s it really like in the real ER? Dr. LIEW Wai Wai shares the raw, unfiltered truth about life as an emergency doctor—what it takes, what people don’t see, and why being an ER doctor is actually easier than being a mom. We dive into the most surprising cases ER doctors have to face (cockroaches included…), the reality of working in the ER—shift work, emotional tol...