Tilla Caveng

National University of Singapore – The NUS MBA

“Cheerful lawyer gone strategist with a healthy curiosity for the world and an unhealthy appetite for chocolate.”

Hometown: Zurich, Switzerland

Fun fact about yourself: Can toss Yusheng better sideways than vertically, but knows how to make a pretty shiok kimchi (for our non-Singaporean readers: my chopstick skills are limited, but this doesn’t stop me from recreating highlights of the Asian cuisine – with success!).

Undergraduate School and Degree: Bachelor of Law & Master of Law, both at the University of Zurich, Switzerland

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Kaiser Partner Wealth Advisors, as Chief of Staff

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? My work experience did not follow the usual MBA cycle, but rather accompanied me throughout my MBA studies – I co-founded an employee-owned wealth advisory and trust boutique together with my former team: Conduct.

My role involved supporting all stages of the company transition and advising one of our clients, a foreign government, on transforming into a regional financial hub.

Where will you be working after graduation?  I have been eager to continue working with my team at Conduct, finally full-time and in person. At Conduct, we help wealth owners and families unlock the meaning behind their wealth. We build and implement a plan to match their purposes through our wide range of services, including wealth planning, family and business governance, fiduciary/trust, and strategic consulting. At the core, we provide peace of mind grounded in lasting, personalised relationships with a focus on international client needs, rooted in one of the world‘s most stable countries.

As one of the co-founders, I head finance and operations, and advise our clients in the field of family governance.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Having received the NUS MBA Dean’s Award, I have been proudly representing the NUS MBA to potential new MBA students in Singapore and Europe during my exchange semester at Columbia University in New York and the wider business community in general.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Personal development: Completing my MBA in a country and culture so far from my own allowed me to get to know myself better, integrate into a foreign culture, and see the world around me from a more international, kaleidoscopic perspective.

Highlights in this regard were the many “DMC” – deep meaningful conversations – held with my classmates often in the early hours of morning, following long days of hard work on our academic challenges and subsequent dinner parties.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? When I transitioned from legal into more strategic work, I was initially worried that my lengthy legal education and training (7 years) would become futile. However, structured thinking and meticulous attention to detail were the perfect steppingstones for my pre-MBA position as Chief of Staff, the admission to the NUS MBA, the co-founding of Conduct, and finally, providing family governance advice to our clients. It makes me feel happy and proud to have a way to apply myself holistically as a person and professional, to the benefit of others as well as myself.

Why did you choose this business school? I wanted to immerse myself not only academically, but also culturally, in an environment different from what I am used to. I was personally interested in getting to know Asian cultures better: NUS as leading business school in Asia was an obvious choice.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favourite MBA professor is Prof. Pasha Mahmood, who taught our Asian Business Environments class. He skillfully managed to combine business, economy, culture, and even philosophy in his teachings, garnished with enlightening stories from his own professional and life experience.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favourite MBA course was Family Business taught by Prof. Marleen Dieleman. With my Wealth Advisory background, it was highly interesting to learn in-depth about family business in Asia, particularly from a professor who has strong practical experience in the field.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My personal traditional highlight was celebrating Yusheng together with our MBA cohort, family, and friends at NUS. Yusheng is the local Lunar New Year custom of tossing a colourful salad into the air as highly as possible. It is believed that the height of the toss symbolises prosperity. As you can imagine, NUS MBAs are very talented at tossing salad into high altitudes (since we know how to think outside the box, also sideways).

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? With academic, social, and cultural events aggregating, MBA life can be hectic. This was intensified for me due to my work in two different time zones. Whereas I managed to travel to the home countries of several of my classmates, often together with them (Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam), I wish I had attended more of such trips.

What is the biggest myth about your school? The full-time class size is significantly lower at NUS than at some of the other leading business schools and this may wrongly be seen as a disadvantage. However, our class size (~120) allowed us to really get to know each other and forge strong bonds. Also, we were regularly attending classes together with the part-time MBAs (another group of approximately 120 students), providing direct exchange with experienced professionals working locally.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Singapore is a fascinating melting pot of cultures. Living on an island, the people in Singapore are close-knit and it is easy to make new connections – and taste the wonderful variety of food together with them!

What surprised you the most about business school? The warm and familial welcome I received upon my arrival. The school immediately felt like a community of diverse but like-minded people who support each other (I had expected more of an institutional feel).

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? My classmate Thompson Wong‘s ability to combine family, work and academia, whilst at any point in time appearing most relaxed, is highly impressive. Next to all of this, he still finds capacity to get involved in extracurricular events and introduce us foreign students to Singapore and the local culture. Thank you, Thompson!

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? 

1. Paying forward the encouragement and support I have been receiving from my own mentors to my current and future mentees.
2. Continued success for Conduct.

What made Tilla such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024? 

“Tilla Caveng is a standout member of the Class of 2024, known for her legal background and strategic mindset, which she brought from Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Her initiative to establish Conduct, a pioneering wealth advisory and trust boutique, amidst her MBA journey demonstrates her knack for translating her skills into impactful ventures. This move reflects her adeptness at navigating complex challenges with practical solutions.

Tilla’s efforts to immerse herself in Asian cultures and her active participation in student clubs highlight her commitment to both personal and professional development. Her work has not only enriched her own MBA experience but also contributed positively to our community, making her the deserving recipient of the NUS MBA Dean’s Award. Tilla’s direct yet thoughtful approach to her career, combined with her ability to engage with a diverse set of cultures and ideas, makes her a valuable member of our class and a deserving nominee for the 2024 MBAs To Watch.”

Nicole Tee – Director, MBA Programmes
NUS Business School

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2024