Fascinated by the unpredictable financial world, Dr. Yang YOU seeks to give form to intangible phenomena with scientific methodologies. Devoted to spend his lifetime probing at the frontiers of human knowledge, Dr. You has officially joined us in July 2021 as an Assistant Professor in Finance.

The determination of a knowledge explorer 

“The financial world itself a very unique universe with an unlimited collection of stars to explore, and many of them are interwoven with the destinies of many. The ever rising property price and the unpredictability of the stock markets for examples, have urged policy makers to fathom new strategies. But in the meantime, private entities will also come up with their countermeasures to adapt. The tensions and dynamics between different stakeholders are really intriguing. This has encouraged me to explore how these policy changes can affect culture and institutions,” said Dr. You. But instead of becoming a politician or civil servant, academia is where his heart belonged to. He jokingly said, “Scholars don’t need to publish findings for money. We are free to imagine the future society and think about different possibilities. Scholars are literally thought leaders.”

Prior to joining HKU, Dr. You worked for a quantitative proprietary trading fund and acted as a digital currency consultant for Facebook. When asked whether this experience has swayed his dream of becoming a scholar, he firmly replied with a “No.” He said, “As a quant trader, I got to know how trading algorithms are written and executed, and the caveats of different trading strategies. However, practitioners seldomly invest in understanding ‘why’ or develop theories to reconcile these empirical findings. So I think I should move on and pursue what I am interested the most.”

As a scholar aspired to conquer unknown knowledge, crypto currencies’ unpredictability, volatility, and disruptive nature has deeply gravitated his intellectual interests. Will this new kid on the block overthrow the USD hegemony? Will all the obstacles in cross-border trades be removed ever since? Now, with unlimited time at his disposal, Dr. You is ready to let his financial knowledge goes wild. One of his latest research, for example, has touched on the unthinkable – will platform companies be the vanguard of mainstream digital currencies.

Imagining a future where platform companies are central banks

Digital vouchers and shopping scores are no strangers to us ordinary consumers. We have been using this kind of digital currency to purchase goods and services from exclusive firms from time to time. But have you ever wondered, that these exclusive digital moneys will one day earn the equal status of legal tender notes?

By designing a tractable model of redeemable platform tokens that allows one to explore a number of issues related to their design, features, and supply policy, Dr. You and his research team discover that unless the tokens can generate a considerable convenience yield to consumers, platform companies are unlikely to create digital tokens that can be tradable beyond the platform. Dr. You explained that “We have conducted a myriad of tests, and we discovered that it is simply not worth it. Even though platform companies like Alibaba and Amazon are rich as nations, maintaining the tradability of a platform currency entails huge issuance costs and pricing constraints, which really hurts their profits.” The novelty of this research and the uniqueness of the model have impressed many in academia. Dr. You is delighted to share with us that his paper is currently under review by the internationally renowned Review of Economic Studies.

The promising land for multidisciplinary research

Even though Dr. You is a scholar in finance, his research has deep macroeconomics implications. Dr. You commented that HKU Business School is the best place for multidisciplinary research among all academic institutions in Asia. He said, “During my interview, the Area Head of Finance, Professor Tse Chun Lin, encouraged me to explore research topics other than finance. I can feel that the School has put the development of young scholars on a very high priority, and I really look forward to working with such open-minded individuals.”

Dr. You will be teaching in the Master of Finance and Master of Finance in Financial Technology in this academic year. With Hong Kong being an international financial centre, Dr. You believes that his students are aspired to work in high-end financial institutions. While he urges them to work hard, Dr. You will also push himself to understand the expectations of local employers’ and the market dynamics of Hong Kong.

Dr. Shiyang Huang, Associate Professor of HKU Business School, is awarded “Outstanding Young Researcher Award (OYRA) 2020-21” by The University of Hong Kong (HKU). This annual award by HKU gives recognition to young researchers under 40-year-old who are demonstrating extremely high-quality research.

Dr. Huang joined HKU Business School after receiving his Ph.D. degree in finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2015. He has devoted his dedication and efforts over the years in researches focusing on financial economics and financial markets. He has published a number of research papers in top academic journals including The Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science and Journal of Economic Theory.

Dr. Huang said, “In the past few years, I have been working on the areas of information market, information inefficiency, and investor trading behaviour. My research can help better understand the causes and consequences of financial market inefficiencies. For instance, one of my published papers studies how industry ETFs facilitate informed trading by helping investors hedge industry risk and better trade on firm-specific information. The other published paper helps understand the economic consequence of the increasing pre-IPO investments by public market institutional investors on venture capitalists.  I am also collaborating with Bank of England to understand how different institutional investors contribute to the financial instability in UK government bond market. In one of our collaborated projects, we focus on the government bond crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and uncover an unintended consequence the US dollar’s global prominence on the UK government bond market.”

The Outstanding Young Researcher Award (OYRA) is one of the awards under the HKU Excellence Awards. These annual Awards are a salute to the exceptional and inspirational accomplishments of HKU colleagues and a celebration of the diverse range of disciplines and specialisations at the University.

Prof. Anna Wong, Programme Director of Bachelor of Finance in Asset Management and Private Banking (AMPB), has arranged a monthly roundtable series and informal coffee chats last semester. Students who are majoring in AMPB had the opportunity to meet with the senior executives and practitioners in Asset Management and Private Banking industry during these activities.

Nurture students’ business instinct from a roundtable of elites

Over 50 students joined each monthly roundtable event, and they were well prepared, raised good questions and interacted with the guest speakers on topics including the key elements of asset management, the development of crypto assets capital market, and how virtual banks could reshape the banking industry through technology and innovation and bring different banking experiences and services to customers.

The speakers were Mr. Adrian Lai, CEO & Co-Founder of Liquefy, Mr. Bradley Okita, CFA, Partner of Green Court Capital Management, and Mr. Rockson Hsu, CEO of ZA Bank. This series was arranged by Prof. Anna Wong, Programme Director of Bachelor of Finance in Asset Management and Private Banking. They also shared their career journey and tips on developing the talents most wanted by the industry.

The whole series was well received, and our students have plenty of takeaways from each guest speaker.

Mr. Adrian Lai, CEO & Co-Founder of Liquefy

Mr. Bradley Okita, CFA, Partner of Green Court Capital Management

Mr. Rockson Hsu, CEO of ZA Bank

Caffeine in cup, knowledge in mind

This October, AMPB students also had coffee chat opportunities with financial industry practitioners from companies like Fidelity International, Julius Baer, HSBC Global Private Banking, eFusion, Chartwell Capital, etc. Under the informal setting, students learned more about the current trend of the industry, how to locate internship, the qualities required by the industry, and the personal story of the practitioners on how they developed their careers. They also had the chance to visit the practitioners’ offices. The event was well-received, and our students have plenty of takeaways from the visits.

Li Chak Lam, Year 2, AMPB student believes this opportunity can help her gain a deeper understanding of the recent trends in the banking industry, “Through this coffee chat, I have a deeper understanding of the structure of an asset management company, the teams’ division, and also the selling process of the products (from request for proposal to portfolio management). Moreover, I have known more about the daily working routine of a sales and portfolio manager.”

Lee Cheuk Yi, Year 1, AMPB student thinks that this is an eye-opening experience and it let her know how to perform when having the first job, “From the coffee chat, I acquired more insights of current business industry, as well as how to find internship and how to behave well when having the first job. Never be afraid to take more responsibilities when being an intern as it can be treated as a precious opportunity to learn more new things. It can also expand my network in the business industry now which is useful for my future job finding and working.”

(First left) Mr. Clarence Hon, Senior Vice President, Team Head, Corporate Banking, Hang Seng Bank

(Second left) Mr. Johnny Lau, Senior Relationship Manager at HSBC Global Private Banking

Born with a desire to explore the unknown, Dr. Ivy Dang aspires to create positive impact to the world via knowledge creation. Starting off as a science major in Applied Physics and spending two years studying Quantum Physics at PhD level, Dr. Dang had eventually realised that her true interest lies in quantitative marketing. Dedicated to apply the quantitative reasoning and problem-solving skills from natural science to business studies, Dr. Dang has officially joined us on February 2020 as an Assistant Professor in Marketing.

The desire to advance the science and practice of marketing

Fascinated by the mathematical beauty of the universe, Dr. Dang had once aspired to understand how things work from physics and mathematical principles. But when she alighted in Hong Kong for her doctoral studies, her research interests had begun to changed. From her point of view, Hong Kong is a tech-driven, ever-changing, and fast-paced metropolis. Business elements and financial information are omnipresent, and such protean atmosphere is constantly influencing our behaviours and actions mercurially. The vibrancy and energetic nature of our city has solicited the intellectual desire of Dr. Dang to explore how individuals, business entities and society function from an economic perspective described by the mathematical formulas.

She is particularly interested in using quantitative modelling to study consumer behaviours and generating relevant managerial implications, which can advance the science and practice of marketing. She told us that “unlike the physical world, which is deterministic, predictable, testable and governed by laws of physics, the invisible hands governing business world and consumer behaviours are constantly evolving, hard to predict and sometimes require scholars to exercise value judgement. All answers could either be right or wrong over the course of time, and this really intrigues me as a science person.” As the study of marketing is essentially to create, communicate and deliver value to society, she finds it a meaningful subject.

Is privacy really priceless?

Recently, Dr. Dang has conducted a research in the field of consumer privacy. She posited that understanding the value individuals place on their privacy is of great importance for business, law, and public policy. Dr. Dang observed that although some companies are increasingly collecting their consumer’s data to optimise their marketing decisions, some consumers remain reluctant even when compensated. Collaborating with a leading local online lending company who offers 5 to 20% interest rate discounts to borrowers willing to provide their personal information (such as education background and social media account), Dr. Dang and her collaborators have developed an economic model to measure consumer privacy preferences and risk types, providing useful managerial implications to companies on designing optimal data collection strategies. This research is especially relevant for financial centres such as Hong Kong with rapid growth in the microloan industry. This knowledge will help microloan companies to develop risk type screening mechanisms for applicants to mitigate adverse selection. It will also provide firms and policymakers, such as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong, with useful information to better understand local consumers privacy preferences.

Online dating: Mr. Right or Mr. Best?

While we generally do not want corporations to hoard our personal information, when it comes to love and relationships, some are very generous in showing off their true colours to their potential valentines. Researching on thousands of user behaviours in one of the biggest dating websites in the mainland, Dr. Dang and her collaborators discover that revealing too much on your bio may jeopardise your romantic luck.

Everyone has a Mr./Ms. Best in their heart, who has the ideal physical outlook and personality traits that you prefer, and with all the material merits you fancy. Mr./Ms. Right, as your lifelong companion, who might not be perfect in all dimensions, but who matches with you the best. The search of an ideal partner takes a lot of time and communication, as trust cannot be built via a lengthy bio or a few test messages. However, given that dating app is a premise for peacocking, users are often overwhelmed by boastful content regarding to material possessions and physical beauty, such that they may missed their Mr./Ms. Right in searching for the Mr./Ms. Best. This effect is mainly driven by the mismatched preferences between the two sides. Too much information shown on the bio will tacitly encourage users to look for Mr./Ms. Best based on their preferences, and thus Mr./Ms. Right may be ruled out too early without getting a chance to be contacted. “That said, leaving some room for imagination and further communication may be more conducive. After all, you don’t want to miss your Mr./Ms. Right too early just based on the numbers and descriptions shown on their profiles,” said Dr. Dang. In this work, Dr. Dang and her collaborators build a theoretical model to rationalise this behaviour, shedding light on the optimal information provision strategies of matching platforms.

A mutual learning experience

Other than research, Dr. Dang also seeks to step up her teaching game. Dr. Dang had developed a new undergraduate course on social media marketing. The course solicited positive responses and even students from other faculties. She told us that “I am fascinated to see that students from different academic backgrounds tackle business problems with different approaches. After all, teaching is really about mutual learning. I have learned a lot from my students, and in fact, some of my research ideas are actually originated from class discussions!”

Dr. Dang also observes that HKU students are digitally savvy and they are very aware of the changes in the business world. “As a science person, I am impressed by their strong business acumen. But as a teacher, other than teaching them how to use quantitative tools to make scientific claims, I also hope that I can encourage them to continue to stay inquisitive about the world and apply their classroom knowledge for the betterment of the society,” said Dr. Dang.

Disembarking at HKU Business School after his decade long odyssey in the private sector, Dr. Zhang seeks to explore the unattended questions ignored by marketers. At July 2021, Dr. Zhang has officially joined us as an Assistant Professor in Marketing.

Return to the basics of marketing

Dr. Zhang is baffled by the fact that scholars, business parties and marketers never have a mutual consensus on how digital marketing should be done right. He said that most marketers only focus on profit maximisation. Although they are effective and efficient, they often ignore what is actually happening on the consumer’s side. Dr. Zhang believes that the stress in target chasing has “But I am a curious person and I want answers,” said Dr. Zhang.

Dr. Zhang sees the academia is the perfect place for knowledge creation as it is free from corporate agenda and sponsors’ influence. In addition, he also observes that marketing is increasingly data driven nowadays, especially with the emergence advance technology such as big data and AI. As such, he foresees that collaboration between scholars and marketers will be an on-going trend. To ride on the wave, Dr. Zhang is dedicated to carry out empirical research on marketing phenomena and product innovation. He told us that, “While I enjoy researching on detrimental factors that lowers the efficiency of marketing campaigns, I am also interested in studying how blockchain impacts the marketing industry. For instance, as blockchain can provide perfect transparency between service providers and clients, do we still need marketing agencies as intermediaries anymore? These questions interest me intellectually.”

Factors that impact strategical decision making

Currently, Dr. Zhang is researching on dynamic advertising strategies and the tactical adjustments made by the marketers amidst advertisement campaigns. As we are living in an ever-changing world, marketers have to constantly update their advertising plans to catch up. Interested in uncovering factors that influence the decision-making process of marketers, Dr. Zhang has carried out an empirical study on a marketing campaign initiated by a gaming console company. While the research is still on-going, he has already found something interesting to share, “I realise that feedback from the target customers and investors are the most influential, while feedback from the media and competitors are less so. But interestingly, tactical adjustments are only effective on traditional advertisements such as TV commercials and printed materials. However, adjustments made in online advertisements are less sufficient in terms of sales boosting. This is very intriguing and I will definitely look into that.”

Dr. Zhang commented that having access to comprehensive data sets is critical in empirical research. That said, HKU Business School as a reputable institution with powerful business networks in the Asia-Pacific region is a very attractive destination. He also praised the proactive attitude of our marketing scholars. He said, “HKU scholars collaborate the private sector frequently. Not only for doing research, they also make use of their academic intellect to design marketing mechanisms for experimentations. I really look forward to work with them.”

The purpose of UG marketing education

In the coming semester, Dr. Zhang will be teaching two undergraduate courses. As an educator, he sees undergraduate education as an important foundation for students to familiarise themselves with the latest marketing technology. He explained that, “Once you have established solid technical skills, you can advance to the Masters level and learn how to market something strategically.” Dr. Zhang expects his students to be active and vocal in classes. As only through knowledge exchange and debate, one could achieve breakthrough and soar high.

Accumulating years of research and teaching experiences in Canada and Singapore, Dr. Chow believes that it is the time for him to return and contribute to the city that raises him. Joining us in July 2020, Dr. Chow is an Assistant Professor in Accounting.

To explore the blue ocean of business studies

“I had met a tutor in a private cram class in secondary school who really knows how to stimulate students’ interests in economics. This experience really inspires me to become a teacher,” said Dr. Chow. “After completing my undergraduate studies, I have grown increasingly fond of economic theories and the research methodologies used. I have also developed a deep interest in analysing individual and corporate behaviours.” To further pursue his interests in economics, Dr. Chow decides to pursue postgraduate studies and develop a career in academic research.

Down the road, Dr. Chow has come to the realisation that many forms of corporate behaviours are connected to accounting. Dr. Chow explains to us that accounting principles are the bedrock of the modern business world. It shapes the modus operandi of firms and impacts formulating policies. Attracted by the idea of collaborating with scholars from multidisciplinary streams, Dr. Chow has eventually become an accounting scholar specialised in taxation.

Colour your gold grey during tax holidays

A recent research conducted by Dr. Chow studies how US firms exploit overseas tax holiday arrangements to perform profit shifting. A tax holiday is a government incentive program that offers a tax reduction or tax elimination to businesses for a limited period after meeting certain prerequisites, such as establishing a local headquarter and hiring local workers. It is commonly used by developing countries to stimulate foreign investment.

“My co-authors and I discover that US firms significantly increase their outbound income shifting while participating in foreign tax holidays. On average, firms shift over $40 million more income per year out of the United States, effectively deferring over $10 million in tax per firm each year,” said Dr. Chow. However, the research also discovers that this arrangement has created the problems of tax uncertainty, as firms face difficulties anticipating the outcomes of future tax audits. The research discovers that firms reported a 33% increase in tax uncertainty when participating in tax holidays.

As profit-shifting is hurting the tax income of the US government, a major tax reform was taken place through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December 2017. Dr. Chow believes that TCJA can influence the incentives for US firms to participate in foreign tax holidays through a three-pronged approach. First, it directly offers tax exemptions to certain foreign income. Second, it reduces the US corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Finally, it imposes a minimum tax on a new category of foreign income called the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI). How the countervailing effects of the TCJA will play out in terms of US firms’ incentives to participate in foreign tax holidays and firms’ investment behaviours are important topics to explore. Dr. Chow foresees that it will become a subject of extensive research when sufficient data become available in the future.

The importance of seek truth from facts

Teaching in HKU for the second semester, Dr. Chow has the feeling that most students are relatively passive during learning. He urges students to be more proactively when facing difficulties in class. He believes that they should also seek confirmation with their mentors on knowledge which they thought they understand, in order to be a good learner. Dr. Chow hopes the pandemic will be over soon, and he looks forward to discussing with his students face-to-face without a mask.

Looking to the future, Dr. Chow comments that, “I am thrilled to be back and am looking forward to the opportunities to contribute to the HKU community in a variety of meaningful ways, including knowledge creation and talent grooming.”

Students from HKU Business School wins the Champion in the Hong Kong Shared Good Values (HKSGV) 2021 Case Competition – Case of Nestlé Hong Kong

It is the fifth year that HKSGV organised the case competition. It is a programme that aims to propagate the concept of doing good and doing well in businesses in Hong Kong. A total of 141 teams (about 520 students) registered this year.  Between February and May 2021, participating teams contributed ideas to senior management at Nestlé Hong Kong Limited and Stan Group on how they generate innovative plans for office penetration and engagement, the importance of happy work culture, elderly care and wellness for an age-friendly smart city, creation of shared value business concepts, business and social development in Hong Kong.

Team members:

CHU Hon Ho BBA (Acct&Fin) Year 4

LAW Hiu Wai BBA (Business, Design & Innovation and Marketing) Year 4

LI Wing Chak BBA (Econ&Fin) Year 4

Student Sharing:

One main focus of this competition is to Create Shared Values (CSV) for different stakeholders. Throughout the competition, we have a chance to study Nestlè’s current situation and brainstorm innovative solutions for penetrating middle-size offices. Looking into the case, we have learned how to merge CSV to genuine practices with business values. We first conducted situation analysis, defined strategic directions, set goals and objectives. Then, we integrated different levels of CSV into our proposed solutions – to reconceive products and markets, redefine productivity in the value chain, and enable local cluster development. After that, we came up with our final solutions to meet social needs and strengthen the linkage between companies and the community. It’s a precious opportunity for us to experience the workflow of proposing a real-world business project.

Developing a business proposal is always not easy. It’s our pleasure to be guided by an experienced mentor. We were inspired a lot while going through the concept of CSV, the perspective of stakeholders, the implications, the implementation challenges, the timeline, the cost analysis, etc. It’s been a challenging journey but rewarding experience as well.

– By CHU Hon Ho Jason

Learn more about the competition: https://www.hksgv.hk/2021-case-competition

From left to right: Mr. Raymond Cheng, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Zang Ke Ke, Coco; Chan Hoi Ching, Ella; Leung Ka Wing, Kary; Chan Yuet, Mikayla; Dr. Winnie S.C. Leung, Assistant Dean (Undergraduate)

The HKU Business School team won the 1^st runner-up in HKICPA Business Case Competition 2021. This year, the competition received a total of 657 team entries from various institutions in Hong Kong, Greater China and Macau regions.

The HKICPA Business Case Competition is an inter-tertiary event that aims at developing students’ business skills, cultivating their professional judgment and preparing themselves for the business environment. Participating teams were required to submit written proposals on a case study in the fashion industry for screening. After several rounds of evaluation, six finalist teams were selected for competing in the Final Oral Presentation Day on November 20, 2021.

Team members:

Chan Hoi Ching, Ella (team leader) – BBA

Chan Yuet, Mikayla – BBA (Acc&Fin)

Leung Ka Wing, Kary – BBA

Zang Ke Ke, Coco – BEcon&Fin

Faculty advisor: Dr. Jasmine KWONG

Student’s Sharing:

We were new to case competition, and we were new to each other.

Things began when I saw the case competition poster distributed at the end of the orientation camp and asked, ‘Is anyone interested in joining it with me?’ Frankly, I was just randomly asking and did not expect that I could form a team. I asked this question so many times, but it never happened to go the way I wished – forming a team is difficult! This time, I ‘successfully’ formed a team of four. Having the opportunity to join the competition made me feel excited, while at the same time, worried. I had only known my teammates for 2 days, and there were a lot of uncertainties. I had no idea if they were truly willing to take up the responsibility, were we capable or simply whether we could coordinate well. Fortunately, even though our schedules were packed with deadlines, tests, and more in these three months, none of us treated the competition as posteriority. We not only got our parts done but also initiatively helped each other.

We never imagine we can go so far since we were selected among 657 teams to be one of the six finalist teams in the undergraduate category and, finally, getting the 1st Runner-up. We are not the only people who contribute to our success. We appreciate this opportunity offered by HKICPA as we have learned a lot throughout the competition and from the adjudicators’ comments. My professor also advised on our presentation deck, and HKU Business School reached out to us to see if we needed a coach. We are lucky to have all these support and resources.

Participating in a case competition is a great opportunity to learn, from technical skills like proposal writing and presentation skills to soft skills, namely communication skills, teamwork, agility and stress management skills. We are looking forward to joining other case competitions together in the near future, and we recommend you to take the initiative to grow and improve.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my teammates. From the worries to now, we have experienced a lot, and I am grateful and proud to say, ‘We are the dream team!’

by Chan Hoi Ching, Ella (team leader)

Learn more about the competition

https://www.hkicpa.org.hk/en/Become-a-Hong-Kong-CPA/QP-Student-support-and-benefits/QP-Affiliate-Club/HKICPA-Business-Case-Competition

https://ug.hkubs.hku.hk/competition/hkicpa-business-case-competition-2021