Congratulations to Professor Tingjun Liu, Professor in Finance, on winning the Faculty Outstanding Researcher Award 2021-22.

Professor Tingjun Liu is a leading scholar specialises in auction theory. The recognition of his advancement in the understanding of a less understood topic in Finance, which is related to security-bid auctions, was evidenced by having five articles published in “A” journals over the past five years, including American Economic Review, Management Science, Journal of Economic Theory, and The Journal of Finance.

The Selection Committee acknowledges the high quality and quantity of Professor Liu’s research publications, and his important contributions through novel research.

Established in 2013, the Faculty Outstanding Researcher Award aims to honour and reward faculty members for having done excellent research and achieved international recognition in the field of business and economics.

HKU recently signed an agreement with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) for “The CGMA® Finance Leadership Program (FLP)” – a new remote, digital self-paced learning program for aspiring business and finance leaders.

The partnership is developed for HKU Business School’s students of all Business Undergraduate programmes, Master of Accounting programme and to alumni who graduated within two years of these programmes. With the help of real-life case simulations, FLP offers a mix of finance, accounting, business, people, leadership and digital skills that empower students and alumni to build successful careers and become a CIMA Member and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Click here to learn more about the Program.

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Fascinated by the idea of exploring the frontiers of human knowledge with quantitative methodologies, Dr. Yu has officially joined us at July 2021 as an Assistant Professor in Economics after completing her doctoral studies.

One percent inspiration 99 percent perspiration

Endowed with superb numerical reasoning skills and a deep interest in analysing human behaviours, Dr. Yu knows that it takes more hard work to become an economist. She said, “Among my peers, I have exhibited the a rather strong sense of curiosity, so I have always felt the responsibility to become an explorer, pushing at the frontiers of the human cognitive boundaries. It is not an easy process, it takes massive reading and countless discussions to inspire.” What economics attract Dr. Yu, is its omnipresence in our society and its endless potential in incorporating multidisciplinary knowledge. For example, political science and psychology knowledge are often used to explain policy incentives and consumer behaviours, while historiography skills are needed when mapping out economic history.

Interested in exploring the decision-making process of firms, the primary research interest of Dr. Yu focuses on organisational economics, a study that analyse the complex dynamics between consumers and firms, so as the interrelationships among firms within the same industry. Organisational economists observe and analyse the behaviours of practitioners to provide scientific guidance to decision makers on market design.

To model the learning process of firms with Chilean data

Having the serendipity to access exclusive data from Chile, Dr. Yu had developed a model in her job market paper in 2020 to explain how competing firms form price cartels. In the 2000s, 92% the Chilean pharmaceutical retail market was divided among Cruz Verde, FASA and Salcobrand. As drug prices are not controlled or regulated by the authorities back then, a price war had erupted among the oligarchs in late 2006. However, the year 2007 had become a turning point of the price war as the ownership of Salcobrand was transferred. The new management of Salcobrand had hired executives from the two other oligarchs and a series of clandestine conversations was initiated. When sufficient trust was established, a price cartel was formed. From November 2007 to April 2008, the cartel had manipulated the price of 222 branded drugs before being investigated. Till today, the three firms are still managing earning abnormal profit on some drugs. We have the reason to believe, during the process of establishing the trust, the firms have learned how to coordinate.

This paper produced during her doctoral years is a ground-breaking work, as Dr. Yu had designed a learning-to-coordination process model to offer a scientific explanation on how price collusion works – how likely firms are incentivised to collude, and how likely they will succeed. This mathematical model can greatly assist the authorities in predicting anti-competition activities. As existing literatures on collusion are mostly focused on the implementation side, the contribution of Dr. Yu is gargantuan. As a result, she was awarded the Bank of Canada Graduate Student Paper Award 2020..

“The most interesting thing that I have learned in this research journey, is that collusion is a gradual process. Participators are constantly learning how to improve and adjusting their expectations on their partners. Traditional business theories depict firms as rational actors that can only react passively, but I observed that they are actually very human when it comes to learning,” said Dr. Yu.

Traversing half the globe to alight on HKU Business School

Graduating from her PhD studies with such magnificent credentials, Dr. Yu seeks to continue researching on the behaviours of pharmaceutical companies. Setting her eyes on the Mainland China pharmaceutical market, Dr. Yu had returned to Asia and joined HKU Business School. She explained that, “There are a lot of top business schools in Asia, but HKU Business School as a young, open-minded, and expanding juggernaut in the regional academic landscape has really caught my attention as a young, inquisitive, and exploring scholar. Moreover, the location of Hong Kong has enabled local researchers to access valuable data from both the Mainland China and the overseas markets. I look forward to commence my research work ASAP!”

Dr. Yu is currently teaching applied economics in the School’s Master of Economics programme. But instead of teaching textbook theories, Dr. Yu plans to upskill the computer language literacy of her students. “Due to time constraints, I am unable to teach them the full set of toolkit of econometric analysis, so I have opted to teach them some preliminary programming skills instead. While computer languages may sound alien to economics, I aim to showcase that good programming skills are conducive not limited to economic research, it can also open up endless career possibilities for you in the business world.” added Dr. Yu.

Two teams of students won four awards at the HKCGI Corporate Governance Paper Competition and Presentation Awards including 1^st Runner Up and 2^nd Runner Up for Paper Writing Competition as well as Best Presentation Award and Audience’s Favourite Team Award for Paper Presentation Competition.

The Annual Corporate Governance Paper Competition and Presentation Awards organised by the Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute (HKCGI), launched in 2006, aims at promoting the importance of good governance among undergraduates of local universities and providing them with an opportunity to research, write and present their findings and opinions on the selected theme.The theme for 2021 was “Is it possible to tie governance with a sense of purpose given the myriad of stakeholders’ interests?’. Teams of undergraduate students in any disciplines in Hong Kong were required to submit papers with no more than 5,000 words on the theme.

Six finalist teams were selected and invited to make presentations to the panel judges at the HKCGI Corporate Governance Paper Competition and Presentation Awards 2021.

Awardee(s):

Paper Writing Competition: 2^nd Runner up

Paper Presentation Competition: Best Presentation Award & Audience’s Favourite Team Award

(From left) Lau Pak Hei, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 2 and Man Lok Yiu Alanis Morissette, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 2 

Paper Writing Competition: 1^st Runner up

Kwong Siu Lun, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 3 (1^st from left) and Wu Pui Lam, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 3 (middle)

(This team comprises 2 other team members from other HKU faculties.)

Students Sharing:

The HKCGI Corporate Governance Paper Competition and Presentation Awards 2021 was a memorable experience for both of us. We based our paper on how the lingering impacts of covid-19 have made corporations reflect on their core reason for being and how they can implement a purpose-tied governance model. As both of us neither had prior knowledge of corporate governance nor business ethics, we had to conduct thorough research on these subjects. Furthermore, we would also like to thank the official speech coach Mr. Oliver Williams for coaching our team for the presentation competition. Having a corporate purpose allows corporations to better respond to stakeholders’ needs. Having a life purpose allows us, as future pillars of society, to inspire, empower and lead.

(by Lau Pak Hei, Man Lok Yiu Alanis Morissette)

Our team is very grateful to be given an opportunity in the competition to share our views regarding corporate governance in Hong Kong.

When we wrote the paper, our team conducted comprehensive research in the field of corporate governance. This was an area we were not that familiar with. We made endeavours to compare the codes and regulations in different countries, studied real-life cases and analysed the topic from different perspectives.

The competition was a tough yet rewarding experience. We understood the roles that different stakeholders are playing in promoting good corporate governance practices, and how the law may help maintain and encourage such practices.

Lastly, we would like to thank our teammates for their strong support throughout the competition!

(by Kwong Siu Lun and Wu Pui Lam)

Learn more:

https://www.hkcgi.org.hk/news-event/cg-paper-competition-2021

FBE Student Leadership Award aims to recognise and reward HKU Business School undergraduate students who have demonstrated leadership within the University and the wider community; and to promote informal learning through students’ participation in extra-curricular activities, involvement in community service and student leadership.

Five FBE students have won the Award in 2021/22, the award winners are:

	Bhatnagar Pradyut, BEcon, Year 4   “I am extremely humbled to have been chosen as a recipient of the prestigious FBE Leadership Award for the academic year 2021-22. Hong Kong has been a consistent source of wonderful opportunities for me to chase, providing me with a very fulfilling environment. The support from the HKU Business School and the University means a lot and has played a strong role in my journey so far. In my capacity, I would like to allow the availability of a pathway for non-local students to step forward and take more initiative by setting up monthly small-talk circles wherein people can network in an effort to gain more knowledge and understanding in this city. I believe the next big thing is just one step away for a student, and HKU has been very supportive in all our journeys.”
	Chai Nok Ming, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 2   “I am honoured to receive the FBE Leadership Award 2021 – 22 from HKU Business School. It is a remarkable recognition and encouragement for my effort in the past year, such as being the Chairman of the Business and Economics Association. It is also a tremendous motivation, inspiring me to utilise my ability to make an influential impact on society constantly.”
	Chen Ying Hei Helena, BBA(IBGM), Year 3 “It is my honour to receive the FBE Student Leadership Award, I am immensely grateful for the recognition. This would not have been possible without the support from my fellow teammates and the amazing people I have worked with, alongside the diversified enrichment opportunities provided by the HKU Business School. I will continue giving back to my community through various leadership and social initiatives in the future”
	Ngan Hoi Ying, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 3 “I am grateful to be awarded the FBE Leadership Award in recognition of my achievements in student-led activities. The honour motivates me to further on creating positive impacts for the community when pursuing my passion for social entrepreneurship. It also inspires me to further polish my skills and strive for continuous improvements.”
	Yeung Yui Pong, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 3   “I sincerely appreciate the support provided by the HKU Business School. It is my honor to receive the FBE Student Leadership Award. Realising one’s potential by demonstrating leadership in reality is definitely not an easy thing to do. Yet, this recognition has encouraged and motivated me to carry on, making solid contributions to our community, with passion and belief upheld.”

Learn more: https://ug.hkubs.hku.hk/support-and-development/prizes-and-scholarships/fbe-student-leadership-award

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