As the demand for digitalisation of services is on the increase across every industry, Fintech and Insurtech have been ever-growing in the Asia Pacific region, especially due to the pandemic restricting normal business operations.
Dr. King Au, Adjunct Professor at HKU Business School and Executive Director of Financial Services Development Council (FSDC), and Axiom Managing Director Mr. Alvin Ma, who also serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor at HKU Business School, invited two representatives from the growing Fintech and Insurtech industry, Mr. Ernest Leung of virtual Fintech ‘WeLab’ and Mr. Fred Ngan of online-based virtual Insurtech ‘Bowtie’, as guest speakers to our Asset Management and Private Banking (AMPB) capstone class.
Ernest gave a detailed explanation behind ‘virtual and digital banking’ services such as WeLab, highlighting their aim to reform what is normally a slow, lengthy process to open new bank accounts or approve loans, into something that can all be done within a few minutes: thanks to a smartphone app equipped with edge computing and facial recognition capabilities, making the lives of both clients and banking professionals easier.
Fred, meanwhile, presented the journey of his startup from idea conception to implementation over the past five years. In Dec 2018, Fred’s effort was paid off the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (HKIA) awarding the very first virtual insurer license to Bowtie, a ‘pay as you go’ online medical insurance company offering customer-centric policies with transparency and zero commissions.
Students attending the capstone class had the opportunity to interact with the two Fintech and Insurtech experts and listen to the commentary on both Fintech and Insurtech solutions by Dr. King Au from FSDC and Prof. Anna Wong, AMPB Programme Director of HKU Business School.
In light of the 2021 AMPB cohort being the first class of graduates from HKU by the end of Spring 2021 semester, an initiative was taken to showcase and prepare future financial professionals for the workforce. Specifically, the surge in ‘Fintech’; financial-tech services that would be streamlining various aspects within private wealth management and the financial sector as a whole.
Mr. Fred Ngan of ‘Bowtie’ receives the souvenirs from HKU Business School
Mr. Ernest Leung of ‘WeLab’ receives the souvenirs from HKU Business School
From Left: Dr. King Au of FSDC; Mr. Ernest Leung of ‘WeLab’; Mr. Fred Ngan of ‘Bowtie’; Prof. Anna Wong of HKU Business School & Mr. Alvin Ma of Axiom
Dr. Shiyang Huang, Assistant Professor in Finance, is the recipient of the Faculty Outstanding Researcher Award 2020-21.
Dr. Huang’s research agenda focuses on financial economics and empirical asset pricing. He has published research papers in several academic journals including Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science and Journal of Economic Theory. He also won the best paper awards at academic conferences, including Best Paper Award at 7th Melbourne Asset Pricing Meeting, Conference Best Paper Award at China International Conference in Finance of 2019, Best Paper Award at 14th Annual Conference in Financial Economics Research by Eagle Labs (IDC) of 2017.
The Selection Committee acknowledges the high quality and quantity of Dr. Huang’s research publications, and his important contributions through novel research during his service with the University of Hong Kong.
The Faculty Outstanding Researcher Award was established to honour and reward faculty members for having done excellent research and achieved international recognition in the field of business and economics.
HKU Business School has been dedicated to providing quality business education and advancing the knowledge frontiers. The recent re-accreditation by AACSB International (AACSB) for another five years represents international recognition of our on-going efforts to improve in all aspects.
AACSB specifically endorsed the School’s remarkable achievement in research and publications and the robust mechanism in ensuring quality teaching and learning. It also reaffirmed that the School has forged strong alliances, partnerships and collaborations with top universities around the world, becoming one of the top business schools in the region in just 20 years of establishment.
Leveraging on our deep root in Hong Kong, we have been fostering amicable connections with the business community in both Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area, creating more opportunities for its students. In addition to a strong governance system and a good track record, AACSB highlighted that HKU Business School has a sound strategic plan that all stakeholders are engaged and involved. Going forward, we are committed to developing ourselves into a world leading expert hub for data analytics, machine learning and digital transformation and a regional expert on finance, economics and business trends.
HKU Business School was first accredited by AACSB in 2010 and was re-accredited in 2015. The School’s attainment of the accreditation has demonstrated its commitment to maintaining best practices and world-class quality business education.
Founded in 1916, AACSB is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools. AACSB accreditation represents an achievement of excellence in business education. Today, a total of 882 institutions across 57 countries and territories have earned AACSB accreditation in business.
Students from HKU Business School won three awards in the HKGCC Business Case Competition including Champion – Great Eagle Group, Champion – NEC and 2nd Runner-up – NWS.
Themed “Building better, brighter businesses”, the competition invited tertiary students and recent graduates to provide ideas and solutions to crack the business cases formulated by one of the five sponsors, including Citibank, Great Eagle Group, NEC, NWS and Sino Group.
Top 5 teams from each sponsor’s track were selected to proceed to the Semi-Final (Mentoring Phase) where mentors from each sponsor’s track provided guidance to the Semi-final Teams to refine their respective submissions. Top 3 teams from each sponsor’s track were selected to participate in the Final round and pitch their business ideas to the panel judges on January 22, 2021.
HKGCC Business Case Competition was launched in 2019 to promote the exchange of ideas between university students and businesses as well as encourages students to develop innovative and creative solutions for real-life business cases. Learn more about the competition: https://www.chamber.org.hk/bcc2020/
The team “British Army” receives Champion – Great Eagle Group
British Army: Champion – Great Eagle Group
Mr. Tsang Chun Wai, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 2 (2ndfrom right)
(This team comprises four other team members from Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong and School of Business and Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.)
Sharing of Tsang Chun Wai
Developing a business proposal was not as easy as we thought. Innovativeness was the biggest challenge. Many solutions had already been adopted, particularly for technologies related to climate change. Hence we had to take extra steps to dig deeper into various sources of information to find technologies that were truly innovative.
For most of our team members, this was the first experience of pitching a business proposal. The pitching round for the competition was especially difficult since we only had 5 minutes to present our ideas. Therefore, we had to be very precise in extracting the key messages we wanted to deliver out of our detailed proposal. We also had to be creative and inspiring to capture the attention of the judges. It was a difficult but rewarding experience.
The team “HERON” receives Champion – NEC
HERON: Champion – NEC
Miss Yeung Yan Yan, BBA, Year 2 (1st from left)
(This team comprises 2 other team members from School of Decision Sciences, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong and School of Business and Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.)
Sharing of Yeung Yan Yan
This competition equipped us with the latest and innovative adaptation of AI technology to be applied to the hotel industry with regard to the four major aspects — Remote, Transparency, Touchless, and Automation. Apart from understanding the Next Normal Solutions, we also learned more about hotel technologies such as unified app platforms, digital signage, robotics, smart check-in, and out system. These technologies not only aimed at bringing convenience to the customer, they also emphasised safety under the pandemic to boost customers’ confidence. This valuable experience also taught us not to overlook the warmth and hospitality even with the usage of gadgets and machines. The real interaction between customers and hotels was a vital element to attain public attention and strengthen closer bonding. After all, we gained precious experience in developing business proposals and learnt about the practical application of pioneering technology in this competition.
The team “Morphy” receives 2nd Runner-up – NWS
Morphy: 2nd Runner-up – NWS
Miss Chan Sum Yu, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 3 (3rd from right)
Miss Chui Tinbo, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 3 (3rd from left)
Mr. Lau Chung Yan, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 3 (2nd from left)
Miss Shum Denise, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 3 (2nd from right)
(This team comprises 1 other team member from Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong.)
Sharing of HKU team members:
This priceless experience had inspired us from comprehensive perspectives. During the preparation stage, we enriched ourselves with an exploration of this novel industry, ranging from its current challenges to future opportunities. Meanwhile, by listening to other teams’ presentations and judges’ comments, we had a taste of the real business world by the practical consideration such as revenue forecast as well as integration of profitability and sustainability. We were honoured to be offered this chance to nourish our technical knowledge and soft skills, unleashing our potential beyond the classroom.
Two teams of HKU Business School students won four awards at the ACCA Hong Kong Business Competition 2020-21, including 2nd Runner Up, Digital Excellence Award, Research Excellence Award and Merit Award on January 23, 2021.
Themed “Rewiring our future: leading digital innovation and sustainable success”, the competition required students to design a campaign, project or product for the selected industry, and to share their vision and ideas on a business model in a world of uncertainties, creating sustainable value with public interests at heart.
Aiming at nurturing students with a blend of accounting and business knowledge alongside values of social responsibility, ACCA launched this annual competition since 2007. Students benefit from a broad range of skills training workshops and coaching from the ACCA fellow members, to enhance their analytical, proposal writing and presentation skills.
The team “EdMotion” receives the 2nd Runner-up and Research Excellence Award
EdMotion – 2nd Runner-up and Research Excellence Award Miss Lam Tsz Lik, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 1 (3rd from right) Mr. Tsui Tsun Ming, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 2 (4th from right) Miss Yang Qingfang, BBA(IS), Year 2 (3rd from left) Miss Yeung Ka Yan, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 2 (4th from left) Faculty Advisor: Dr. Winnie Leung
Sharing of the team: ACCA Hong Kong Business Competition encourages students to leverage technology to grasp business opportunities. Since ACCA is advocating “inclusion”, it also hopes students be able to think of business ideas that make a positive social impact. Throughout the competition, we had submitted our business proposal, a three-minute video about our business idea and a PowerPoint for the final presentation.
The experience broadened our business horizons. We had vivid discussions with the coach – ACCA member Mr. Derek Hui, Planning & Production Control Manager, HAECO Hong Kong and learned more about how the business world works. We also became more socially aware as we dug deeper into our business ideas targeting ethnic minority students.
The team “ARthlete” receives Merit Award and Digital Excellence Award
ARthlete – Merit Award and Digital Excellence Award
Miss Chen Ying Hei Helena, BBA(IBGM), Year 2 (2nd from left) Miss Keung Sum Yuet, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 2 (1st from left) Mr. Sheung Chi Long, BBA(IBGM), Year 2 (2nd from right) Miss Yeung Seen Yan, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 2 (middle) Faculty Advisor: Dr. Winnie Leung
Sharing of the team:
Team ARthlete’s proposal leveraged on AR and AI technologies to create a business model that delivered an effective means of physical training online. ARthlete aimed to improve the physical education experiences of students during the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as to promote a healthier lifestyle to the general public and to facilitate the training of professional athletes. In this competition, our team realised that generating a positive impact for the greater community was essential to achieve a sustainable business. Furthermore, in view of the rapid development in technology, creative minds for its implementation was vital to improve the living standards everywhere.
Our team was extremely grateful for being one of the finalist teams and received the Merit Award and Digital Excellence Award. We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to Dr. Winnie Leung and the coach – ACCA member Mr. Charles Chan, Tax Services, Partner from PwC who offered their kind assistance throughout the competition. Our team would continue to strive for a more sustainable business world as the world becomes more interconnected with digital developments.
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 2020/21, the award winners are:
Mr. Agarwal Naman, BEcon&Fin, Year 3
“It is indeed a great honour for me to receive the FBE Student Leadership Award. The recognition will certainly encourage me to continue making relevant contributions to society in the future, through actions in both my personal and professional space.”
Mr. Leung Chak Tim, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 2
“With the comprehensive support from HKU, I have chances to serve international businesses and foundations as well as taking up important roles in the University. It is such a pleasure to be the recipient of the FBE Student Leadership Award 2020-21. It recognises student’s leadership contribution and encourage me to pass on the passion, spirit and energy.”
Miss Mahendru Gauri, BBA(IBGM), Year 3
“I’m extremely grateful to the HKU Business School for providing me a wide variety of extra-curricular opportunities which have fuelled my holistic development. It is an honour to receive the FBE Leadership Award and I hope to continue doing meaningful work and contributing to society in all possible ways.”
Mr. Mak Lai Hang, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 3
“I am very grateful for the recognition and support the HKU Business School has given me through the FBE Student Leadership Award, which was only possible due to the incredible teams and people I worked with. The School’s generous and impactful Award inspires me to continue to lead volunteer projects that can meaningfully empower our community.”
Mr. Wat Tsz Cheung, BBA(IBGM), Year 5
“I’m incredibly grateful to have received the FBE Student Leadership Award. This is a great recognition for students who strive to make a difference to our school and wider community. Thank you to the HKU Business School for continually supporting organizations such as 180 Degrees Consulting, in helping us broaden our impact.”
