Congratulations to Dr. Bonnie Hayden Cheng, Associate Professor of Management and Strategy, on winning the Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award 2021 in recognition of her commitment to transforming corporate wellness into business strategy during COVID-19.

Due to the global pandemic arising in 2020, companies were suddenly faced with a crisis surrounding the mental health of their workforce: How do companies prioritize workplace wellness to support their key assets?

To address these challenges surrounding mental health and workplace wellness, Dr. Cheng designed a series of KE activities to enhance corporate wellness in companies during the pandemic, “Corporate Wellness 2.0: Enhancing Workplace Wellness during COVID-19“. These KE activities achieved significant impact in the following areas:

– Promoting corporate wellness by designing and assessing mental health and wellness initiatives

– Providing organisations with customised programmes to promote mental health and wellness, build resilience, and harness work anxiety to enhance productivity

– Championing workplace wellness during COVID-19 at the corporate (top-down) and employee (bottom-up) levels

– Advancing awareness and understanding of mental health at all levels of the corporate hierarchy, normalising conversations on mental health at work and reducing stigma

Introduced in 2011, the Faculty KE Award was established to recognise Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishments that have made demonstrable economic, social, or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations.

由 港大经管学院 和 亚洲金融科技师学会 于六月十六日联办的网上讲座「如何在香港和大湾区建立与拓展初创企业及金融科技项目」吸引逾百人参加。

港大经管学院亚洲创业与营商价值中心副总监陈炳雄先生在开幕致词时，表示学院立志为香港丶中国内地以及海外的创科及创业团体提供催化动能。陈先生认为学院最近落成的北京中心，以及快将开幕的深圳中心能支持本地创业家拓展海外市场，并帮助他们与「变革者」相互合作。他认为学院与亚洲金融科技师学会联办这场充满互动性的网上讲座，能够充分证明学院一直坚定地促进本地金融科技发展，以及为香港构建一个理想的创业生态系统。陈先生相信学院会持续推动香港的金融科技创新，并释放本地金融科技企业的潜能。

来自亚洲金融科技师学会的嘉宾与大家分享他们在香港和大湾区创办和拓展金融科技初创企业上的经验，他们从中受到的启发和创业的窍门。虽然很多人都以为创业只是属于年轻人的青葱回忆，但传硕集团公司联合创始人兼首席执行官黄谭胜先生以他创业的故事激励我们「有心未怕迟」。他指出丰富的工作经验有时候能在创业路上助你解决很多困难。「企业家必须意志坚定丶足智多谋丶而且灵活富韧性。创业就像摸着石头过河，过程中亦没有任何规程可以给你参考。」黄先生鼓励有自信能为市场带来变革创新的本地人士投身创业的伟大航道。在黄先生眼中，创建属于自己的事业永不言迟。

联企融资集团主席叶仕伟先生以其企业资助者的身份，指出资助者只会投资在有潜质持续拓展业务，成为市场领导者的初创企业。「对初创企业而言，要拓展业务，就必须拥有稳健的现金流，可靠的信息科技系统，以及一支全面的团队。初创企业必须时刻检视和改革其营运模式，持续寻找新的资助者，并致力进行研发开发，紧贴环球市场的步伐，方能令业务蓬勃发展。」

叶先生鼓励本地初创企业拓展大湾区市场，并利用港企的优势完善当地的生态系统。叶先生明白本地的初创企业对中港两地的法制差异感到不安，故他建议有意进军大湾区的初创企业可以先找一些战略性伙伴，并向社群建设者（community builders）和专业机构求助。企业亦要善用大湾区专门开发应用程序的丰富人才，提升自身的实务能力。黄谭胜先生对此表示认同。他相信没有人能漠视中国的崛起和粤港澳大湾区这个庞大的市场，这一点对完善新加坡的初创企业生态系统亦相当重要。

有鉴于中国政府近年正积极推广数字人民币和各类电子支付科技，叶先生倡议香港应努力成为大湾区中的区块链暨虚拟货币研究中心，并积极联同大湾区和其他海外国家培育科研人才。叶先生相信，这可以使香港成为数字人民币，甚至数字港元的最佳试点，进一步完善我们的金融科技生态系统。

虽然数字货币可以解决跨境贸易中流动性短缺的问题，大大增加交易效率，但黄先生指出当中涉及的跨国合规问题相当复杂，制定可行的监管机制也需时。故他相信数字货币在短期内并不会成会国际交易中的主流媒介。即便如此，黄先生对金融科技的未来仍然相当乐观。他相信机器学习和5G科技的发展将会为科技创新和物流科技带来更多突破。

本港的著名人工智能研究员，以及港大经管学院亚洲创业与营商价值中心副总监陈建行博士为讲座进行总结，并指出：「创业就是不断的评估和寻找机遇，并把这些机遇转化为对市场有益的商品和服务。」与会嘉宾都非常期待本地的初创企业能继续努力在大湾区中寻找机遇，并茁壮成长。成功的窍门，在于企业必须建立一套可行的商业模式；对一个经济体而言，则是建立一个利于集资的生态系统。

「信用违约互换」（CDS）交易近年来在环球市场上发展迅速。CDS除了作为一种兼具避险和投机功能的金融衍生工具，同时亦可被银行用作信用衍生工具，以减低监管机构对他们的资本要求。港大经管学院金融学教授汤勇军及其团队研究发现，利用 CDS满足资本要求的银行能够以更多的资金提供额外的金融服务，但同时贷款期亦可能相对延长，大大增加其资产组合的风险。

是次研究由汤勇军教授与上海财经大学金融学院的陕晨煜​博士，上海高级金融学院严弘教授以及美国联邦储备局周星博士进行。团队研究超过105所位于美国的大型银行由2001年至2014年间所进行的CDS交易、资本要求丶贷款交易和其他财务数据。该项研究于今年年初在全球五大金融学期刊之一的「金融研究评论」(Review of Finance) 中发表。

对比单纯以CDS作为投机工具的银行，以CDS满足资本要求的银行在盈余丶资产回报率和股本回报率方面都有较为优秀的表现。汤教授认为：「事实上，银行业的利润率不高。故此对银行而言，透过增加资产总值以提升整体收入其实相当合理。一般来说，以CDS满足资本要求的银行能够释出10－15%的资产，以增加更多的交易。」

尽管CDS令贷款在监管机构和投资者眼中看似风险较低，但以CDS降低批准贷款延期对市场的实际影响却仍有很大的研究价值。在金融危机时，以CDS作为避险工具的成本难免会大幅增加，令CDS在风险转移和满足资本要求上的功能减弱。由于这些银行的资产组合风险普遍较高，他们在金融危机时或面临流动资金的短缺，甚至未能达到监管机构的资金要求。纵然他们依然能够利用CDS满足资本要求，其金额亦不一定能够为银行提供足够的流动性。研究发现，对比单纯以CDS作为投机工具的银行，以CDS满足资本要求的银行在金融危机中向政府索取的援助金相对较多。汤教授指：「换句话说，在金融危机时CDS将转移银行的风险到政府和纳税人身上。」

但总括而言，汤教授仍认为CDS的存在对金融市场是利多于弊。汤教授发现CDS的交投在新冠疫情爆发前非常活跃，而且很多对冲基金和机构投资者亦成功利用CDS转移大多数的风险。其次，CDS的确能够提升银行的表现，为投资者带来正面得益。再者，市场上的流动性越大，企业在融资方面亦会更加轻松，对经济发展亦大有裨益。有鉴于CDS近年来在内地市场开始兴起，汤教授认为市场需要一套有效的监管机制进行调节。汤教授指出：「只有汲取前车之鉴，才能在未来更进一步。」

研究全文（只提供英文版本）：
Credit Default Swaps and Bank Regulatory Capital
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3038730

Congratulations to Geraldi Harlan, a year 1 BBA(Acc&Fin) student and Aurell Sulaiman, a year 1 BSc(QFin) student, who have won the Championship at the Hong Kong Semi-Final of CGMA Global Business Challenge. The team, comprised of two students from our School and two other members from the Faculty of Engineering, competed in the GBC 2021 North Asia Final with the winning teams from Mainland China, Macau, Japan, Taiwan and Mongolia. They have won the Awards of Commendations and Geraldi has received the Future Business Leader Award in the North Asia Final.

The competition adopted an actual case scenario under the CIMA professional qualification and required student teams to apply and integrate their business knowledge to help solve practical problems.

The team believed that team cohesion was essential for them in winning the competition. “Teamwork is one of the essential building blocks of success in a case competition. Without it, no matter how good the content of the presentation is, the overall delivery would be adversely affected and leave a bad impression to the judges.” They also thought it’s crucial to have a strong sense of self-belief. “Although our team comprises of freshmen from the Business and Engineering Faculties, we are able to make it to the final round and stand out from the competitors who are senior students with more experiences and advanced knowledge.”

CGMA Global Business Challenge (GBC) 2021, initiated by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), is an international business competition designed to bring out the best in the young business leaders of tomorrow.

More information about the Challenge: https://ug.fbe.hku.hk/competition/cgma-global-business-challenge-2021

社会责任投资（SRI）基金近年在金融市场越趋普及，投资者日益重视企业在减少环境污染丶提升雇员福利和客户体验、以及促进董事局多元共融等社会责任议题上的表现。然而，最新的研究却发现，SRI基金虽然在选择具社会责任的公司方面眼光独到，但这些基金的注资却未能有效鼓励企业在执行社会责任上更进一步。

港大经管学院金融学教授Roni Michaely与犹他大学(University of Utah)的Davidson Heath及Matthew C Ringgenberg，以及迈阿密大学(University of Miami)的Daniele Macciochi开创先河，就着SRI基金对企业行为的影响进行业界首个的研究及分析。SRI基金的总体市值在过去十年间翻倍，深受投资者追捧，以贝莱德集团（BlackRock）最近推出的一款SRI基金为例，基金在上市首周便成功集资近6亿美元，因此是次的研究对投资者极具参考价值。

Michaely教授表示：「我们的研究重点在于SRI基金到底能否改变企业实际行为。我们发现基金虽然有正确投资在积极进行环境保护和各项社会责任活动的企业上，但在获得基金投资后，这些企业却并未有肩负起更多的社会责任。可见基金未能有效推动企业改善及进步。」

研究团队对比企业在SRI基金注资前后在环境保护和其他社会责任活动上的表现，发现SRI基金所挑选的企业相对于非SRI基金排污量更低丶董事局更多元化丶员工满意度及工作场所安全度较高丶顾客投诉亦较少。但在获得注资后，他们的社会责任表现却并未有进一步提升。

这些企业在减排方面的投资，在被注资前后几乎没有任何差异，意味着基金并未能鼓励企业增加环保方面的投资或进一步减排；他们的雇员和客户满意度也没有太大差异，证明基金并未能激励企业进一步满足他们的雇员和客户。然而，这些企业在获得SRI基金后，他们董事局中的女性和非白人比例分别有1.4%和0.5%的轻微增幅。只是这些增幅过低，并不能视为重大的变化。

Michaely教授续道：「SRI基金与企业持份者之间的关系主要有三种：第一种，SRI基金的表现与非SRI基金其实并无差异，即俗称的「漂绿」；第二种，基金选择只对在环境和全球问题方面已有足够关注的企业进行投资；第三种，基金主动与企业合作，帮助他们降低风险并进一步优化其社会责任行为。我们的研究发现，虽然SRI基金的投资取向确实与非SRI基金不同，但它们的投资决定以及投资金额对企业的决策行为没有产生任何实际影响。换句话说，SRI基金与企业间只产生第二种关系中的「选择效应」(selection effect)，而并非第三种关系的「处理效应」(treatment effect)。」

研究的结果向投资者发出一个重要的讯息，证明SRI基金未能改善企业的实际行为，因此投资者不应抱有过高期望。随着SRI基金在市场上利润日增，研究团队认为监管机构应要求这些基金提高更详尽、更透明的信息。

研究全文（只提供英文版本）：
Does Socially Responsible Investing Change Firm Behavior?
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3837706

交易所交易基金（ETF）流动性高而且价格相对亲民，被视为共同基金以外的另一选择。在2020年，环球市场上有超过7,000种ETF产品，总值达 7.74 兆美金，远多于2010年时的1.3兆美金。 ETF产品在十年间的显著增长，反映这种指数基金的巨大发展潜力。虽然有声音批评传统的ETF过于被动，未能有效反应市场讯息，然而港大经管学院金融学副教授黄诗杨博士及其研究团队却发现，行业ETF在美国市场中能有效规避风险，并能提升市场效率。其研究更证实行业ETF是一种对投资者和市场有利的优质金融科技创新技术，因此建议监管机构应鼓励相关产品的发展。

以「多空策略（Long Short Strategy）」提升市场效率
以ETF作为避险工具非常普遍。据彭博新闻在2017年的报导，对冲基金持有的ETF空头仓位高达1030亿美金，相比起他们持有的43亿美金多头仓位，相差近两倍之多。一般而言，市场上的卖空余额（即被卖空但未被回购的证券）越高，熊市气氛越强。但黄博士发现，拥有更多消息的投资者往往会采取一种 「做多股票，卖空ETF」的「多空策略」，运用企业消息赚取利益，同时对冲行业风险。

黄博士解释，即使投资者在业绩公布前已得悉股票即将获利，但股价的升幅，往往仍会受到行业整体表现和宏观市场气氛等外围风险影响。为有效地对冲风险，对冲基金会选择做多他们拥有利好消息的股票，并卖空该股票所属的行业ETF。黄博士和他的研究团队发现，这种「做多股票，卖空ETF」的策略能帮助市场吸收相关讯息，并有效减低盈余公告后价格漂移，令公司的真实价值能实时反映在股价上。因此，引入相关的行业ETF能有效稳定企业的股价。

Smart Beta ETF 能否为投资者创造价值？
在众多ETF产品之中，建基于资产价格数据的Smart Beta ETF最受市场追捧。 Smart Beta ETF由不同组合的股票价值丶增长值丶数量丶或市场趋势等因子构成。截至2018年，Smart Beta ETF产品占美国ETF市场总体的20%。据贝莱德(Blackrock)的预测，Smart-Beta ETF 的市场总值将于2025年增长至2兆美金。

但同时，黄博士研究却指出Smart-Beta ETF虽在回测 (Backtest) 中得到理想结果，在正式推出市场后表现却往往不似预期。在研究238种于2000－2018年间在美国上市的Smart-Beta ETF后，黄博士发现Smart-Beta ETF的表现落差并非由「市场效率上升」丶「上市时机失误」丶或「规模收益递减现象」等因素导致。相反，Smart-Beta ETF的表现欠佳是由于在回溯测试的数据挖掘 (Data mining)过程中受人为操作影响所致。数据挖掘的情况在追踪多因子指数的Smart-Beta ETF中特别严重，主要是因为ETF保荐人在选择及组成Smart-Beta ETF追踪因子的过程中拥有很大的自主权。研究发现，追踪多因子指数的Smart-Beta ETF在上市前声称能带来年均 4.11% 的回报。但上市后，他们却需承受年均0.79%损失。

亦有声音指出，Smart-Beta ETF的表现不理想是因为管理费用过高，但研究发现即使去除管理费的因素，Smart-Beta ETF的市场表现依然比不上传统的指数型ETF。

虽然研究显示Smart-Beta ETF上市前后的表现有明显差距，但黄博士指出，在特殊的情况下，Smart-Beta ETF的表现依然有机会超越传统ETF。例如在现时的「零息」环境下，追踪高股息的Smart-Beta ETF仍有可能「跑赢大市」。因此，他建议投资者应在购买此类新型投资产品前谨慎考虑，切忌盲目相信Smart-Beta ETF个别因子所反映的表面数据。

阅读更多（只供英文版本）
Innovation and Informed Trading: Evidence from Industry ETFs
The Smart Beta Mirage

Twelve HKU Business School students joined the Virtual Business Professional (VBP) Project in March. They were placed in teams of 5-6 people with around 100 students from 16 different universities worldwide to work on a consulting project for companies including Netflix, Starbucks and Google. Throughout the project, students learned many essential remote working skills, intercultural communication skills, different business models and marketing strategies, and how modern virtual collaboration can be powered by artificial intelligence technology. The VPB Project offered by the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC) is a six-week project that offers students an opportunity to collaborate and work in a virtual setting with students from all over the world to develop virtual and cross-cultural collaboration skills using state-of-the-art collaboration tools.

	“I was fascinated to learn about various content, such as different social media strategies, crowdfunding, donor retention, content creation, bolted in reputation etc. Such knowledge would not be covered in the ordinary academic syllabus, yet crucial to internships and job seeking.”   Ho Yin Yee Jocelyn, BBA(Law)&LLB, Year 2
	“In terms of work processes, virtual collaboration is a whole lot harder than what I’ve expected – It is more than jumping freely into video conferences, utilising popular chat tools and learning how to store files on a shared cloud-based drive. Especially being the only Asian student in the team situated in an opposite time-zone, scheduling a meeting is considered as a big hassle. Even though I had to compromise for 7 am meetings, I have learnt to accommodate the majority’s needs for the team’s overall interest. More importantly, I have developed an adaptive work mode that would be beneficial to my future studies and career.”   Chu Tsoi Yan Jenny, BBA(IBGM), Year 2
	“Teammates from different backgrounds have different working styles and we can learn from the difference. For example, one of my teammates has a strong leadership capacity, and he works and aggressively leads us. Feeling inspired to work with him, I think some of his merits can be absorbed by myself.”   Gao Ningling, BEcon&Fin, Year 2

Learn more: https://www.marshall.usc.edu/departments/business-communication/vbp-project

Congratulations to Shivang Singh (BBA(IBGM), Year 4) who was a member of the winning team “Edilery” in the Hult Prize 2021 Challenge – Regional Final in Manila Impact Summit.

Proudly acclaimed as the “Nobel Prize for Students”, the Hult Prize is the world’s largest social entrepreneurship competition organised by the Hult International Business School and the Union Nations Foundation. The theme of 2021 was “Food for Good – transforming food into a vehicle for change”.

Student teams are required to solve a pressing social issue by developing a scalable and sustainable social enterprise. They were asked to pitch ideas on building food enterprises that will impact the lives of 10 million people by 2030 while strengthening communities, increasing incomes, feeding the hungry and creating jobs.

The team “Edilery” came up with an idea that aspired to drive sustainable impact in fighting climate change, malnutrition and gender inequality. With edible cutlery as the vehicle of change, they aimed to create livelihoods to support communities while eradicating plastic cutlery from the global food and beverage industry and promoting nutrition in regular dietary intake.

Winners of the Regional Finals will join the 2021 Hult Prize Accelerator Programme in the United Kingdom with training, coaching and networking opportunities. Selected teams from the Accelerator will pitch at the Hult Prize Annual Awards Ceremony and Gala to be hosted at United Nations Headquarters in New York in September 2021. One student team will be selected as Hult Prize Laureate and win US$1,000,000 to launch their enterprise.

Learn more: https://www.hultprize.org

Over the past semesters, students who are majoring in Asset Management and Private Banking (AMPB), formed into groups of 3-4 students, had the opportunities to have coffee chats with financial industry practitioners from companies like Fidelity International, Julius Baer, HSBC Global Private Banking, eFusion, Chartwell Capital, etc. The event was arranged by Prof. Anna Wong, Programme Director of Bachelor of Finance in Asset Management and Private Banking.

Under the informal setting, students learned more about the current trend of the industry and the personal story of the practitioners on how they developed their career. They also had the chance to visit practitioners’ office. The event was well-received, and our students have plenty of takeaways from the visits.

Lau Yuen Ying, Year 3, AMPB student believes this opportunity can help her gain a deeper understanding of the recent trends in the private banking industry, “I thought COVID-19 pandemic would negatively affect the industry, yet, it has fostered communication with the clients and increased the transaction volume tremendously. Each client’s reaction towards the pandemic situation might be different, so they have to cater to their needs in various ways.”

Lam Hei Tung, Year 1, AMPB student thinks that this is an eye-opening experience, “The most impressive sharing in the coffee chat is how we should better equip ourselves for our future. Mr John Lo, a private banker at Bank of China International Limited, gave us insights into how the industries look like, ranging from their operation, valued qualities to promotion opportunities. I learnt a lot from John and became more clear about what I should achieve during my college years.”

(Second left) Mr. Frederick Wong, CFA, Founder & Chief Investment Officer of eFusion

(First left) Mr. Evan Ng, Head of Trading and Senior Investment Analyst of Chartwell Capital

Cheung Pak Hin, a year 4 BEcon&Fin student wins in the “International Business Agility Labs: Supply Chain Management”, a virtual global case competition organised by the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland during April 9 – 16, 2021. He and his team members from other universities worked together to solve a real-world business case for a Brazilian company.

 “By working with working with like-minded students across continents, I realised the abilities to embrace diversity of thoughts and to speak up proactively were of paramount importance to facilitate an effective collaboration with teammates from diverse background,” says Pak Hin.

The team consisted of five other business students from Mediterranean School of Business of South Mediterranean University, National University of Singapore, Vienna University of Economics and Business, and University of Maryland.

Learn more about the competition at https://go.umd.edu/AgilityLabs