CEO of Hong Kong Investment Fund Guild: Investing in China's value chain, Hong Kong plays a huge role!

China Fund reporter Yao Bo

The Hong Kong Investment Fund Association (Fund Association) is a non -profit industry association representing the Hong Kong Fund Management Industry. The goal of the guild is to promote the overall development of the fund management industry in Hong Kong; and to continuously improve the professional level of the industry to reach the international level; promote Hong Kong as the main fund management center in Asia to maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness.

Ms. Huang Wang Ciming is the chief executive of the Hong Kong Investment Fund Association. Over the years, Huang Wang Ciming has been closely linked to the fund industry with relevant regulatory agencies, government departments and media, reflecting the industry's opinions. In the development of the fund industry's regulatory structure, she actively supports, in order to continuously improve the professional level of the fund industry and promote the development of the industry, in order to consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international asset management center. In addition, at the level of Hong Kong's strong deposits or retail funds, she is committed to promoting investor education and participating in industry -related research projects.

Huang Wang Ciming is currently a member of the Eighth Expert Guidance Committee of the China Bond Index of the Central Treasury Corporation and the core member of the China Pension Finance Forum, the vice president of the Hong Kong Green Financial Association, and the joint chairman of the ESG disclosure and integration working group. Essence She is a member of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission Real Estate Investment Trust Fund Committee, a member of the public shareholders' equity group, and a member of the Hong Kong Financial Administration's MPF Plan. She is also a member of the board of directors of the International Investment Fund. She was a member of the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Consultant Committee.

China Fund: Can you introduce the role of the guild in the development of the Hong Kong fund industry?

Huang Wang Ciming: The Hong Kong Fund Association is an industry organization, which mainly represents traditional fund managers including pensions, public funds and other institutions. The main work in the past period of time, on the one hand, communicates with the Hong Kong regulatory authorities, reflects industry issues, assists in formulating regulations, enhances the industry level, implements regulatory policies, and ensures the interests of investors. On the other hand, investor education. Hong Kong funds are mainly sold through banks and intermediaries, and we will also cooperate with intermediary agencies to promote public education.

At the same time, we also actively strengthen communication with the mainland regulatory authorities, including institutions such as the Securities and Futures Commission, the People's Bank of China, and the Foreign Management Bureau, especially for cross -border projects, including interconnection, bonds, fund mutual recognition, and cross -border financial management. We hope to find a way to make overseas funds more convenient to enter the capital market in Mainland China, cooperate with the Mainland's "going global" strategy, promote the internationalization of the RMB, and further expand the scope of asset allocation in overseas markets.

The guild also has an business involving international interbank, which will communicate regularly with the International Investment Fund Association to communicate the laws and market progress of the international investment fund industry.

China Fund: In the past 20 years, the path of the fund company in Hong Kong?

Huang Wang Ciming: Twenty years ago, many international fund management companies only regarded Hong Kong as an end point for investing in the Asia -Pacific market. The company will set up an office. If it involves a global investment portfolio, some institutions will lay out some investment functions, but there are not many institutions.

At that time, the Hong Kong market was not very high in understanding of the concept of investment funds, and ordinary people were more unfamiliar with the fund. With the launch of Hong Kong pension products, everyone's awareness of the fund has improved rapidly. At the same time, due to the popularity of the fund in retail channels and the corresponding changes in regulations, banks have been involved in fund distribution, and fund investment is becoming more and more popular. A very important role.

Twenty years ago, Hong Kong's fund industry was more concentrated in Hong Kong, but more and more cross -border communication and communication activities are now. Hong Kong plays a continuous intermediate role in connecting the Mainland and the International. Hong Kong also has special advantages, including convenient transportation in the area, language advantages, time zone advantages, etc. As a result, many overseas institutions will put some regions and even global positions in Hong Kong.

The more important one is that with the opening of the Chinese market, the two -way entry and exit of funds are the future trend. Hong Kong and the Mainland are getting closer and closer, and the pace of fund companies to enter the mainland market through the deployment of Hong Kong is getting faster and faster.

China Fund News: What role did the central government play in the integration of the Mainland Hong Kong?

Huang Wang Ciming: In supporting Hong Kong as a global asset management center, the central government has made a lot of effort, such as Shanghai -Hong Kong Stock Connect, Shenzhen -Hong Kong Stock Connect, fund mutual recognition, cross -border financial management and ETF passage of the Greater Bay Area. These measures have strengthened the status of Hong Kong as an asset management center, especially the launch of Shanghai -Hong Kong Stock Connect in 2014. It is a very important channel for foreign investment in the Chinese market in China.

Some policies are not expected to be inadequate. When the Shanghai -Hong Kong Stock Connect was launched, we found that the institution did not understand the operation behind it and believed that the Shanghai -Hong Kong Stock Connect was very low. The survey at the time showed that less than 20%of fund management respondents intend to use the channel. However, just three years later, the Shanghai -Hong Kong Stock Connect became an inevitable choice for investing in A shares. Although everyone will choose to use it after the QFII optimization, when it comes to the convenience of operation and international habits, international institutions are still more inclined to connect. Such a key measure highlights Hong Kong's financial status internationally.

There is also a very important role in interconnection. It improves the convenience of buying A shares by foreign capital, and promotes the international index company to incorporate A shares into the international index, thereby forming a virtuous circle. With more foreign investment in A shares, the channels of interconnection are constantly optimized in continuous exchange feedback and update. The Chinese market is becoming more and more important in global investment portfolios. If foreign investment must grasp the pulse of emerging market development, it must be invested in A shares. In this sense, the development of interconnection is a very important milestone. It has become an important channel for overseas investors to enter the A -share market in the Mainland. It has played a core role in Hong Kong as a global asset management center.

In addition to the stock market, there are also mutual recognition and cross -border financial management of funds that are specially obtained in Hong Kong. Although these two channels are slower than the interconnection, these two channels are mainly aimed at retail investors. The supervision starting point is more cautious. Regulators also hope that investors can gradually understand overseas markets and the pace of progress is more stable.

We also hope that the two places regulatory agencies will further optimize these two solutions and further use these two channels of potential, especially attracting foreign investors to Hong Kong Registration Fund, and attracting mainland investors to build a balanced investment portfolio through overseas investment in Hong Kong.

China Fund: In your eyes, how does international asset management institutions position Hong Kong?

Huang Wang Ciming: Twenty years ago, the Asia -Pacific region's wealth did not have the current huge scale. After years of development, the wealth accumulation in the region was increasing, the high net worth groups increased rapidly, and the wealth accumulated by the middle class was quite considerable. With the diversification of demand, asset allocation needs to be expanded to overseas markets, the demand for investment and financial management and the allocation of resources are naturally established. This is a very important factor for foreign capital to set up a stronghold in Hong Kong.

On the road of global expansion of asset companies, Hong Kong has an indispensable role in Hong Kong. The asset management institution is deployed in Hong Kong. The first is investment management. Many investment officials in the Asia -Pacific region are stationed in Hong Kong to coordinate investment in Asia Pacific stocks, bonds and other investment. They will cover Hong Kong, Mainland, and even Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea. Promote serving customers to meet the needs of wealth management in recent years.

In addition to personal investment, we see more and more pension funds in global investment layouts, and more and more institutional investment, especially pensions, investments in Hong Kong.

In the past, pensions mainly depended on the government provided by the government and were the first pillar. The burden of population aging to the government is increasing, and many areas of Asia Pacific have begun to implement a diversified strategy and actively develop the second and third pillars of the pension. Among them, the second pillar is linked to occupations, similar to the company's annuity in the Mainland; the third pillar is investors who invest in the elderly. Of course, there are many policy discounts such as tax deduction.

In this context, in 2000, Hong Kong launched the second pension system, that is, the MPF system, and all the staff needed to participate. Many international funds have set up related teams in Hong Kong, including institutions, including institutions, including the opportunity of Asia.

China Fund News: Today, how does Hong Kong play an advantage when the mainland is increasingly open and higher?

Huang Wang Ciming: In the past few years, we have seen the pace of opening up in mainland China. In addition to asset management companies, wealth management companies and even pensions can largely participate in the mainland market to a large extent. Some people will say that there is no need to pass through Hong Kong, will the characters in Hong Kong gradually weaken? A few years ago, many companies have asked this question, but I think these two roads are not exclusive to each other.

Some capable companies can set up a wholly -owned subsidiary of 100 % controlled in the Mainland, but this is still a minority. I think everyone still has a little wait -and -see mentality, because directly entering the Mainland market, investing in a lot of resources from manpower, resources, and data. Most companies are willing to gradually participate in the Mainland market through Hong Kong to seize opportunities.

Usually overseas companies operate in Hong Kong. First of all, a team responsible for the Mainland is set up in Hong Kong, such as QDII business, cross -border financial management, and so on. With the increasing experience of the team, they may want to participate more comprehensive, and many foreign capitals have begun to put investment, management, marketing, customer service, and mid -back to the Hong Kong market to increase their investment resources and participate in the mainland market.

In general, many companies still choose to participate in the Mainland market through Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a fully functional asset management center and plays an important role in the value chain of the entire investment.

China Fund News: What else can Hong Kong and the Mainland have more in -depth cooperation opportunities?

Huang Wang Ciming: A very important subject that the world includes Hong Kong is carbon peaks and carbon neutrality, so it is very demanding for the talent of ESG. This is one of us to actively promote with the Hong Kong government. Including how to find talents in this area, I think the two places can work together.

Some overseas investment funds will take into account the ESG standard when investing, but there are no mandatory disclosure requirements. How to let companies of the two places disclose relevant data, and the space for cooperation is also very large. For example, the current China -Europe has reached a consensus on the division of standards on the ESG issue. In the future, there will be products that meet common standards in the future, which can be better promoted to the markets of the two places. Hong Kong may learn from similar practices.

With the reform and development of the mainland pension system, some public offering products in Hong Kong have richer experience in investing in the investment of pension products. When developing the second or third pillars in the Mainland, these outstanding products can also be absorbed, promoting the balanced and multi -level development of pension investment, and making the asset allocation of pensions more diversified. Whether the mainland pension products are investing overseas or Hong Kong's public fundraising funds are particularly concerned about Hong Kong's institutions. International Fund Corporation has paid great attention to business opportunities and future development potential in Hong Kong. Since 2019, Hong Kong has gone through different historical stages, and future political and geographical risks may be more and more, challenging a lot. I think that the most important thing is how Hong Kong provides a business environment, attracting foreign investment to better seize investment opportunities, so that investment institutions are more secure and reduce uncertainty.

China Fund: What impact does the epidemic have on Hong Kong Asset Management Corporation?

Huang Wang Ciming: As a region and global center, it is very important to travel freely. Hong Kong's isolation time is shortened from 14 days to 7 days, but compared with other regional asset management centers, there are still inconvenient places. Some international investors or customers lack direct communication to cause restrictions. For example, some international companies need to inspect business in different regions of the world, but now they ca n’t come to Hong Kong because of the epidemic and have a greater influence.

At present, different international financial centers are open, including Europe and the United States, even Dubai, and Australia, so we hope that Hong Kong will not lag behind other regional centers. If time is dragging again, it will definitely have a negative impact on Hong Kong as a regional center.

In March and April this year, because market rumors needed forced inspections, many people temporarily left Hong Kong, and some companies' middle and high -levels left for three months or even half a year, so we also hope that this temporary trend will not be long -term and need to be careful. Treatment to prevent talent flow.

As a financial center, the most valuable thing in Hong Kong is not high -rise buildings or infrastructure, but talents. If a person leaves, it is difficult to attract him back, because he has a lot of considerations, such as his family, his future career, and even the loss of position. This has a long -term effect. Essence

China Fund: What kind of ideas and suggestions are the long -term prosperity of Hong Kong as a global financial center, especially the integration and development of Hong Kong and the Mainland?

Huang Wang Ciming: The interoperability of the financial market in the Mainland and Hong Kong is deeper from the level of the organization to the individual level. Personal opening is the last mile of the opening of the mainland capital market and a very important kilometer, which is reflected in the deep integration of the Mainland and Hong Kong.

In the general direction of the two places, we need to further deepen. For example, the framework of interconnection is very good, but there can be some places to optimize it; now the wealth management business in the Mainland is developing well. Can Hong Kong have more? The role is further participated through the fund mutual recognition and the Greater Bay Area Wealth Management. I think that as long as the existing fund recognizes and cross -border financial management and improves some of the places where restrictions will be improved, many institutions will attract many institutions to develop in Hong Kong.

On the existing mechanisms of the two places, further deepening cooperation from the level of products, institutions, and individuals is an important step in promoting the integration of the two places. For example, through the cross -border financial management of the Greater Bay Area, it can be tried to allow the product qualifications of the two places to recognize each other, because now the products of the two places are different regulatory systems; whether it can form a effective mechanism in the future and get the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission The approved products have automatically obtained the corresponding qualifications to the mainland Greater Bay area. For example, the frontline marketers in Hong Kong can go to the Greater Bay Area to do marketing services through registration. Through the above pilots, some existing frameworks can be strengthened, which can strengthen the in -depth integration of the Greater Bay Area.

If you think from a longer -term perspective, digital RMB may be a good breakthrough. Digital RMB is still in the trial of retail in the Mainland, but if you use digital RMB for cross -border management of funds, you can clearly grasp the flow of funds at the regulatory level, and you can further promote it through the Greater Bay Area pilot. If you do it, you can promote the internationalization of the RMB through the integration of the two places to promote the flow of people and capital in the Greater Bay Area. From a professional perspective, financial innovation can also be promoted. This should also be a new idea for the future integration of the two places.

Edit: Captain

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