In late August, with support from the SAIF Hong Kong Foundation, the Master of Finance (MF) Program at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), held the “Career Guidance — Shanghai-Hong Kong Elite Student Exchange Camp” in Hong Kong. Over 30 outstanding MF students from China and overseas visited leading Hong Kong financial institutions and innovation and technology sites. They engaged in in-depth dialogue with industry experts and senior alumni in Hong Kong, gaining a comprehensive understanding of Hong Kong’s unique appeal and opportunities in international financial markets.
SAIF and the SAIF Hong Kong Foundation remain committed to building global learning and practice platforms. By deepening cooperation with leading institutions in Hong Kong and worldwide, they continue to empower student growth and contribute new talent to Shanghai-Hong Kong financial collaboration and China’s strategy of building a financial powerhouse.
Visiting Leading Institutions: Hong Kong's Innovation Finance
The camp focused on Hong Kong’s international finance and technology frontiers, guiding students to explore how Hong Kong’s financial markets operate and what drives their development across hedge funds, investment banking, asset management, and the innovation ecosystem.
- Hedge funds and alternative investment firms: Students visited Dymon Asia, an Asia-focused multi-strategy platform; Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), a global diversified investment manager; Citadel | Citadel Securities, a multi-strategy hedge fund and global market maker; Point72, known for its multi-manager model; and IMC, a global quantitative trading firm. They experienced an alternative investment ecosystem driven by both talent and technology.
- Investment banks: Visits to global investment bank Barclays, independent sell-side research firm Bernstein, and CICC International, a benchmark for Chinese investment banks going global, helped students understand how sell-side institutions function as hubs for capital allocation and risk pricing and learn about Hong Kong’s core value in cross-border resource allocation.
- Asset managers: Visits to Fosun Hong Kong, an industry-finance integration platform; ChinaAMC, a leading public fund manager; and CITIC Capital, an alternative investment firm, shed light on value creation from industry-finance collaboration to diversified investment.
- Innovation and technology ecosystem: At Hong Kong Cyberport, a government-owned digital technology flagship and AI accelerator, students saw how cutting-edge technology is integrated into the real economy and how Hong Kong is moving from connecting China with global capital toward deeper integration of capital, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Sharing Insights on Youth Growth and Opportunities
A highlight of the camp came on the evening of August 27, when Shanghai and Hong Kong students joined Hong Kong financial experts and MF alumni working in the city for an in-depth exchange. Professor David Li, Professor of Practice at SAIF, MF Program Faculty Director and Faculty Director of Career Development Center, offered a systematic review of the camp.
The institutions visited, Professor Li noted, represent the core development threads of Hong Kong’s financial market. Traditional financial forces, represented by international investment banks, rely on standardized professional services, robust compliance systems, and global resource integration to reinforce Hong Kong’s foundation as an international financial hub, using capital to support technology and empower the real economy and innovation sectors. Emerging financial models, represented by quantitative institutions, are technology-driven: they integrate data and algorithms into investment practice, letting technology reshape finance in turn, and create growth space for two-way integration between finance and technology. The coexistence of these diverse institutions reflects Hong Kong’s inclusiveness and vitality. With both a mature, stable traditional financial foundation and a continuously evolving innovation sector, the city offers a multi-layered ecosystem that can accommodate young talent with different professional backgrounds and career aspirations.
Finance offers no shortcuts, Professor Li advised students: short-term success depends on sector tailwinds, but long-term success depends on professional depth and breadth of insight. He encouraged them to go beyond classroom and textbook theories to develop a real feel for the market, to deepen core financial expertise while proactively understanding industries, technology, and cross-border market rules. At the same time, they should seize the opportunities created by Shanghai-Hong Kong collaboration, maintain a long-term mindset, and steadily accumulate experience on a path that suits them.
