News

October 10, 2022

SAIF Academically Supports Shanghai FinTech Center Activity

On September 13, 2022, the Outstanding Achievements Collection and Promotion Activity on the Third Anniversary of the Construction of Shanghai FinTech Center and the Annual Key Work Kick-off Meeting of the Shanghai FinTech Industry Alliance (the Meeting) was held under the guidance of the People's Bank of China Shanghai Headquarters and the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau. The Meeting was organized by the Shanghai FinTech Industry Alliance (the Alliance), co-organized by the Shanghai Financial Industry Federation and supported by SAIF. Representatives from more than 50 institutions, including various financial markets, financial institutions, and technology enterprises in Shanghai attended the meeting online. Professor Guangshao Tu (Member of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the SAIF Board), the general advisor of the activity, said that in the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and State Council on Supporting the High-Level Reform and Opening-up of Pudong New Area to Build a Leading Zone for Socialist Modernization released last year, the central government has guided Shanghai as an International Financial Center to: serve the real economy, serve economic and social development, serve the deepening of Shanghai’s urban functions, enhance Pudong’s leading role, emphasize interaction with the development of the real economy, and the building of a new development pattern. Since the reform and opening up, domestic financial market systems, structure, functions, and effectiveness have been greatly enhanced. This further promotes fintech with a wider range of fintech application scenarios. Tu said that as an International Financial Center, Shanghai has comprehensive advantages in building a FinTech Center because of its healthy financial system and friendly financial environment. Shanghai has the ability to undertake some major financial reforms and open policies, such as pilot financial innovation initiatives, including: measures involving the internationalization of the CNY, including the pilot cross-border trade CNY settlement in 2009 and the establishment of a free trade zone in 2013; and major market reform measures, such as registration system reform. In 2019, Shanghai began to build itself a FinTech Center and proposed to build a globally competitive FinTech Center within five years. Tianyu Wang (Secretary General of Shanghai Fintech Industry Alliance) said that an activity was held to summarize the innovative practical experience of Shanghai in building the FinTech Center over the past three years. In the future, the Alliance will continue to promote research on financial technology, promote collaborative innovation among institutions, and provide strong support for a regular collection mechanism for outstanding future achievements. As the academic support unit, SAIF participated in the preliminary research on the development of fintech applications and the summarization of Shanghai's innovative practical experience in building a FinTech Center. It evaluated the development results of Shanghai's fintech industry, and put forward targeted and valuable suggestions on this activity. Professor Feng Li (Professor of Accounting, Associate Director of CAFR, Co-Director of SAIFR) said that Shanghai has gradually shown its global fintech advantages, and its activity would promote Shanghai to maintain its advantages and continue fintech development. In the future, SAIF would capitalize upon its research efforts in fintech and digital finance to further serve the overall national strategy and the construction of Shanghai as a FinTech Center.

October 08, 2022

China Fintech Industry Trends Seminar Held by SAIF Think Tank

On September 5, 2022, SAIF Think Tank and the CAFR- FinVolution Joint Research Laboratory at SJTU jointly held a seminar on Investment and Financing Trends in China’s Fintech Industry. Professor Guangshao Tu (Member of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the SAIF Board) and Ping Ge (Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau) attended the seminar. The seminar was presided over by Professor Feng Li (Professor of Accounting, Associate Director of CAFR, Co-Director of SAIFR). Professor Tu pointed out that the development of digital finance and fintech has had a profound impact on financial systems, markets, and institutions — with a series of system construction and policy initiatives being put forward by relevant national departments. Currently, the construction of Shanghai as an International Financial Center has entered the “Version 3.0” stage. Shanghai has also proposed an implementation plan of building itself as a Global FinTech Center during the 14th Five-Year Plan to make Shanghai a pilot zone for: fintech research, innovation and application, industry concentration, talent gathering, standards formation, and supervision innovation. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop research and analysis on digital finance and fintech. Ping Ge said that Shanghai is promoting strategic deployment for the city's digital transformation, such as: the application of big data for finance, a capital market fintech innovation pilot project, a digital currency electronic payment pilot project, and a local financial supervision information platform. Shanghai is at the forefront of the national pilot project for digital currency electronic payments, and has made significant breakthroughs in the core assessment such as the number of transactions and application scenarios. In the discussion session, scholars and experts from different institutions expressed their views on the state of current investment and financing in both the domestic and international fintech industries, and the future regulation of the industry. They included: Jiandong Shi (Director of Science and Technology Division, Financial Services Department II, People’s Bank of China Shanghai Headquarters), Bin Liu (Director of Financial Research Department, Institute of Shanghai Pudong Reform and Development), Suyang Zhang (Managing Partner of Shanghai Volcanics Venture), Hua Chen (President of Shanghai Guoxin Venture), Ye Zhou (Alumnus of the first GES class, President and CEO of HuiPay Payment), Daquan Yang (Alumnus of the second EMBA class, Vice President of Shanghai Jiemian Network Technology), Min Qi (Vice President of Shanghai IceKredit), Xiaochun Liu (Vice President of CAFR), and Jie Hu (Professor of Practice at SAIF). In the future, SAIF Think Tank will further focus on three major research areas, namely “Shanghai International Financial Center Construction”, “International Finance”, and “Fintech”. To better serve the construction of Shanghai International Financial Center, SAIF endeavors to give an academic interpretation of major policies and focused events, and conduct high-level seminars in economic and financial fields.

September 20, 2022

CFFEX and SAIF Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement

On August 31st, 2022, the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and SAIF signed a strategic cooperation agreement. Guangshao Tu (Member of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the SAIF Board), Qingwen He (Secretary of the CPC CFFEX Committee, President of CFFEX), Chunhe Ye (Deputy Secretary of the CPC CFFEX Committee, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CFFEX), Qigui Zhu (Secretary of the CPC SAIF Committee), Feng Li (Professor of Accounting at SAIF, Associate Director of CAFR), and Xuan Luo (Deputy Dean of SAIF) attended the signing ceremony. The signing ceremony was presided over by Feng Li. Guangshao Tu said that the signing reflects further deepening of cooperation between financial market organizations and financial academic institutions. Over the past ten years, SAIF has achieved remarkable results in talent training and faculty building. In the future, SAIF will deepen the construction of its think tank and further enhance its ability to serve Shanghai as an International Financial Center. Tu pointed out that the cooperation between CFFEX and SAIF is of great significance to both sides. SAIF will provide further talent and intellectual support for the reform and innovation of the financial futures market and the construction of CFFEX. He hoped that both sides would actively promote cooperation to better serve the overall national strategy and the construction of Shanghai as an International Financial Center. Qingwen He pointed out in his speech that the innovative development of financial futures need professional theories and an inclusive environment. The signing of the strategic cooperation agreement will help CFFEX further enhance the cooperation between industry and academia, integrate internal and external resources more systematically, and strengthen talent exchange. Afterwards, Chunhe Ye and Qigui Zhu signed the strategic cooperation agreement on behalf of both sides, as witnessed by Guangshao Tu and Qingwen He. In the future, the two sides will combine actual development demands and resource advantages, strengthen academic research and think tank research, collaborate on post-doctoral workstation construction and other all-around cooperation to promote the construction of Shanghai as an International Financial Center and high-quality development of the capital markets.

September 19, 2022

Professor Zhan Jiang’s Research Selected as 2022 SAC Key Research Program

With the imminent implementation of the registration-based IPO system in the securities market, improving the pricing efficiency of IPOs to better serve listed enterprises, stabilize the capital markets, and protect the interests of small and medium-sized investors has become an urgent research topic. Research led by Zhenying Gao (Chairman of Xiangcai Securities) and Zhan Jiang (Professor at SAIF), was recently selected as a 2022 Securities Association of China (SAC) Key Research Program. It was entitled "Empirical Research on the Pricing Efficiency of IPOs under the Registration-based IPO System". To promote the implementation of a registration-based IPO system and to better serve development of the real economy and reform of capital markets, SAC has set the research theme as "High-quality development of capital markets and the securities industry under a registration-based IPO system". SAC received a total of 476 program applications, with 183 key programs being formally approved after a comprehensive evaluation. Professor Zhan Jiang's selected program focuses on the emerging issue of IPO pricing efficiency. Taking public market data as its sample, it studies methods to improve IPO pricing and valuation scientifically and accurately through in-depth analysis of IPO pricing. "Market-based pricing mechanism and science and innovation enterprises are emerging. In this context, we hope to understand the main and difficult points in the IPO pricing by conducting this research. By forming targeted solutions and policy recommendations on IPO pricing, we hope to provide empirical references for listed companies, small and medium-sized investors as well as policy makers."Zhan Jiang said. At present, the research team jointly formed by Xiangcai Securities and SAIF is collaborating on specific issues of the study. The program is expected to be concluded in early November of this year.

September 16, 2022

China Residents’ Investment and Financial Behavior 2022 Report Released at SAI ...

On September 1st, the 2022 SAIF Wealth Management Industry Summit and the new Release of "The Report on China Residents'Investment and Financial Management Behavior"(the Report) was held online. Professor Guangshao Tu (Member of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the SAIF Board) delivered a speech. Professor Fei Wu (Professor at SAIF) gave his analysis of the Report. Wenqiao Chang (Deputy General Manager of Puyin Wealth Management), Wenjia Lu (Deputy General Manager of the Fullgoal Fund), Lefeng Zhou (President of Xiangcai Securities), and Zhenhua Li (President of Ant Group Research Institute) had a discussion on the theme of “How can the wealth management industry improve residents'sense of fulfillment under the current situation?”. In his opening speech, Guangshao Tu pointed out that the purpose of researching residents'investment and financial behavior is to better promote the healthy and sustainable development of the residents'investment and the financial market. He said that a positive interaction between residents'behavior and the market could improve the service capacity of the investment and financial industry, accelerate the construction of the financial market, and regulate the investment and financial market. SAIF and Ant Group Research Institute could further exert their advantages for long-term sustainable research. He also expected an effective cooperative research mechanism, an open research ecology, and scientific research methods to promote the research to be developed. To study the current situation of China residents’ investment and financial management, SAIF together with Ant Group Research Institute and Ant Wealth Management Think Tank launched a questionnaire survey in 2021 and released a related report. The 2022 Report found that in terms of residents'financial health, the proportion of residents with household reserves increased to 73% from 72% last year, showing a steady increase in risk management awareness. Bank deposits, public funds, and bonds are the three assets with the highest percentage of residents'investments in 2022. Among them, the proportion of bond asset allocation is 21%, increasing by 6% (from 15% in the previous year), replacing stocks as one of the top three assets allocated by residents in 2022. The Report found that the awareness of China residents for long-term investment has increased compared to the previous year. The proportion of users who are willing to hold for less than one year has dropped significantly, from 72% last year to 65% this year. Meanwhile, residents’ tolerance for loss time of financial products has risen. Taking equity funds as an example, the proportion increased to 23% from 14% last year. In addition, residents are more rational in choosing financial products. The Report shows that investors'preference for famous fund managers has dropped significantly, from 24% last year to 14%. Investors'preference toward a fund's historical returns also declined, from 56% to 53%. Investors'concern about channel recommendations, length of closed periods, and charges have increased. Related to last year's volatile market conditions, investors are now more sensitive to professional investment advisors, liquidity, and costs. Professionalization is the key to achieving long-term investment and enhancing residents'investment and financial experience. Beyond improving residents'financial literacy, it is important for them to have access to professional services, such as buy-side investment advisory services. Research shows that 28% of investors would increase their willingness to invest for the long term due to investment advisory services, while half knew little about fund investment advisory services. Research results show that China is still in the initial stage of professional investment advisement. Professor Fei Wu said that the continuous release of the Report allows us to observe the changes in China residents'investment and financial behavior, and seek reasons. It provides a rational analysis perspective for residents to scientifically allocate investment and financial products. It also provides a reference for wealth management institutions to develop their personal and family investment business.

September 12, 2022

SAIF-Charles Schwab 2022 China Rising Affluent Financial Well-being Index Releas ...

On August 25th, 2022, the 2022 China Rising Affluent Financial Well-being Index was released by SAIF and Charles Schwab (a top US financial services institution), our sixth consecutive annual edition. For six years, Charles Schwab and SAIF have continued to focus on the perceptions and investment behavior of China rising affluent. This year's report focused on how affluent Chinese actively adjust their wealth management strategies when facing changing external environments. It also re-highlighted the importance of investment advisory services in advancing the financial well-being of investors. The latest 2022 report shows that the financial well-being of China's rising affluent is steadily improving. In addition, the following findings were made in this year's study. Family wealth management should be decided after a family discussion. Public awareness of retirement financial issues should be aroused through financial education and services. New products and services that better fit investment needs should be made, due to the fading of the housing market. Financial literacy education should be strengthened to help investors better identify financial risks and focus on long-term investments. Professional financial services and investment education should be provided to avoid vulnerability and to ensure long-term financial well-being. Financial institutions should further optimize personalized and high-quality services based on customers'demands. The China Rising Affluent Financial Well-being Index Initiated by SAIF and Charles Schwab, the China Rising Affluent Financial Well-being Index is now being maintained by Nielsen, an international monitoring and data analysis company. This index tracks the shifting perceptions about the financial well-being of people with annual incomes of RMB 125,000 to RMB 1,000,000 and with investable assets of less than RMB 7,000,000. These investors are an increasingly influential cohort within both the Chinese and global economies. The index is derived from the combined assessment of four sub-indexes, namely: wealth confidence, financial planning, asset management, and investment engagement.

September 09, 2022

Forum Held at SAIF on the Promoting of Shanghai as an International Financial Ce ...

On the afternoon of August 22nd, 2022, a forum on the project for amending the "Regulations on Promoting the Construction of Shanghai as an International Financial Center (Regulations)"was held at SAIF. Leaders and scholars attending the forum included: Zhuoqing Jiang (Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress), Guiyu Xiao (Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress), Guangshao Tu (Member of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the SAIF Board), and KuiLing Ding (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Executive Vice President of SJTU). In the beginning, Guangshao Tu mentioned that SAIF was established in 2009 by SJTU to realize the national strategy of building Shanghai as an International Financial Center. In the past thirteen years of rapid development, SAIF gradually gathered together a group of international first-class faculty and designed outstanding curriculum programs. In the future, SAIF will continue to strive for international excellence in talent training, faculty strength and digitalization, while building SAIF Think Tank to serve the construction of Shanghai International Financial Center. Regarding the revision of the Regulations, Guangshao Tu said that the proposed draft met the latest needs of national financial development and strengthened financial support for the real economy —especially science and technology innovation, digital economy, and green development. He also suggested that the Regulations should pay attention to digital finance and financial technology, and should refine the business environment for the financial center. Guiyu Xiao also stressed the importance of external expert opinions. Liu Dai (Member of the Shanghai Financial and Economic Affairs Committee) put forward four "new"matters, namely: new objectives, new requirements, new expectations, and new guarantees. Dong Xie (Director of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau) exchanged his views on the progress of the revision of the Regulations, and solicited opinions on specific regulations. Professor Feng Li (Professor of Accounting, Associate Director of CAFR, Co-Director of SAIFR) reported on the suggestions of the revision of the Regulations and other experts also shared their opinions during the discussion session. Afterwards, Zhuoqing Jiang made a concluding speech. He appreciated the development achievements made by SAIF over the past ten years and recognized SAIF Think Tank construction in the development of Shanghai as an International Financial Center. He hoped that through this revision of the Regulations, the SAIF Think Tank would continue to offer pragmatic strategies on the practical issues faced in the deepening of reforms and the opening up of the economic and financial fields.

September 07, 2022

MoU on Dual Degree Signed by SAIF and Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

Recently, SAIF and the Haas School of Business at the University of California (UC Berkeley) signed a memorandum of understanding on a dual degree for the Master of Financial Engineering Program (MFE). The program has no limit on the number of participants, and students of the SAIF MF Program can submit applications after enrollment. Upon graduation, they will be awarded a Master's degree and the academic certificate of SJTU, the academic certificate of SAIF, and a Master's degree from UC Berkeley. As the flagship program of SAIF, the MF Program cultivates future leaders in the financial industry. It adopts an international and open teaching mode while featuring first-class faculty from world-class universities. In 2019, to meet the development needs of the financial industry, the SAIF MF program was the first to offer a Master's education program with a FinTech track in China. The first batch of FinTech track graduates has since achieved a 100% employment rate. The MFE Program of UC Berkeley benefits from the top financial research resources of the Hass School of Business, which effectively combines modern portfolio theory with computational methods. The program is known globally for its 98% employment rate (Fall 2021) and prestigious curriculum. It is ranked at the top in the 2022 TFE Times Financial Engineering Program Rankings. In addition to the dual degree program with the Hass School of Business, SAIF has also cooperated with top institutions in North America and Europe, such as Columbia University and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). As of 2021, more than 40 SAIF MF students have applied to participate in the dual degree program.

September 05, 2022

Metaverse Study by SAIF and SWS Research Released

On August 8th, 2022, the report "Metaverse Study: Technology, Applications and Economic Paradigms"was officially released. The report is co-authored by SAIF, CAFR, and the Shanghai Shenyin Wanguo Securities Research Institute Ltd. (SWS Research). The report comprehensively analyzes the new track of the metaverse and the metaverse economy from four aspects: definition and connotation, core technologies, application scenarios, and overseas metaverse economy paradigm. According to the report, the metaverse is a next-generation Internet application and social civilization that integrates a number of new technologies, with digital sensing and blockchain technology as its core. It is generated through a change of identity interaction and an economic paradigm change. The metaverse economy is a series of new economic production and business operation models based on digital production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. The definition, underlying technologies, application scenarios, and business models of the metaverse are still at an early stage. This report helps with the construction of a relevant policy system and a layout of industrial practice, and with the implementation of digital economy strategy. The report also included several SAIF GES alumni and four GES alumni companies (Shanghai Zhiwang Information Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Jianjing Shurui Data Technology Co. Ltd., Bowei Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Xianhu Investment Management Co. Ltd.), as well as experts and researchers from the Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication.

September 01, 2022

SAIF-Zijiang Workshop Forum Inaugurated Online

Recently, the first SAIF-Zijiang Workshop forum was inaugurated online. It was jointly sponsored by SAIF and the Shanghai Zijiang Foundation. It was co-organized by the SAIF Sustainable Investment Research Center and by the Responsible Financier Club of the SAIF MBA Academic Association. Minxue Kan (President of the Responsible Financier Club of the SAIF MBA Academic Association, student of the SAIF Part-Time MBA Class of 2021), was the moderator of this forum. Focused on "Social Responsibility and Financial Value Creation in the Post-Epidemic Era", experts, scholars and industry elites in CSR and finance were invited. They discussed effective ways to contribute to the sustainable development for global society and the economy, and to spread the sustainable development concept. Professor Hong Yan (Professor of Finance, Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research, GES Program Academic Director at SAIF, Director of the China Hedge Fund Research Center) delivered a welcome speech. He said that finance should shoulder more responsibility as an essential role in promoting high-quality development, and that SAIF is constructing a Sustainable Investment Research Center in accordance with China's current sustainable development strategy. He also expressed his gratitude to the Zijiang Foundation for its support for SAIF, especially for its help in the construction of the Responsible Financier Club. Chen Lin, Secretary General of the Shanghai Zijiang Foundation, affirmed the cooperation in talent training between the Zijiang Foundation and SAIF in the past four years. She also said that Zijiang would continue to work with SAIF to contribute to the construction of Shanghai as an International Financial Center in terms of discipline construction, talent training, and responsible education. In the keynote speech, Yu Meng (Executive Vice President and Chairman of Asia Pacific at Franklin Templeton) gave a speech on "Approaches to Climate Change — Climate Risk Disclosure and Carbon Pricing"from the perspective of asset management and capital markets. Xubei Luo (Senior Economist of the World Bank Group) shared her views on "Extreme Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development". In the discussion session, guests exchanged their views on the connotations of sustainable development, the relationship between economic and social benefits, the development direction of family offices, and the future development path of sustainable finance. These guests included: Tan Wang (Professor of Finance, MF Program Academic Director at SAIF), Shuo Qin (Founder of Chin @ Moments), Lyuzhi Ye (Head of AVPN China), and Xing’an Pan (Investment Director and General Manager of Family Office at Yunnan International Trust Co.).