News

October 08, 2021

2021 SAIF Faculty and Staff Autumn Semester Meeting Held

On September 23rd, the Faculty and Staff Autumn Semester meeting was held at SAIF. Professors Chun Chang (Executive Dean, Huifu Chair Professor at SAIF), Qigui Zhu (Secretary of the CPC SAIF Committee), and Jiang Wang (Executive Director, Chair of Academic Council at SAIF) delivered speeches. Nearly 200 SAIF professors and staff attended the conference. Professor Chun Chang said that SAIF has progressed well in many aspects during the past year, including: the Phase III Strategic Plan (2021-2030), faculty construction, think-tank construction, talent training, and external cooperation. He emphasized that the current situation requires further promotion of academic, think tank, and applied research — as well as talent training, which brings both development opportunities and new challenges to SAIF. He urged all faculty and staff to focus on research and innovation to support talent cultivation and face challenges. Professor Qigui Zhu said that 2021 is the first year of both the SAIF Phase III Strategic Plan (2021-2030) and the third phase of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, and that we should make every effort to achieve these goals. Professor Jiang Wang pointed out in his concluding speech that there are two keys to achieve goals faster and with a better outcome. One is to implement the specific tasks to make sure that the Plan proceeds at a steady pace. The other is to innovate.

September 22, 2021

2021 MF Opening Ceremony Held at SAIF

From September 13th to September 15th, the 2021 MF Opening Ceremony was held at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF). This year's orientation week was held in a combined online and on-site format, which enabled students from all over the world to attend. MF2021 has 71 students from China and overseas. Due to the pandemic, international students in Italy, France, Germany, and Malaysia attended the ceremony virtually. During the ceremony, Professor Chun Chang (Huifu Chair Professor, Executive Dean at SAIF) delivered a welcome speech. In his speech, he encouraged students to balance the following four aspects in their future life at SAIF: the balance between long-term and short-term goals, between the expectation from your parents and your own pursuits, between personal values and social responsibilities, and between study and enjoying life. Professor Tan Wang (MF Academic Director, Professor of Finance at SAIF), Professor Xianglin Li (MF Academic Co-Director, Associate Director of CAFR, Professor of Practice at SAIF), Hongjun An (Founder and Chairman of Genharmony), Professor Chao Zi (Assistant Professor at SAIF), Lin Yang (Director of MF Program) and all MF Program staff attended the opening ceremony. Hongjun An, Professor Wang, and the MF Program Head Ms. Lin Yang shared their life experiences and conveyed their best wishes to the 2021 class. As freshmen at SAIF, MF-General21 student Xiaoshuang Chen (graduate from Peking University with a Bachelor's degree in Economics) and MF-Fintech21 student Junming Chen (graduate from Tsinghua University with a Bachelor's degree in Automation) expressed their excitement and expectation for their new start at SAIF. Taoran Wang from MF-General20 and Yufang Peng from MF-FinTech20 also shared their learning and living experiences at SAIF as senior representatives. Professor Wenjun Qiu (Guest Professor of Practice at SAIF) encouraged students to integrate theory with practice in their study and to actively participate in the CFA Research Challenge. In order to help students better adapt to their upcoming new life at SAIF, the staff from various departments gave an in-depth overview of SAIF MF's curriculum design and comprehensive services. Professor Jie Hu, Professor of Practice at SAIF and former CEO of the Financial Division at Xunlei Group, brought an impressive first class to the students, entitled "A New Face of the Old Financial Kingdom". Professor Hu guided the students in a review of the past, present and future of the financial world, inspiring an industry-oriented macro perspective and deepening their understanding of the industry. Mr. Zhang, who had worked at JP Morgan in London, brought a wonderful practical course to the students, giving them a glance at the financial workplace and training their networking skills. Standing at the starting point of a meaningful new journey, the students wrote down small objectives for the next two years and their wishes for the future. The program team then sealed these "time capsules" for them to open in person when they graduate two years later.

September 22, 2021

Professors Jun Pan and Jiang Wang’s Paper in the Journal of Financial Economic ...

Professor Jun Pan (Chair Professor at SAIF) and Professor Jiang Wang (Chair of Academic Council at SAIF)'s paper "Premium for Heightened Uncertainty: Explaining Pre-Announcement Market Returns"has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Financial Economics (JFE). JFE is one of the Top 3 international financial journals in the world, along with Journal of Finance (JF) and Review of Financial Studies (RFS). It is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering both theoretical and empirical types of research within financial economics. The paper's co-authors are Professor Xing Hu (PBC School of Finance at Tsinghua University) and Professor Haoxiang Zhu (Sloan School of Management at MIT). Abstract of the Paper: We find large overnight returns with no abnormal variance before nonfarm payrolls, ISM, and GDP announcements, similar to the pre-FOMC returns. To explain this common pattern, we propose a two-risk model with the uncertainty about the magnitude of the impending news'market impact as an additional risk, and link the pre-announcement return directly to the accumulation of heightened uncertainty and its later resolution prior to the announcement. We empirically test and verify the model's distinct predictions on the joint intertemporal behavior of return, variance, and particularly VIX – a gauge of impact uncertainty by our model, surrounding macroeconomic announcements.

September 20, 2021

Italian Student Gianluca Joined SJTU Again to Fulfill his Dream

Gianluca Salvicchi was born in Rome. At the age of 13, he started to learn Mandarin and, up to now, has visited Shanghai three times and has studied at SJTU twice. Gianluca is fond of Chinese culture, appreciates education in China, and has confidence in China's economic development. He also acquired a Chinese name -"Zhan LuJiang". Now, at the age of 22, Gianluca has been enrolled in the MF program at SAIF. He's looking forward to his life as a SAIFer and it has always been his dream to study in Shanghai. "I will be able to merge my two loves, China and Finance", he said. Studying at SJTU Again The story between Gianluca and China began when he was in his senior year of high school in Italy. At the age of 13, he became curious about China, a country also possessing an ancient civilization. When he first came to Shanghai for an exchange program, he fell in love with the city immediately. After the one-year exchange, he extended for another year and decided to study in China for a bachelor degree. In 2017, he was admitted to the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering of SJTU and became an engineering student. Unfortunately, for family reasons, he had to quit SJTU at that time. "Compared to the metro system in Rome, I'm more familiar with the one in Shanghai. It carries my memories of this city". After visiting Shanghai three times, Gianluca is profoundly attracted by the city. He believes that China and SJTU have encouraged him a lot, allowing him to broaden his horizons and helping him with his future development. Influenced by his father, Gianluca has been very interested in financial knowledge since he was a child. After returning to Italy, he entered the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS Guido Carli), known as the "Harvard of Italy", to study economics. During the four years study at university, a friend introduced him to the development of the SJTU Minhang Business Area. He learned that China was developing rapidly and he was even more optimistic about China's future economic development. "China is seeking its path of development, and I'm happy to see its energy and capacity. I believe that Shanghai will further expand its competitiveness as an international financial center. The internationalization of the RMB is also around the corner. I hope I can contribute to the development of China's finance development in the future." For Gianluca, SJTU is his second home, and SAIF is the perfect choice to combine his interests in both China and Finance. Therefore, it is no surprise for him to choose SAIF. "It has everything I want - professional knowledge, financial skills. And it can help me return to Shanghai and support me with my future career," he said. Choosing SAIF As a finance student, Gianluca had always been interested in secondary market investment activities and macroeconomic developments. He has used his professional knowledge to manage his personal assets and achieved good results. In the future, he hopes to create value for his clients in the same way. "I want to become a good wealth management advisor and I hope to set up my own hedge fund in the future." Though it's not time for school yet, Gianluca has already started preparatory courses, including: Overview of Financial Markets, Business Chinese, Introduction to Python, C and C++ Programming. "These preparatory courses at SAIF helped me consolidate and deepen my understanding of financial knowledge," Gianluca said. "The programming courses and other skills courses can help me become an inter-disciplinary talent. And the Chinese language course arranged specifically for international students is good for my business communication skills." He also received one-to-one career counseling from the CDC, which benefited him a great deal. "The coach objectively pointed out my shortcomings and strengths, gave me advice on course selection, and also taught me some interview skills, which gave me confidence in my future career development."Gianluca was deeply moved by the thoughtfulness of the CDC staff. To avoid late-night courses for international students, they arranged time reasonably. "Although school has not started yet, SAIF has already provided various preparatory courses and career planning for students. I think it is very professional and I can also feel its warmth and love." Due to the coronavirus, Gianluca will take courses virtually at this stage. He is looking forward to the upcoming semester, "I hope the pandemic will be controlled soon. And I hope to study in the SAIF classroom as soon as possible."In the future, besides further enhancing his financial knowledge and skills at SAIF, he also hopes to found a club to study secondary markets with friends. "SAIF is a platform that gathers finance talents in and beyond China. I believe we can work out a lot of interesting ideas here!" Gianluca likes asking questions because he enjoys the intellectual challenge when seeking answers. Despite setbacks sometimes, he believes that he will grow quickly in this process of exploration. As a foreigner, he often describes himself as "a foreign body with a Chinese soul". He believes that with the support of SAIF, his future will be promising.

September 06, 2021

2021 Seminar on Financial Policy in Pudong Pioneer Area Held at SAIF

On August 27th, the 2021 Closed Seminar on Financial Policy Interpretation in Pudong Pioneer Area was held at the Xuhui Campus of SAIF. The conference was jointly held by the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF), the China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR) at SJTU, and the Professional Research Committee (PRC) of the International Financial Center at Shanghai Financial Society. More than 40 scholars and experts from different institutions and universities attended the seminar, including: People's Bank of China (Shanghai Headquarters), Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Financial Work, Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), School of Finance at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Antai School of Economics and Management at SJTU, SAIF, etc. The seminar was presided over by Professor Feng Li (Associate Director of CAFR, Secretary of PRC). Professor Guangshao Tu (Executive Director of the SAIF Board) gave a welcome speech on behalf of the organizers. "We will further strengthen the construction of think tanks and provide communication platforms. We will hold regular seminars like this one and public conferences on economic situation interpretation. We also sincerely welcome enterprises, experts, and scholars to actively participate in and support our seminars.", Professor Tu said in his speech. This year's seminar was a combination of keynote speeches and joint discussions. There were four keynote speeches given, respectively, by Chun Chang (Executive Dean at SAIF), Ti Liu (Deputy General Manager of SSE), Feng Lu (Deputy General Manager of the Shanghai Futures Exchange), and Lei Zhao (General Manager of the Reinsurance Department at the Shanghai Insurance Exchange). Themes of the speeches included: Offshore Financial Market, International Financial Asset Trading Platform and Science and Technology Innovation Board, Commodity Warehouse Receipt Registration Center, and Shanghai Reinsurance Center. In the speech entitled "Why Should We Build An Offshore Financial System In Shanghai?", Professor Chun Chang emphasized that it was inevitable that China would build an offshore financial market in Shanghai. He explained it from the perspectives of Cross-Border Payment Mode Selection, Capital Account Opening, and RMB Internationalization. He also made clear that building an offshore financial market in Shanghai helps to unify and coordinate the two markets, thus creating a new situation for reform and opening up. Ti Liu gave a speech on "Science and Technology Innovation Board Reform and Financial Services for Real Economy". He believes that the International Financial Asset Trading Platform and the introduction of the Market Maker System to the Science and Technology Innovation Board have great significance. They will not only play an important role in the development of SSE but also have a profound impact on the improvement of the capital market and the construction of Shanghai as an international financial center. In Feng Lu's speech, he explained the significance of "Establishing a National Commodity Warehouse Receipt Registration Center (CWRRC) in China'. Lu Feng said that the main challenge for the further development of commodity trading is information fragmentation, so the future CWRRC should integrate basic data first. At the same time, it should use blockchain and Internet of Things to connect information (from futures, spot, storage, logistics, traders, banks, etc.) to form a standardized and transparent database for the whole industry chain. Lei Zhao reported on the theme of "Building a First-Class International Reinsurance Center (IRC) with the Help of SSE". Lei Zhao pointed out that the traditional IRC was out of date. With China's institutional advantages, we should strengthen the financial infrastructure to build a digital reinsurance center for the future. The report also provided recommendations for supporting policies for the Shanghai International Reinsurance Center. After each speech, Professor Guangshao Tu summarized and commented. In the final discussion session, participants shared their opinions on the policies and made positive suggestions on the formulation and implementation of the specific measures in the Pudong Pioneer Area.

August 16, 2021

2021 Summer Institute of Finance (SIF) Held

On July 12th - 13th, the 11th Summer Institute of Finance (SIF) was successfully held. It was organized by the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) and the China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SIF conference was held in a combined online and on-site format in Shanghai. During the conference, more than 60 scholars, professors, and researchers from top universities and financial institutions from around the world discussed cutting-edge topics in current financial research. Professor Hong Yan (Professor of Finance, Deputy Dean for faculty and research at SAIF) chaired the SIF, and Professor Xiaoyun Yu (Professor of Finance at SAIF) was Chairwoman of the Paper Review Committee. Other SIF participants included: Professor Tan Wang (Professor of Finance at SAIF), Professor Kewei Hou (Special-Term Professor at SAIF; Ric Dillon Chair Professor in Investment at Ohio State University), Professor Huibing Zhang (Special-Term Professor at SAIF; Professor of Finance, University of Texas), Professor Sheridan Titman (Special-Term Professor at SAIF; McAllister Centennial Chair, University of Texas), Professor Andrew Winton (Special-Term Professor at SAIF; Finance Department Chair, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota). This year's SIF received a large number of submissions, with a total of 778 valid academic papers from all over the world, of which 12 papers were finally selected by the Paper Review Committee. These 12 papers were presented in six academic sessions, focusing on themes of "Finance Distress", "Agency and Monitoring", "New Measures, New Insights", "Firms and Mobility", "Hedging", and "Fund". During the conference, professors and Ph.D. students from various universities in China (and beyond) read or reviewed the papers, and 12 scholars shared their latest research findings at the conference. Their research issues included: 'Feedback and Contagion through Distressed Competition'; 'Gambling for Redemption or Rip-off, and the Impact of Superpriority';'Looking the Other Way: The Screening Role of (Weak) Internal Monitoring'; 'Morale, Performance, and Disclosure'; 'The Informativeness of Text, the Deep Learning Approach'; 'Concentration in Product Markets'; 'Assessing and Addressing the Coronavirus-induced Economic Crisis: Evidence from 1.5 Billion Sales Invoices'; 'The Talent Gap in Family Firms'; 'Operating Leverage and Hedging: A Tale of Two Production Costs for Asset Pricing'; 'Unmasking Mutual Fund Derivative Use'; 'The Proxy Advisory Industry: Influencing and Being Influenced'; and 'The Risk, Reward, and Asset Allocation of Nonprofit Endowment Funds'. At the conference, each paper was reviewed by an individual scholar. They made pertinent suggestions and comments on research content, ideas, and methodologies. In addition, there was a Q&A session in which scholars and professors made comments and discussed issues with the paper presenters and reviewers. The open and professional academic atmosphere at SIF was an inspiration and proved beneficial for scholars hoping to optimize their current research.

August 11, 2021

Report on China Resident Investment and Financial Behavior Released at SAIF

On July 14, the 2021 SAIF Wealth Management Industry Summit and the Release of "The Report on China Residents'Investment and Financial Management Behaviors (the Report)" was held at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Professor Guangshao Tu (Adjunct Professor at SJTU and Executive Director of the SAIF Board) delivered a speech. Professor Hong Yan (Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research, Professor of Finance) gave his analysis of the Report. In his speech, Professor Tu emphasized the importance of residents'investment and financial management. He also pointed out that residents'investment and financial behavior directly influenced social financing structure, allocation of market resources, and capital market development. "Residents'investment and financial management should be valued,"said Professor Tu. Tu summarized and analyzed six trends of the current changes in residents'investment and financial management. These included: the rapid growth of aggregate demand, the continuous differentiation of demand structure, the transition of wealth structure, the transformation of the financial service industry, the empowering role of capital management technology, and the gradually standardized market order. Tu also gave suggestions on how to respond to the changing demands of residents through various avenues, such as: capital market development, improving the capability of capital management institutions, upgrading the market service system, enhancing investors'education, and promoting the standardization of the financial management market. "Problems and needs guide us to better promote the sound development of wealth management industry and the market,"Professor Tu mentioned. The Report was jointly released by SAIF, the China Academy of Finance Research (CAFR), and the Ant Group Research Institute. Professor Tu stated that the study combines SAIF's top academic research team with the Ant Research Institute's data resources; the two sides complemented each other. Moreover, he highly recommended the Report as an investment and financial management guideline to residents. Professor Hong Yan started the Report release session with an introduction to its background and methodology, combined with the main findings in the Report and some reflection about the research process. Professor Yan Hong said that since the Reform and Opening Up, Chinese residents have continued to accumulate wealth, generating increasing demands for wealth management. With guidance from the government, industry associations, and academia, financial awareness among Chinese residents has risen. In the current context of the rigid repayment break, interest rate decline, and real estate regulation, the wealth management demands of residents have been further released and transformed. This brings opportunities and challenges for the development of China's wealth management industry. To understand the current situation, in March 2021, CAFR and Ant Group Research Institute conducted an online questionnaire survey on active Alipay users in different age groups and regions to analyze the main characteristics of Chinese residents' investment and financial management behavior. With the results and findings of the survey, the Report was completed. Professor Yan then introduced the main conclusion in the Report. According to the evaluation of residents' financial health, most of the Chinese residents have set up family reserve funds or have purchased insurance, which demonstrates their risk management awareness. Evaluation dimensions were risk management awareness, asset allocation diversification, financial goals and planning, and family debt management. Residents'financial investment preferences are relatively conservative and mainly focus on bank deposits. Overall, their financial planning awareness needs to be improved and they have not formed a disciplined financial planning habit. Although the general indebtedness is manageable, some households have problems with debt management. The Report also analyzes the current financial management behaviors of Chinese residents in terms of their investment return expectations, insurance allocation, investment period, blind follow-up, automatic investment plans, and the deployment of professional investment advisors. The research finds that residents'expectation of returns is relatively high, especially among the highly educated group. However, their financial returns are often lower than expected. Most residents believe that they are lacking in ability to select products, especially those having only a small amount of financial assets. At the same time, residents prefer life insurance products; people with different income sources and in different age groups also have significant differences in buying insurance. The report also shows that the long-term value investment habits of Chinese residents have not yet been developed, while people with confidence in their investment ability, high education, and high income are more willing to hold funds for the long term. The "buying winners and selling losers"phenomenon is common in residents'investment and financial management, while the proportion of investors who have the habit of automatic investment and choose to seek professional investment advisory services still needs improvement. Subsequently, participants discussed "How can financial institutions serve the investment and financial demands of residents"and expressed some opinions in the Report.

August 05, 2021

2021 China International Conference in Finance (CICF) Held

On July 6th - 9th, the 18th China International Conference in Finance (CICF) was successfully held. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CICF conference was held in a combined online and on-site format in Shanghai; it was the first among the four major global financial academic conferences to be held in this unique way. With a total of 1293 participants, 2065 submitted papers, 284 accepted papers, and 71 academic sessions, this year's CICF once again proved its growing international influence. Professor Jiang Wang (Chair Professor in Management at MIT Sloan School, Chair of Academic Council at SAIF) chaired the conference. Professor Zhiguo He (Fuji Bank and Heller Chair Professor in Finance at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business) chaired the paper review committee, and Professor Kewei Hou (Ric Dillon Chair Professor in Investment at Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business) co-chaired the Paper Review Committee. Professor Chun Chang (Huifu Chair Professor, Executive Dean at SAIF) attended the conference and delivered a speech. Professor Kenneth J. Singleton (Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus at Stanford Graduate School of Business) gave a keynote speech entitled "How Much 'Rationality'is there in the Bond-Market Risk Premiums?". The conference lasted for three days and featured 71 sessions, including 9 specialized ones with a focus on China. The 9 sessions presented and reviewed high-quality papers on China's financial markets and provided a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges of China's financial development. In this year's CICF, SAIF showed its outstanding academic influence with a large number of papers (by its own faculty and Ph.D. students) being admitted. In addition, multiple SAIF professors chaired different sessions or reviewed the papers at CICF. The conference also established the Best Paper Review Committee, which was co-chaired by Professor Zhiguo He and Professor Kewei Hou. Seven papers were awarded the CICF Best Paper Award, Xia Yihong Best Paper Award, and Xiyue Best Paper Award, respectively. The paper "The SOE Premium and Government Support in China's Credit Market"co-authored by Jun Pan (Chair Professor at SAIF) and Zhe Geng (Ph.D. student at SAIF) won the CICF Best Paper Award. A full list of the awards is as follows. CICF Best Paper Award: "The SOE Premium and Government Support in China's Credit Market"co-authored by Jun Pan and Zhe Geng. "Regulatory Costs of Being Public: Evidence from Bunching Estimation"co-authored by Michael Ewens, Kairong Xiao and Ting Xu. "Global Carbon Divestment and Firms'Actions"co-authored by Darwin Choi, Zhenyu Gao, Wenxi Jiang and Hulai Zhang. Xia Yihong Best Paper Award: "Information Cascades and Threshold Implementation: Theory and An Application to Crowdfunding" co-authored by Will Cong and Yizhou Xiao. "Ownership and Competition"co-authored by Alessio Piccolo and Jan Schneemeier. Xiyue Best Paper Award: "Mapping US-China Technology Decoupling, Innovation, and Firm Performance"co-authored by Pengfei Han, Wei Jiang and Danqing Mei. "Centralization or Decentralization? The Evolution of State-Ownership in China"co-authored by Franklin Allen, Junhui Cai, Xian Gu, Jun Qian, Linda Zhao and Wu Zhu.

August 04, 2021

2021 SAIF-CAFR Financial Research Summer Camp Held

On July 10th and 11th, the Fourth SAIF-CAFR Financial Research Summer Camp was successfully held in a hybrid online-offline format. It was jointly organized by the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) and the China Academy of Financial Research (CAFR) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Designed for young scholars, teachers, and Ph.D. students both in China and internationally, the SAIF-CAFR Financial Research Summer Camp introduces participants to the frontiers of academic research in finance. It provides them with cutting-edge research methodologies and fresh perspectives delivered by world-renowned professors. Its intent is to inspire their future academic careers and further enhance the overall quality of research and teaching of finance in China. The 2021 Summer Camp consists of onsite lectures given by three renowned finance professors. These include: Zhiguo He (Fuji Bank and Heller Professor of Finance and Jeuck Faculty Fellow, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago; Distinguished Visiting Professor at SAIF), Kewei Hou (Ric Dillon Endowed Professor in Investments, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University; Special-Term Professor of Finance at SAIF), and Jianfeng Yu (Jianshu Chair Professor of Finance at PBCSF, Director of the Research Center for Asset Management, PBCSF-NIFR, Tsinghua University). The summer camp has received a lot of academic attention, and financial scholars from both home and abroad have actively applied. Eventually, 65 offline participants and 239 online participants were admitted. Most were professors, Ph.D. students, and researchers from renowned universities in China and beyond. Overseas scholars and researchers from Europe, America, Oceania, and the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 17% of the total participants. Professor Hong Yan (Professor of Finance, Deputy Dean for faculty and research at SAIF) delivered a welcome speech. In his speech, Professor Yan stated that the camp was established to promote academic exchanges in China and the Asia-Pacific region, stimulate innovative ideas and enhance the research capacity of young scholars. He also praised the participants’ enthusiasm for financial academic research and introduced the teaching faculty of the camp. The 1½ day program started with a lecture delivered by Professor Zhiguo He on "Fintech (Theory) and China's Financial Market (Empirical)". The lecture went over the most recent work that Professor He had been working on over the past five years. He first focused on theoretical modeling of bitcoin mining pools and competition between fintech and the traditional banking industry under open banking, together with empirical research related to these theoretical models. Then he discussed developments in China's bond market, including its interaction with local government debt and shadow banking, and the economic issues of SOE reforms in detail. Professor Jianfeng Yu gave a lecture on "Behavioral Approach to Asset Pricing Puzzles". In his lecture, Professor Yu gave a summary of recent developments in behavioral asset pricing. He then discussed the latest developments on the applications of extrapolation, prospect theory, investor trading behavior, and applications of several under-explored behavioral biases (such as the priming effect). Lastly, he investigated the role of mispricing in several prominent factor models. The theme of the lecture given by Professor Kewei Hou was "Factor Pricing and Anomalies: Latest Developments". The lecture was centered around a set of academic papers. It covered topics such as: the robustness of the anomaly literature, the latest factor models, stress-testing factor models with robust anomalies, and the relation between security analysis and factor models. The lecture helped participants to acquaint themselves with ongoing research in related fields. It also equipped them with a solid understanding of the quantitative tools in these fields in order to conduct related research. During the camp, the participants had thorough discussions with the professors and expressed their expectations for future Financial Research Summer Camp programs.

August 02, 2021

2021 SAIF Faculty Retreat Held

The 2021 SAIF Faculty Retreat was successfully held in Nantong, Jiangsu Province from June 28th to the 30th. The retreat was conducted both onsite and virtually, with a total of nearly 60 participants, including faculty, management, and department chiefs. The retreat focused on SAIF's development over the past year and shed light on such topics as talent training and think tank construction. With the strengths of faculty governance and active inter-departmental cooperation, the annual retreat effectively promotes SAIF's faculty development, discipline construction, and educational program innovation. This year's retreat was presided over by Professor Hong Yan (Deputy Dean for faculty and research at SAIF). Professor Chun Chang (Executive Dean at SAIF) introduced the key tasks including think tank construction and educational programs development related to SAIF’s Phase III strategic development. SAIF's recent achievements, including its extended AACSB accreditation and its discipline ranking, were also mentioned. Hui Wang, Mayor of Nantong, also attended and addressed the meeting. “Nantong city and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) have had a close relationship since over a century ago," Mayor Wang said, "and it has been deepened recently by the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement between the two parties." He also introduced the current development of Nantong's economy and hoped to develop deeper collaboration with SAIF in the future. In the educational programs and research sessions, program directors from MF, MBA, and EED briefed the progress of their respective programs, analyzed the challenges they faced, and proposed innovative measures for future development. Professor Feng Li, Associate Director of CAFR, systematically introduced the school's think tank development and the training programs delivered by CAFR and SAIFR. On June 29th, the award ceremony for the "SAIF Outstanding Teaching Award"was also held during the retreat. Professor Eric Chang was awarded the 5th SAIF Outstanding Teaching Award. This award is sponsored by the "Weiye Teacher Scholarship"founded by Weiming Wang (a SAIF alumnus), to honor SAIF faculty for their outstanding contributions to teaching. On June 30th, the inauguration ceremony of the SAIF Qinglan Fund was held. The SAIF Qinglan Fund, an essential part of the SAIF faculty support fund system, recruits and cultivates high-level academic talent and provides targeted support to junior faculty in academic research. Professor Guangshao Tu (Executive Director of the SAIF Board), as one of the fund launchers, emphasized that the Qinglan Fund was established to promote young scholars to direct their efforts in teaching and research toward advancing SAIF’s development. Professor Chun Chang introduced the fund’s operation mode and expressed his gratitude to the faculty and alumni for their support. He also stated that as a research-oriented business school, SAIF would strive to further enhance its finance discipline and research development efforts. After a comprehensive discussion, Professor Guangshao Tu and Professor Jiang Wang (Chair of Academic Council) gave their concluding remarks. Professor Tu analyzed the demands and strategic layout of SAIF's educational programs, disciplines, and market from different perspectives, including: the adaptation to social development, the relationship between finance and the real economy, and regional development. Professor Wang said that an overall strategy and a long-term perspective are indispensable in building a world-class finance school; therefore, SAIF should strive for comprehensive development in teaching, academic research, policy, and applied research in the future. He also stressed that SAIF must expand its faculty team, strengthen its research force, and establish effective mechanisms to provide strong support for continuous research output.