News

October 14, 2015

CFA Program Partner

CFA Institute, an organization whose members are global investment professionals, is responsible for holding the examination “Chartered Financial Analyst” and “Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement” around the world, and publishes research result, carry out career development project and formulate the voluntary report standard for profession and investment performance based on ethics. CFA institute has about more than 100,000 members in 133 countries and regions as well as 136 member associations in 57 countries and regions.CFA courses and examinations held by CFA institute is considered as the strictest examinations in global investment profession, formulating the global standard in investment knowledge, professional standard and code of ethics. CFA certificate holders can show their customers, employers and colleagues that they have studied a set of rigorous professional courses with the knowledge covering wide investment field, and commit to abide by the highest code of professional ethics. Thus, CFA is considered as the “Golden Standard” in the investment industry. The investors also hope to find those professionals with CFA certificates, for this qualification is considered as the commitment with professional skills in the field of investment.As a CFA program partner, the curricula of SAIF MF is highly recognized by CFA. CFA institute provides several scholarships and other assistance in study to SAIF MF every year. CFA China also keeps good cooperation with SAIF MF program and we have held several large competitions across the whole country together.

September 23, 2015

Reinforcing Research with a Focus on the Chinese Financial Markets

Ph.D. Finance, University of California, Berkeley, 1999 Ph.D. Applied Physics, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 1991 M.S. Physics, Michigan State University, 1988 B.S. Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, 1985

September 23, 2015

Contributing to the Success in Overseas Mergers and Acquisitions by Chinese Ente ...

Ph.D. Finance, University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business in 2008 M.S. Mechanical Engineering Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 2003 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, China in 1998

September 22, 2015

Being a Leader in Chinese Financial Research and Contributing to the Economic Gr ...

Ph.D. Economics, University of Toronto, Canada, 1992 M.A.. Economics, University of Toronto, Canada, 1988 M.S. Operations Research, Chinese Academic of Sciences, 1982 B.S. Computer Science, Capital University of Economics and Business, 1982

September 14, 2015

How to Make a Profound Impression to the Employers in Interview?

Title:How to Make a Profound Impression to the Employers in Interview?Time:Thu, 2014-09-11 07:31 - 07:31On April 10, 2014, the lecture on job hunting was carried out at the classroom of SAIF MF program, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Concerning various problems the students meet in the interview for job hunting, Norman, the employment lecturer, shared with students about successful and efficient interview experience and skills through explanation and examples.Norman Yan, the lecturer, has worked in the financial industry in China, Asia and North America for over twenty years and had remarkable accomplishments. Now, he serves as the global CEO and director of Xinhua Index in FTSE (Financial Times and London Stock Exchange).Norman provided the employment guidance to the students from the following aspects:What kind of people does the employer want? Norman summarized the general thought of employers from his own interview experience: “Employers want to know how you think.”In the interview, employers will ask various strange questions. Tesla Motors once asked such a question: “You are on a raft which is in a tank filled with water. Will the water level in the tank rise or decline when you anchor out of the raft?” Do not just answer rise or decline. Actually, there is no standard answer for such question. The rising and declining of water level depends on many factors. For example, is the anchor in or outside the tank? Will the raft flow on the water surface or sink underwater? All these will affect the final results. In fact, employers don’t need you to give an answer like the teaching book.What they expect is the creative thought you have showed in such process and your personality traits.Therefore, to make a profound impression to the employer in the interview, you shall think what he wants, and what aspects he wants to know from you in his view at first. In this way, you can half the work with double results.For finding a job, you can win only after knowing yourself and your opponent. Therefore, of course knowing the employer is important, and knowing yourself is also necessary. Each one should have a clear understanding about himself. Such understanding is reflected in three aspects:ability, enthusiasm and your value to the employer.First of all, starting from the view of ability, you should have the needed hard power suitable to the industry of the employer, including the professional skills and special occupational skills. Hard skills are the threshold of ability. Meanwhile, you should also have your own soft power which includes richer content and is a necessary skill for getting along with people, such as communication ability. The active and effective communications are considered as the key to win the employer’s trust. At last, an important factor of judgment ability is acknowledgement and judgment. To make the most reasonable decision and judgment when many factors are not assured is also just the quintessence of case analysis for anchoring result of Tesla Motors.On the basis that knowing your own ability, you shall know your inner heart. What’s your interest and enthusiasm? Only a job bringing you joy and income may be permanent and grants you with better development opportunity. So, the best way to ask your inner heart is “supposed you were given with one million yuan, what would you do”. The answer is in your heart. After you know your ability and interest, you shall think what value you can create for others, think what you can use your own advantages to do for others and how to overcome your own shortcomings to prove your own value and practice your own value. All in all, the other side of success is sufficient preparation and timely opportunity, and opportunities usually are left to the ones with preparation.After the lecture is finished, the students still asked questions actively and conducted the deep exchange with the lecturer concerning the problems which may be met in many job hunting cases, and Norman also made the explanation patiently. The students all felt they could not only learn the professional knowledge of finance, but also improve the soft skills at the classroom of SAIF MF. All these make people enjoy the lifetime benefits.

September 14, 2015

Lecture of SAIF MF - Communication Skills in Interview

Title:Lecture of SAIF MF - Communication Skills in InterviewTime:Thu, 2014-09-11 07:36 - 07:36On May 15, 2014, a lecture on communication skills and interview skills was carried out at the classroom of MF program, SAIF, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The career lecturer Mr. Norman shared with the students on how to position yourself correctly in job hunting, how to effectively communicate with interviewers and display yourself in the interviews through vivid explanation.Norman Yan, the lecturer, has worked in the financial industry in China, Asia and North America for over twenty years and had remarkable accomplishments. Now, he serves as the global CEO and director of Xinhua Index in FTSE (Financial Times and London Stock Exchange).In the lecture, Mr. Norman explained to us that it’s very important to clearly position yourself in the job hunting process. Before the interview, the interviewees shall try to collect the information related to the position, and know what kind of ability and knowledge are needed for such position, what your advantage and shortcoming are. In addition, in the interview process, the interviewee shall express his own understanding for the position to the interviewer. Other than boast, you shall express yourself comprehensively. The interviewer hopes interviewees to act appropriately to the situation. So you shall talk about what your core competitiveness for this position.To let students better understand, Mr. Norman grouped the students on site and mutually discussed a common interview problem: Please describe an achievement you are proud of. Enlightened by him, the students on site carried out the heated discussion. He also invited a student to share his achievement with the audience, and analyzed how the student should combine the achievement and interviewed position starting from the position pursued by this student. The discussions and comments bring profound inspiration to students.In the end, Mr. Norman invited students to participate in some interesting mini-games, making a profound impression to the students. Through the screen, he showed many pictures to students and asked the students to make the corresponding description. The students found what they saw was often different from the most direct actions and reality, and this also indicates that people’s thoughts are limited, especially in facing the complicated problems, so they can’t make the correct judgment. This also enlightens us that the simple principle shall be followed in communication with people as far as possible. The complicated problem is expressed simply, so that it can avoid misunderstanding, improving the communication efficiency.Through lots of experience and skills shared by Mr. Norman with students, students had known how to better express and prove themselves in interview, to better give play to the knowledge and ability accumulated on ordinary days and to be recognized by the employer accordingly to pursue their own ideal careers.

August 25, 2015

Coffee Hour with Professors Tan Wang and Qianqian Du

During the monthly Coffee Hour on May 24th, 2015, Vice Dean of SAIF and Professor of Finance Tan Wang and Professor Qianqian Du shared with students their experiences and ideas in the industry.Professor Tan Wang once worked as a Guest Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. From 2003 to 2005, he was a visiting scholar for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the International Monetary Fund. Professor Qianqian Du obtained a Ph.D. degree in Strategy and Business Economics from the University of British Columbia School of Business. Her major fields of study include private equity, stock analysis, social networking and corporate governance.During the coffee hour, Professor Tan Wang discussed the importance of studying hard during the school years. He agreed that participating in internships under the current severe employment situation is beneficial for short-term goals, but the postgraduate stage is the only period for "getting down to academic pursuits”. He encouraged the students to take advantage of this stage to make preparations for long-term targets, reserve knowledge and develop dialectical thinking skills. Drawing on his experience in Tai Chi, Professor Tan Wang also interpreted the true meaning of life: “There is a knack, but the application of that knack depends on continuous accumulation day after day.”Professor Qianqian Du shared her experiences working in PE in the U.S. and put forward some ideas about investing in the Hong Kong Stock Market. In 2004, she wrote a paper concerning the development prospects of PE/VC in China that emphasized her strict requirements for the importance of asset allocation and industry insight. At that time, PE/VC was just getting started in China. Now, there are countless PE/VC firms in the country, but investment ability and negotiation ability remain uneven.After 80 minutes of communication, the students gained a higher-level understanding of the learning tasks and goals in the postgraduate stage and a more profound understanding of the modes and requirements of the PE/VC industry.

August 25, 2015

ELSA Social Responsibility Series: Financial Books and Movies

On June 3rd, 2015, Mr. Alan Qiu shared interesting financial books and movies with the MF students. In the coming summer, most of the MF students will get an internship job. It’s great for them to read these books and watch these movies in their spare time.Alan recommended many good books designed for an advancement of business knowledge. The first one was Business Adventure which Buffett recommended to Bill Gates, and that Gates has called the most valuable commercial book on many occasions. He also said that The Ascent of Money by Harvard University Economist Nail Ferguson is the first choice for students who want to consolidate their foundation in the economy. It is worth mentioning that Alan recommended many works by Michael Lewis including Liar’s Poker and The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (the best book about the 2008 financial crisis). One of the prominent features of Michael Lewis’s works is his humor; his books describe numerous interesting ordinary people and everyday stories.As to movies, Alan recommended Boiler Room, Too Big to Fail and Wall Street (the original 1987 movie). These movies have tight and dense plots, truly reflecting the changeable life on Wall Street.As Einstein once said, “The difference between people lies not in their work time but in their spare time.” Motivated people try to improve themselves in their spare time, from small increments to abundance, thus they can run far ahead of those people who waste time in their career life. SAIF students are very busy in their study and work time, but if they can use their valuable spare time to read the books and watch the movies recommended by Alan instead of watching soap operas or playing computer games, they can learn something useful as they relax. The more knowledge and skills we acquire in normal times, the more we can contribute towards society in the future.In another aspect, most of the books and movies that Alan recommended aim at revealing the nature of finance and its huge influence on society and economy. Through reading these books and watching these movies, students can get an insight into the development of finance, the famous financial bubbles in human history and some moral dilemmas of financial regulation in the world today.Through vivid examples in commercial books and movies, students can attain a better understanding of the ability of finance to not only create fortune but also destroy it, and how the ethics and attainments of finance workers can directly impact the stability and prosperity of a nation. It’s more important to cultivate social responsibility based on professional ethics than to teach financial knowledge.

August 25, 2015

The Number of China CFA Candidates Explodes - What Happened?

Whether the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam held on June 6, 2015 was difficult or not, if you took it in Asia, you're already in the majority. According to the latest data from the CFA Institute, the Asia-Pacific region is keeping hold of its world-leading position in number of examinees. Furthermore, China accounts for the largest percentage: 29,689 Chinese students registered for the exam last Saturday with a year-on-year growth rate of 16%. In fact, this number ranks second in the world after the US. We interviewed Mr. Dawei Xie, Executive Director and General Secretary of the CFA Society Beijing, about his views on the CFA’s exploding popularity in China.Dawei Xie, CFAExecutive Director and General Secretary of the CFA Society BeijingQ: Why has the CFA exam become so hot in China?A: Actually its increase didn't just start one or two years ago. Over the past decade, the number of CFA candidates has maintained a high growth rate, which directly relates to the fast-developing domestic financial industry. As we know, what the CFA course teaches is not only investment-related professional skills, but also a kind of systematic and complete learning which is irreplaceable both at home and abroad. Currently, the domestic financial industry needs more and more professionals, and what these professionals need is systematic, professional and authoritative training. CFA meets this demand. So I think it’s very natural.Q: Many Chinese students don’t know how to choose between the certificates of CFA, MBA or Master of Finance. Do you have any suggestions?A: I think these three qualifications are quite different. Master of Finance and MBA are both degrees, while CFA is essentially a kind of personal learning outside school with a flexible learning schedule. It is suitable for some in-service workers, especially young people who have worked for two or three years and have plenty of time to take the course.Q: Do most Chinese candidates only choose the CFA Level I exam rather than Level II or III? If so, why?A: I don’t think so. People probably have such misconception because there are relatively few candidates registering for Level II. On general the number of people registering for Level II is small, since it is impossible for everyone to pass Level I and get qualified for Level II. This is an important reason. This phenomenon doesn't just exist in China.Q: What is the pass rate for CFA Level III candidates in China? And the dropout rate?A: In my impression, the CFA Institute can provide the pass rate data of all CFA candidates in the world, but it isn't specific to any particular country. As far as I know, the pass rate of Chinese candidates has no obvious difference from those of other regions in the world. It depends on the time and effort they put into their studies, not the country or region in which they live, and so does the dropout rate. When taking the Level I exam, many candidates could be studying for a master’s degree or only recently graduated, and they could be very busy or have other choices for their personal career development when they are able to register for Level II or Level III, and then it's natural to quit the exam. However, we've seen some impressive examples of people already in high positions in the industry completing the Level III exam. These are the people we admire.Q: Between international banks and local securities dealers, which one values this qualification more in China? Which one employs more CFA holders?A: I don’t think we can simply compare the two. Five or six years or even ten years ago, domestic institutes didn’t know much about CFA, so international banks valued it more. But in recent years, we've seen that domestic financial institutes - not just large banks and securities dealers but also many small, new foundations - have quickly accepted and valued CFA. These new foundations with few employees and on small scales give priority to CFA holders in recruiting staff. In my view, there's no great difference in the degree of recognition between these two kinds of institutions.Q: If someone really wants to obtain good professional development, is it necessary to pass all the three levels of CFA?A: I think it depends on one’s career development direction and decisions. Not everyone who passed all three levels has the same career development. As you know, from Level I to Level III, the CFA exams don't test you three times in the same aspect while enhancing the difficulty. On the contrary, each level covers knowledge and skills in different aspects, and matches a financial worker’s professional experience. For example, a fresh college graduate have to start as an analyst or assistant and do a lot of basic work, so he needs to know the contents of Level I; but if your work is related to investments and decision-making, you might need the knowledge and skills of Level III. Certainly, if you really want to work in a financial institution and enter a department or position related to investment management, I think it’s necessary to pass all three levels.Q: What’s the biggest reason for the failure of Chinese candidates to pass Level I? Can you offer them some good advice?A: I took the CFA exam, so I can tell you my personal experience. I think the biggest reason is lack of time and preparation. After all, it's quite difficult for those who have already been employed to engage in full time systematic learning for several months. Some institutions might support their employees to take this exam and offer them good conditions, but most people aren't so fortunate and they don’t have the time to read because of their busy work schedule. Actually, students have the same problem. Although they generally have more time, they are not sufficiently purposeful and may take too many exams to especially concentrate on CFA. In general, I think CFA is characterized by giving no chance to opportunists. The only possible way to pass the exam is by spending enough time to learn it systematically. I think that's the biggest problem.Q: Is there any situation in which you would advise a Chinese candidate against taking the CFA exam?A: Yes. If a student doesn't have a clear orientation of career development, I think it’s better to think twice. Of course, I won’t tell them straight out, “Don’t take the exam." I just think you need to decide what you really want. I heard that some undergraduates take as many qualification exams as possible because they have spare time from school. They think that more certificates means more choices for employment. In my opinion, certificates might not give them good choices if they don’t have a clear plan for the future. What if a student goes to an IT company after graduation? Then the CFA is useless to them.

August 25, 2015

With Dreams and Noble Sentiments - Graduate Representative of SAIF MF 2015 Nan D ...

Nan Du, an SAIF MF graduate about to step into the field of private equity investment, is like a ray of colorful sunshine around you. His versatility and positive energy demonstrates that the so-called 'rational financial man' can be warm, endearing and energetic.Brief Introduction of Nan DuUndergraduate: Mathematical PhysicsMaster's: SAIF MFThe next step: Private equity fundI was attracted to SAIF by its humanistic atmosphereThe holder of an undergraduate degree in Mathematical Physics, Nan Du learned from Michael Powers when he was younger. From then on, he started to study economics and finance; his graduation thesisThe Rules of Testing the Square Root of Reinsurancewas published in the magazineAsia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance.Nan Du published a thesis when he was an undergraduate. He attributes this to his clear target and step by step consideration, which shows his rationality and calmness as a student majoring in science.Because of his clear target and rational judgment, Nan Du resolutely chose SAIF when facing a postgraduate recommendation program. “Since I wanted to learn finance, I wanted to go to the best place for financial development," he said. "The best place for financial development is Shanghai and the best institute for MF is SAIF. In fact, another important point to mention is SAIF's humanistic atmosphere, which especially attracted me and accorded with my dreams.”“My memories of the SAIF MF Summer Camp are still fresh. It isn't a formal interview in which you're enrolled when your scores and resume have been examined. Rather, it pays great attention to our comprehensive abilities, concerns, demands, attitudes and emotions. In the daytime, there are rich lectures and group activities such as visiting the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Securities Museum; in the evening, there are literature and art exchange activities, etc. Although the summer camp only lasted for four days, the design of showing both modern finance and human history and the way the teachers had of observing and assessing the students’ abilities through the activities themselves made me feel natural and comfortable.”In his two years in the SAIF MF Program, Nan Du deeply felt the considerate care that is close to our students’ needs. Several days after admission, the CDC (Career Development Center) held a series of lectures on career development for first-year graduate students. After that, the mentors conducted an individual interview with every student to get to know their personality traits, hobbies, future goals and so on. They used the students’ admission resumes to instruct them on how to modify them, what they lack, what adjustments are needed to tailor them to specific industries, which steps need to be prepared and what is most urgently required at present. While helping the students improve their strengths, the mentors would also teach them how to highlight their own advantages so as to attract employers.“The one-to-one instruction helps us to further clarify our career development goals and improve our employment success rate," he said. "As far as I know, among comparable institutes, SAIF is the only one capable of providing such considerate assistance and support.”Nan Du (first on the left) with his classmates, participating in the SAIF MIM in Hong Kong earlier this yearCarrying a public welfare program has always been my dreamBorn in an intellectual family, Nan Du has visited poverty-stricken areas and war-torn countries many times, in which he was deeply impressed by what he saw and heard. Influenced by his parents and the surrounding environment, he has been interested in social problems since he was young, always thinking about what he can do for society to make his life richer with greater value and meaning.He was active in organizing and taking part in public welfare programs held by the practice team of the Department of Mathematics when he was an undergraduate. After joining SAIF, he further cultivated and strengthened his awareness of social responsibility by studying the program's Extended Learning and Student Activities (ELSA) and SAIF LIVE.“The courses and activities developed by SAIF MF taught us lot, including how to combine financial knowledge and skills with practical business. This contributed to our improved understanding of public benefit and how to develop it more effectively.”Aside from taking internship at the Transit Labs, a social enterprise investment company established by his career mentor Ben Rudick, and taking part in early education programs for children and the microcredit schemes for rural workers, Nan Du also serves as a volunteer in such organizations as the Beijing Sun Village Children's Education & Consultancy Center and the Housing Base for Homeless Animals. To commend his contributions to social responsibility, SAIF MF awarded Nan Du the Leadership of Social Responsibility scholarship in 2014.This year, Nan Du and four other MF students formed the teleStory Team to establish a platform called teleStory that delivers audiobooks daily to children in poverty-stricken areas through cloud communication technology. It records fairy tale audiobooks in many different languages in the cloud, then uses the telephone to remind the children to read and listen to the fairy tales, effectively solving the problems of parents who cannot enjoy the parent-child reading time together due to illiteracy or absence. This program has been carried out in experimental units in China and will be generalized to other countries including India.The teleStory program stood out in the 2015 APAC Hult Prize Finals for its prominent creativity and feasibility, and successfully defeated 37 competitors from the University of Cambridge, the University of Pennsylvania and other famous universities to win the first prize. Next, the team will take part in the World Finals to be held at the New York Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in this September, where they will to compete for the $1 million prize for practical originality in social enterprises.“Actually, winning the prize is not our greatest concern," Nan Du said. "Of course, the prize will give us abundant funds with which to implement the program even better. But if we fail to win the prize, we'll carry on. For a public welfare program to endure, it must have the function of self-development and the ability to circulate constantly.”According to the plan, they will increase the number of users from 10,000 to 1,000,000 within 5 years in order to benefit a greater number of children in a wider range of areas. For that purpose, Nan Du and his partners have positively developed external public relations and publicity to attract support from far-sighted members of society. After being reported widely on social and public media, many warmhearted enterprises that value the promotion of public good came to their aid. Shanghai Ying Hua Fund provided RMB 300,000 as the start-up capital in the form of sponsorship and stock rights, and China Huamao Investment Co. Ltd. supplied 200 telephones for poor families that have no phones in their homes.At the beginning of June, the teleStory team went to Dawu County, a poor county in Xiaogan, Hubei, to officially carry out the testing program. They chose more than 20 families as the first batch and plan to carry out the program in villages, towns and mountainous areas after one month of optimization and adjustment. In July and August, they will go to Boston, America to take part in the seven-week 'accelerator' for entrepreneurial firms offered by the Hult Prize Committee, and then they will go to India to carry out program tests. In September, they will fight for the global first place in the 2015 Hult Prize …Facing a very tight calendar, Nan Du admitted that he can't always get everything done: “Although I've finished my schoolwork and papers, I have to work in my internship unit every day and be responsible for the management and operation of teleStory. A series of tasks including company registry, contacting sponsors and communicating with local education bureau makes me feel complex.” He hopes to involve more volunteers so as to boost the program together.At present, Nan Du is working as an intern at a foreign venture capital & private equity company in a primary market. Upon graduation, he will become a member of the company. “I've never thought about going to another company since I came here in 2014," he said, "because I'm certain that I want a job that suits my personality, is meaningful and produces value for society.”Nan Du with the teleStory Team that won the 2015 APAC Hult PrizeNan Du believes that enough money is enough, and any more is just a waste. He also believes that the most important thing in life is what we should and can do for society:“The private equity company I’m working for now also supports practical industry and helps start-ups through capital investment, which makes me feel very happy and meaningful," he said. "Many years in the future, maybe I will also engage in practical industry and run a company jointly established with a group of people who have warm and thoughtful hearts and want to use their power to contribute to the country and society.”Nan Du’s daily life is also interesting and colorful. He loves the arts and has performed in many cross talks and dramas; he is good at reciting and hosting, which has won him many awards; he also enjoys playing table tennis, playing football, running marathons and much more…Nan Du is painting the beautiful picture of his life with vibrant colours, and warming and inspiring the people around him.Nan Du (middle) takes part in a marathon with his classmatesFarewell words as a graduate“Open your eyes and don't be blinded by the things before you or let them make you give up your principles and dreams. When you plan your life goals, you should look longer and further and combine your plans with your interests and personality. Don't just follow others or exert yourself to the utmost. What is right for you is the best.” - Nan DuAbout SAIF MFThe Master of Finance (MF) program has been the flagship program at SAIF since it first matriculated students in the fall of 2009. Our mission is to provide the best and brightest young individuals with the academic knowledge and professional skills needed to succeed in the global finance industry.To achieve this mission, we provide students with a curriculum rooted in modern financial theory, that delivers sophisticated quantitative and analytical tools and imparts state-of-the-art practical knowledge and skills to meet the rigors of today’s finance profession. Furthermore, the MF program is committed to fostering exceptional leadership and communication skills, the highest levels of professionalism, and an exemplary sense of social responsibility.Official WeChat ID of SAIF MF: SAIF-MF