Hong Kong, 17 October 2020 - The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) again supported human capital development in Hong Kong by holding its first virtual Career Day ever today. The event was concluded with a strong turnout of over 350 and with speakers providing undergraduate and postgraduate participants with multiple dimensions to look into their job prospects in the financial services industry amid uncertainty over the pandemic.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the FSDC, Mr Laurence Li SC, encouraged students to try out unexpected jobs and unexpected working environment, saying that while the economic outlook looks to be an overhanging cloud, people need to be additionally equipped for where they should pivot to. He also reminded students that “in this era, when you get to spend at least some part of your working hours at home, how you learn and how to make an impression could become a challenge for new joiners.”

FSDC has invited Chairman of Eastspring Investments, Mr Don Kanak, to deliver the keynote address. Mr Kanak shared his journey in the financial industry, the challenges that he tackled, and the valuable lessons that he learnt.

When making his closing remarks, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said, “Talent is one of the most important elements for developing Hong Kong’s financial services sector, since our industry is all about making use of talent to deliver high quality and value-added services. The industry itself is also fast-changing, driven by various economic, social and technological factors. The Career Day organized by FSDC offers students with insights from senior leaders in the industry, as well as a CV clinic to get them prepared for job seeking. The event is both insightful and practical and I hope participating students will one day join our talent pool in financial services for a promising career.”

The combination of remote and on-site participation proves equally effective for Career Day which was in its seventh consecutive year. The hybrid virtual model promises no less access to the programme, same level of interaction, increased CV Clinic quota and greater individual flexibility.

This year, Career Day engaged attendees with live interactive polling which was related to the current topics covered by two panel discussions. In the first one panel discussion entitled “Employment Trend Under Uncertain Outlook”, speakers shared the latest employment trends in various financial sectors namely FinTech, asset and wealth management, traditional banks with virtual businesses and insurance at a time when the overall economy was being hit by the pandemic and other uncertainties.

We also had speakers with listed company, exchange, real estate investment trust and government backgrounds on the second panel “Unlock Career Opportunities in Sustainable Finance”, discussing the wide application of sustainable finance in careers within the industry – ranging from ESG investment, stewardship, to disclosure perspectives, and what it takes for a candidate to become more competitive in the sustainable finance stream.

Further, technology enabled human resources professionals to sustain the provision of one-on-one advisory services to students on job search when physical contact was not feasible. Representatives from traditional, virtual and investment banking, asset management, private equity, insurance, FinTech, accounting and market settlement sectors, as well as recruitment consultants offered tips on how to
improve CV drafting and interview techniques at scheduled sessions of the CV Clinic.

Speakers of Panel 1discussion are Deputy Executive Director & Head of Public Policy Institute at Our Hong Kong Foundation, Mr Stephen Wong; Deputy Chief Executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Mrs Ann Kung; Vice President of Tencent Holdings Limited and Chairman of Fusion Bank Limited, Mr Jim Lai; Head and Chief Executive, UBS Hong Kong Branch and Co-Head Wealth Management Asia Pacific, UBS Global Wealth Management, Ms Amy Lo, and Group Executive, Group Chief Strategy & Corporate Development Officer of AIA Group Limited, Mr Mark Saunders. Speakers of Panel 2 discussion are Managing Director of Worldwide Consulting Group Company Limited, Mr Armstrong Lee; Head of Listing of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Ms Bonnie Chan; Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan; Director of CLP Research Institute, Dr Jeanne Ng, and Chief Executive Officer of Champion REIT, Ms Ada Wong.

Institutions that set up a virtual booth at the CV Clinic are Asia Insurance Company Limited, Avo Insurance, Euroclear Bank, Ernst & Young, Global Sage, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited, J.P. Morgan, KPMG, Odgers Berndtson, Standard Chartered Bank, The Bank of East Asia, Limited and WeLab.