News

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.).

August 12, 2022

2022 Summer Institute of Finance (SIF) Held

On July 11th – 12th, 2022, the 12th Summer Institute of Finance (SIF) was successfully held. SIF 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 online. During the conference, more than 70 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 Nengjiu Ju (Professor of Finance, Academic Director of the Ph.D. Program at SAIF) was Chairman of the Paper Review Committee. Other SIF participants included: Professor Yurong Hong (Assistant Professor of Finance at SAIF), Professor Jun Li (Assistant Professor of Finance at SAIF), Professor Jun Pan (SAIF Chair Professor), Professor Hui Chen (Special-Term Professor of Finance at SAIF, Nomura Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management), Professor Kewei Hou (Special-Term Professor at SAIF, Ric Dillon Chair Professor in Investment at Ohio State University), Professor Liyan Yang (Visiting Research Professor of SAIF, Peter L. Mitchelson/SIT Investment Chair Professor at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto), and Professor Huibing Zhang (Special-Term Professor at SAIF, Professor of Finance, University of Texas). This year's SIF received a large number of submissions, with a total of 635 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: “Corporate Decision Making under Constraints”, “Pricing Polar Assets on the Risk Spectrum”, “Peer Effects: Conflicting vs Complementing”, “Anomalous Asset Pricing”, “Individual Decision Making under Fintech Adoptions”, and “Debt Financing Structure: Lenders vs Instruments”. 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. Their research issues included: “The Shadow Cost of Collateral”; “How Does Declining Worker Power Affect Investment Sensitivity to Minimum Wage?”; “Value Premium, Network Adoption, and Factor Pricing of Crypto Assets”; “The Convenience Yield, Inflation Expectations, and Public Debt Growth”; “Social Ties and Peer Effects in Crowdfunding Markets”; “Conflicts in Private Family Firms”; “Closing Pressure, Predatory Trading, and the Negative Oil Price”; “Extrapolation and Risk-Return Trade-offs”; “Mind the App: Mobile Access to Financial Information and Consumer Behavior”; “FinTech Adoption and Household Risk-Taking”; “The Cost of Intermediary Market Power for Distressed Borrowers”; and “Monetary Policy, Debt Structure and Credit Reallocation”. At the conference, each paper was reviewed by an individual scholar. Each 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 inspiring and beneficial for scholars hoping to optimize their current research.

July 12, 2022

2022 China International Conference in Finance (CICF) Held

On July 6th – 8th, the 19th China International Conference in Finance (CICF) was successfully held. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CICF conference was held online. According to statistics, this year's number of registered attendees reached a record high of 1,313. CICF was founded in 2002 by the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This year's CICF was hosted by SAIF. Professor Jiang Wang (Chair Professor in Management at MIT Sloan School, Senior Advisory Visiting Professor, 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 Shijun Cheng (Executive Dean, Professor of Accounting at SAIF) attended the conference and delivered a speech. ProfessorLars Peter Hansengave a keynote speech entitled "How Should Climate Change Uncertainty Impact Social Valuation". He is the David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and is the winner of the 2013 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. This year, 1,644 valid submitted papers were received from 2,660 participants, and a total of 280 papers were selected. The authors of the selected papers are mostly professors and PhD students from major business schools around the world. Researchers from various financial institutions and regulatory authorities were also included. The conference lasted for three days and featured 70 sessions, during which 37 of the 280 papers presented and reviewed focused on China's financial markets. They 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. Reviewed by the Best Paper Review Committee, seven papers were awarded the CICF Best Paper Award, Xia Yihong Best Paper Award, and Xiyue Best Paper Award (respectively). A full list of the awards is as follows. CICF Best Paper Award: “Creating Controversy in Proxy Voting Advice”co-authored by Andrey Malenko, Nadya Malenko, and Chester Spatt “Hot Off the Press: News-implied Sovereign Default Risk” co-authored by Chukwuma Dim, Kevin Koerner, Marcin Wolski, and Sanne Zwart “Sustainability or Performance? Ratings and Fund Managers’ Incentives” co-authored by Nickolay Gantchev, Mariassunta Giannetti, and Rachel Li Xia Yihong Best Paper Award: “Debt Maturity Management” co-authored by Yunzhi Hu, Felipe Varas, and Chao Ying “Do Preemptive Rights Effectively Protect Minority Shareholders? Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms” authored by Zhongzhi Song Xiyue Best Paper Award: “Extrapolative Market Participation” co-authored by Wanbin Pan, Zhiwei Su, Huijun Wang, and Jianfeng Yu “Do Mutual Funds Walk the Talk? A Textual Analysis of Risk Disclosure by Mutual Funds” co-authored by Jinfei Sheng, Nan Xu, Xian Gu, and Lu Zheng

July 08, 2022

2022 SAIF-CAFR Financial Research Summer Camp Held Online

On July 9th to 10th, 2022, the Fifth SAIF-CAFR Financial Research Summer Camp was held online by SAIF and CAFR. Designed for emerging scholars in China and beyond, 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, intending to inspire their future academic careers. As a further consequence, the overall quality of research and teaching in finance in China is enhanced as well. This year's Summer Camp consisted of lectures given by three renowned finance scholars. Listed in first name alphabetical order, they are: Professor Gordon Phillips (Laurence F. Whittemore Professor of Business Administration, Tuck School of Business), Professor Mariassunta Giannetti (Professor of Finance, Stockholm School of Economics), Professor Xiaoyun Yu (Professor of Finance at SAIF). This year's Summer camp program has received a lot of attention, with a total of over 200 applicants, including professors, PhD students and researchers from both domestic and international universities. Nearly 30% of the applicants were from the Asia Pacific, Europe, America and Oceania regions outside of China, which was an increase of 10% compared to last year. In the beginning, Professor Hong Yan (Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research, Director of China Hedge Fund Research Center, Academic Director of the Global Executive Scholars Program [GES], Professor of Finance at SAIF) gave a welcome speech. He pointed out that the SAIF-CAFR Financial Research Summer Camp improves the academic ability and research quality of participants, and promotes financial pedagogy in China. Professor Gordon Phillips's lecture focused on "Computational Linguistics, Big Data and Finance". It introduced the growing use of computational linguistics to analyze big data and text, as applied to both corporate finance and asset pricing. Professor Mariassunta Giannetti gave a lecture on "Trade Credit and Supply Chains". She reviewed empirical and theoretical work on trade credit, how trade credit contributes to the transmission of monetary policy, and the role of trade credit in fostering the stability of supply chains. She also introduced a new measure for supply chain risk and its effects on the composition of supply chains and industrial structure. Professor Xiaoyun Yu gave a lecture on "Corporate Governance and Financial Misconduct". The lecture provided a brief introduction to recent progress on corporate governance, with an emphasis on securities fraud. She also went over some theoretical models and reviewed empirical evidence on: (1) determinants and detection of financial misconduct, (2) social and financial market consequences, and (3) corporate governance issues related to fraud and beyond.

July 04, 2022

Forum Held on “Construction of Rule of Law in Cross-Border Asset Management Ec ...

On May 31, 2022, a forum on "The Construction of Rule of Law in Cross-border Asset Management Ecosystem" was held. The forum was co-organized by SAIF, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Arbitration Institute, Lingang Special Area Innovation and Financial Service Center, Lingang Special Area Legal Service Center, and the SAIF-HIWAYS Financial Law Practice Seminar Organizing Committee. Under the implementation of the new regulation on asset management, the forum focused on the key points of the construction of a cross-border asset management demonstration zone. It sorted out and analyzed the path of legal construction, discussed the market opportunities and challenges, provided innovative ideas to enhance global resource allocation capability and financial openness for the Lingang Special Area, and promoted a new round of reform and opening up of China's financial industry. Wei Liu (Vice President of Shanghai Lingang Economic Development [Group] Co.), Yi Ma (Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Deputy Director of the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission), and Qigui Zhu (Special-Term Professor at SJTU, Secretary of the CPC SAIF Committee) delivered welcome speeches, respectively. In the keynote session, Professor Chun Chang (Professor of Finance, Huifu Chair Professor at SAIF) focused on the need to proactively build an offshore RMB financial system and the importance of building an offshore RMB system in Pudong. Professor Ligang Ji (Professor of Law, Executive Director, Chinese Institute for Rule of Law in Finance at Fudan University) analyzed the functional positioning and development direction of the Lingang Special Area and proposed to build a "Financial Law Pilot Zone". Weijun Wang (Secretary General of the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission [SHIAC]) mentioned that asset management business has become an important aspect of Shanghai's development as an international financial center. Jie Chen (General Manager of the International Business Department of China Construction Bank [CCB Shanghai]) shared the practical exploration of cross-border asset management of CCB Shanghai in the Lingang New Area. During the discussion session, experts and scholars exchanged their opinions on the topics of "The Law Construction of Cross-border Asset Management Demonstration Zone Under the New Regulation on Asset Management" and "Opportunities and Challenges of the Construction of Cross-border Asset Management Demonstration Zone in Lingang Special Area". Presiding over the discussions were Suosheng Xu (Deputy Director of the Business Development Department of the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission [SHIAC]) and Xin Yang (Deputy Director of Financial Service Center of the Shanghai Lingang Special Area Economic Development Co. Ltd.), respectively.

June 08, 2022

SAIF’s Three First-Level Disciplines Awarded A+

On May 11, 2022, Times Higher Education (THE) released the third edition of its China Subject Ratings. SJTU performed well in this year's ratings, with a total of 41 disciplines being awarded an A+ ranking. Three disciplines co-constructed by SAIF (Industry & Business Administration, Management Science and Engineering, and Applied Economics) regained A+ designation. Based on the discipline classification system by Chinese Ministry of Education, the THE China Subject Ratings provide universities in mainland China with opportunities to compare and demonstrate academic strengths with universities worldwide. This year’s ratings include 1,543 universities worldwide, 91 of which are in mainland China. Using the subject classification system by the Chinese Ministry of Education, they measure performance in 82 subjects on a scale of A+ to C-. The results show that in the vast majority of disciplines, mainland Chinese universities outperformed universities overseas. Overall, mainland China scores an average grade of B+ in the ratings, above the global average of B. The data for the 2022 THE China Subject Ratings come from the 2022 THE World University Rankings, the THE China Reputation Survey for 2021 and 2022, the THE Academic Reputation Survey for 2020 and 2021, and Elsevier bibliometrics. The Times Higher Education China Subject Ratings are the only performance tables that judge Chinese institutions against their global peers based upon the Chinese Ministry of Education's classification of subjects. The ratings measure research-intensive universities' subject performance across five key areas: teaching (the learning environment); research (volume, income, and reputation); citations (research influence); international outlook (staff, students, and research); and industry income (knowledge transfer).