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The ExtraOrdinary Exhibition fundraised for HKD120,000 of artworks auctioned to fund women focused charity

The funds raised through the ExtraOrdinary Exhibition accounts for 30% of charity’s budget to help Hong Kong women battle the risks of gynecological cancer

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 – Opening conversations on women’s health is no easy feat, yet the Karen Leung Foundation’s (KLF), The ExtraOrdinary Exhibition, is a health awareness program that proves to be powerful. Across the last 6 weeks and various locations, the exhibition has sold 25% of their selected artworks and has set goal to raise half a million Hong Kong dollars.

 

“The ugly truth is that over 2,000 women annually in Hong Kong are diagnosed with at least one major form of gynecological cancer,” says Katharina Reimer, Executive Director of The Karen Leung Foundation. “And with the lack of communication and knowledge, many miss early treatment. So, we want to bring the local community together to change this difficult conversation into something more relatable – art.”

 

The ExtraOrdinary Exhibition features over 40 artworks from local and international artists, carrying paintings, photography, sculptures, and NFT art. Each piece carefully selected from Hong Kong’s rising artists like Claudia Chanhoi, Ka Ying Wong, Vox Vanguard, and more, to interpret a woman’s life experience.

 

Reimer says the foundation’s community and outreach has grown exponentially with many interests from businesses, corporates, and high-level individuals. A women-led and women-focused insurance brokerage firm, Alea, begins their partnership with KLF to raise awareness on women-related health issues and donating a portion of each of their sales to support all their programs.

 

To further spread the word of women’s health and risks of gynaecological cancer, KLF and the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF) has released a dance film titled, “BREATHE“, embodying the feminine experience. Directed by Lindsey McAllister, the choreography delves into the emotional toll of one who would suffer from cancer and hopes that this art of expression will resonate with the audience and bring light to women’s wellbeing.

 

Proceeds raised from the art exhibition will be used to fund all of KLF’s programs to educate, prevent, and provide support services to women at risk of gynecological cancer. The final leg of this year’s exhibition will be displayed at The Hari Hong Kong until 3rd January 2022, and the online catalogue will be available until 31st December 2021.

 

THE EXTRAORDINARY EXHIBITION @ THE HARI HONG KONG
Location: The Hari Hong Kong, 330 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
Duration: 29 September 2021 to 3 January 2022
Price: Free

 

The ExtraOrdinary Exhibition images:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XAEY4Ae_RKCEyugVwwqpH9Fg5olXLKM-/view?usp=sharing

ABOUT THE KAREN LEUNG FOUNDATION

The Karen Leung Foundation (KLF) www.karenleungfoundation.org is working to save lives in Hong Kong by raising awareness of gynaecological cancer, educating women to increase rates of early detection and ensuring that women in treatment have access to optimal medical care. Founded in 2013, we are the first and only organization in Hong Kong solely devoted to women’s gynaecological cancers. To date, the Karen Leung Foundation has raised more than HK$27 million to fight gynaecological cancer and help Hong Kong girls and women. The Karen Leung Foundation honors the memory of Karen Leung, a hedge fund trader, who died at age 35 following a diagnosis of metastatic cervical cancer.

https://twitter.com/KarenLeungFdn

https://www.facebook.com/KarenLeungFoundation

https://www.instagram.com/karenleungfoundation/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUQgnEgj3ULRyfa7h9sMeg

#TheKarenLeungFoundation

AXA introduces an innovative “Energy Saving Campaign”

Customers can win a chance to get a HKD50 supermarket coupon upon energy consumption reduction

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 – AXA Hong Kong and Macau (“AXA”) launches an innovative “Energy Saving Campaign” to encourage customers to “Go Green” by saving energy and reducing carbon emissions in our daily lives. We hope to combat climate change with collective actions.

 

From now until 31 January 2022, eligible customers of our general insurance plans[1] can win a chance to get a HKD50 supermarket e-coupon[2] by completing a simple registration via AXA’s designated website (link) and uploading an electricity bill(s)[3] which show(s) a reduction of the average daily electricity consumption in any one month or two months between September to December 2021, compared to the same month(s) in 2020.

 

AXA has always been adhering to the purpose of “Act for human progress by protecting what matters”. We support sustainable development through our product offerings, digital transformation and community activities. With our commitments and actions towards sustainability, we have become the first insurer to join the “Green Monday ESG Coalition” earlier this year to combat climate change for a sustainable and resilient future.

 

The above is for reference only. Terms and conditions applied.

 

For more information on the “Energy Saving Campaign”, please visit: www.axa.com.hk


[1] Eligible customers are the policyholders of in force general insurance plans which are underwritten by AXA, including: home insurance, travel insurance (annual cover), overseas students insurance, private car insurance, helper insurance and personal accident insurance.

[2] Limited quota applies to the offer on a first-come-first-served basis (Quota: 6,000) and each policy is eligible to the offer once only.

[3] Each set of the electricity bill(s) will be eligible to the offer once only.

Citi Hong Kong Continues to Underpin the Success of FinTech

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 –

 

Photo 1

https://bit.ly/3k5rgNw

Citi Hong Kong continues to support the annual flagship Hong Kong FinTech Week. As Diamond Sponsor, Citi’s line-up of ten speakers this year share their expertise and views to propel fintech development in Hong Kong. Citi CEO Jane Fraser delivered a keynote speech “Citi: Innovating for the Digital World” on November 3, where she discussed the acceleration in digital worldwide, how Citi fosters the fintech ecosystem in the new digital era and what opportunities lie ahead.

 

Photo 2

https://bit.ly/3GShdF9

Citi Hong Kong is pleased to be the Diamond Sponsor of “Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021” and continues to foster the development of FinTech in the city.

 

From left to right: Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager, Citibank Hong Kong; Angel Ng, CEO for Citi Hong Kong and Macau; and Vishal Kapoor, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi Hong Kong, attended the opening ceremony of “Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021”.

 

Photo 3

https://bit.ly/3bHlFIt

 

Lawrence Lam, Consumer Business Manager, Citibank Hong Kong attended “Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021”.

 

Photo 4

https://bit.ly/3k7eOg2

  

Citibank Hong Kong Consumer Business Manager Lawrence Lam joined the conference session “Pandemic: Accelerating the Digital Transformation” with industry experts to exchange views on “Know Your Customer” and enhancing customer experience through technology.

Co-creating a Regenerative Future with Cross-Sector Wisdom and Dialogue at the 14th Social Enterprise Summit

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 – The 14th Social Enterprise Summit (“SES”) has officially launched today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Themed “Building Blocks of a Regenerative Future“, SES 2021 took a hybrid format, with over 70 speakers and representatives from 13 countries and regions, aiming to leverage strengths of different sectors to advance social innovation in the post-pandemic era. The four-day Summit consists of discussion panels with dynamic and interactive events, social innovation visits and workshops, that inspire participants’ creativity with first-hand experience.

 

The theme of this year’s Summit is “Building Blocks of a Regenerative Future“, which signifies a trend of shifting from prosperity to ‘thrivability’, focusing on planetary and societal wellbeing. As nature has demonstrated its innate capacity to regenerate, now is the time for all citizens to be equipped as changemakers to our respective social biospheres, and to drive innovative initiatives across different sectors for social good. Social Enterprise Summit held an array of exciting activities in nine districts including the Social Entrepreneurship Labs, Community Carnival, SE Bazaar, School Talks & Workshops, and Community Tours during July to early November, which aimed to outreach local community and inspire each other with new social innovation ideas.

 

Mrs. Rebecca CHOY YUNG, Chair of Organising Committee of Social Enterprise Summit expressed in her welcoming speech, “Despite the substantial challenges ahead, many social entrepreneurs have shown that positive change is possible. Since 2014, we have been scaling up social innovation and empowering individuals through our community programs. This year, we have expanded our programs to 9 districts in Hong Kong with the addition of Wanchai, Kowloon City and Tai Po. Cross-sector participation and dialogues are extremely robust. I am delighted to report that innovative ideas and pilot projects have been nurtured in different districts by passionate innovators coming from different backgrounds.”

 

The keynote speaker, Mr Charles EISENSTEIN, author of “Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition”, explained the concepts of demographic, economic and ecological maturity, as well as their relations to a “Regenerative Future” in the Keynote Speech. Various macroeconomic and social policies that helped accelerate the transition, and the roles that business, government, NGOs, and academia might play were also discussed. Mr James LAW, JP, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cybertecture Architects, HK and Ir Andrew YOUNG, Associate Director (Innovation) of Sino Group acted as keynote respondents and shared their visions on a “Regenerative Future”.

 

The subsequent session of “Public Innovation – Bridging the Gaps Between the People, Private and Public Sectors” examined the importance of tripartite collaboration among the public sector, business and the civic society to driving a “Regenerative Future”. The panel was hosted by Mr Warren LUK, CEO of Good Lab, HK, with Ms Ada WONG, JP, Deputy Chair of Organising Committee of Social Enterprise Summit, HK, Ms Sunkyung HAN, Founder and CEO of C., South Korea, and Ms Emily ONG, Deputy Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council, Singapore to be the guest speakers. They shared Hong Kong cases and discussed a few examples in Asian cities in the hope of encouraging cross-sector partnership.

 

The thematic session of “Building Community Blocks” in the afternoon was co-hosted by Mr Francis NGAI, Founder and CEO of Social Ventures Hong Kong and Ms Tiffany FUNG, Impact Producer of SONOVA, Social Ventures Hong Kong to facilitate dialogues with guest speakers. Ms Vivian LEE, Founder and Director of ActionHouse International Limited, Mr Linus LEUNG, Founder of ACTIVE CONCEPT Limited, Mr Sampson WONG, Co-founder of “When in Doubt, Take a Walk”, and Mr Manfred YUEN, Founder of Groundwork Architects & Associates explored, from the points of view of people, business and social enterprise, on how different sectors could leverage their own strengths to reinforce community cohesion via social innovation.

 

Aligning with the strategic focus of the SES, three-themed tracks on Day 1 and 2 highlighted the prerequisites and groundwork that are essential to building a “Regenerative Future”. Track 1-“Co-Creating an Open Knowledge Hub for Ecosystem Development” focused on building an open data bank to share insights on Environmental, Social and Governance across the world. Track 2 – “Building Alliances for Regional Collective Impact” brought together Asian social entrepreneurs to advance social innovation with new strategies and tools. Track 3 – “Bridging Purpose with Actions” will cover how resources can be channelled effectively to purpose-led projects.

 

On Day 3 and 4, delegates will be immersed in multiple dimensions of social innovation including two workshops, a concluding session themed “Beyond Sustainability”, and three social innovation visits. The concluding session will be hosted by Dr Ilex LAM, Chairman of iEnterprise Foundation. He will join hands with Ms Naomi CHAN, National Executive Vice President of JCI Hong Kong, Dr Eddy LEE, Founder of 350HK, Ms Nicolette TONG, Executive Vice President of The Wave and Mr YUEN Shu Wah, Founding Chairman of Gratia Foundation Limited, to examine the vision of sustainability in the post-pandemic era and the prospect of the future “regenerative development.

 

For further details, please visit the SES’s official website: https://ses.org.hk/

 

About Social Enterprise Summit (SES)

Social Enterprise Summit (SES) is a cross-sector platform to inspire and empower social innovation and social entrepreneurship. The flagship International Symposium builds on the experiences of over 70 speakers and attendances from 10+ locations to inspire, innovate, connect and collaborate with delegates from the civic society, businesses, government and academic sectors from Hong Kong, China; Asia Pacific region and beyond to advance positive societal changes. Community engagement activities are held in nine different districts in Hong Kong during the year to expand the participation and reach beyond the conference rooms, applying knowledge, social entrepreneurship and innovative mindsets to various day to day life settings. Official Website: http://www.ses.org.hk

#SocialEnterpriseSummit

RCEP, World’s Largest Trade Pact to Come into Effect in January

RCEP to come into effect in January
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attending the 4th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit online.

The RCEP, the world’s largest free-trade bloc, will officially come into effect in January next year.

Laos Sees Second Day of Record Covid-19 Numbers

Covid-19 Update


Laos has confirmed another record day of Covid-19 cases, reaching 1,170  new cases across the country, with three new deaths.

CUHK Business School Research Reveals Companies with Exceptionally Confident CEOs Performed Better in the Stock Market During the Pandemic

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 4 November 2021 – Overconfidence, or the tendency to underestimate risk and overestimate returns, is often cited as a leading factor behind some of the biggest corporate failures in history, from the Enron scandal at the turn of the millennium, to the spectacular collapses of investment banks Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers during the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2008. With the world now in the grip of a new crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent research study is challenging the stereotypical discourse on overconfident business leaders and suggests that a touch of conceit in CEOs may help to lead their companies through the storm.

An area that overconfident CEOs excelled at is withholding bad news and accentuating good news, according to the study. (Source: iStock)

 

The study CEO Overconfidence and the COVID-19 Pandemic was co-conducted by Maggie Hu, Assistant Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management and the Department of Finance; Desmond Tsang, Associate Professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School; and PhD candidate Wayne Wan Xinwei at the University of Cambridge. The researchers theorised that overconfident CEOs could be beneficial to their firms during unprecedented times of crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic provided a perfect backdrop for them to test their theories. They found that companies with exceptionally confident CEOs performed better in the stock market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an unrivalled level of uncertainty to our world. It has also become a test for CEOs in whether they can keep their companies intact,” Prof. Tsang says. “We found that overconfident CEOs actually provided strong leadership and kept both their employees and investors positive during a crisis.”

 

Overconfidence and Abnormal Returns

Using data from the U.S., the research team looked at companies’ stock market performance from January 22, 2019, to March 23, 2020. Only companies with the same CEOs since 2018 were included in their sample to control for any possible haphazard performance of newly appointed CEOs.

 

The researchers measured the level of CEO overconfidence by investigating CEOs’ options holdings. As senior managers, CEOs typically are vested in their companies’ stock options which they can exercise anytime. A CEO is considered more confident by researchers if they are willing to wait for a later date to exercise their stock options, as it may mean the CEO is confident enough to seek a higher payoff somewhere down the line.

 

According to the results, companies with more self-assertive CEOs displayed significantly higher abnormal returns, defined as returns that are unexpectedly and unusually large, during the COVID-19 period compared with companies with CEOs that have relatively less confidence. Given that COVID-19 brings negative impact of 0.52 percentage point in terms of daily abnormal return and 1.57 percentage points in terms of three-day cumulative abnormal returns, the overconfident CEOs mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 by about 37% on abnormal returns, and 33.7% on cumulative abnormal returns over the period studied, respectively.

 

The researchers then looked at whether the positive effect of overconfident CEOs would differ among different firms, specifically those highly affected by the pandemic. They measured how much the sampled companies suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. They looked at companies’ exposure to the pandemic by calculating the frequency of the COVID-19-related keywords used when the management discussed their results in their quarterly reports. They found that the positive effect of overconfident CEOs was even more pronounced in firms that suffered more from the pandemic.

 

“Super confident CEOs had a crucial role in mitigating negative market reaction due to the COVID-19 pandemic because their positivity helped them to manage investor perception,” Prof. Tsang says.

 

The ‘CEO Magic’

So how did self-assured CEOs successfully manage investor perception during the crisis? The researchers explain that while the market sentiment was generally pessimistic for all firms, super confident CEOs tended to be more effective in managing public perception, which then influenced investors’ perception of their firms. As a result, investors maintained a positive attitude towards the companies’ stocks. This ability to keep a positive image of the company was extremely important for companies that faced high uncertainty and lack of resources during the pandemic, according to the study.

 

Another area that overconfident CEOs excelled at is withholding bad news and accentuating good news, according to the study. While it’s an activity that may be deemed questionable by some, it turns out to be quite valuable during a crisis. According to the study results, overconfident CEOs indeed withheld more bad news, which resulted in less negative stock price reactions during the pandemic.

 

However, despite the marginal edge gained by companies who are helmed by overconfident CEOs during the pandemic, the researchers found that even a highly overconfident CEO would not be able to save companies with inherently higher risk or weaker foundations from going under. For firms with a high risk of failure and bankruptcy, rational investors simply would not be swayed by any amount of spin-doctoring conjured up by overconfident CEOs.

 

“Our study shows that extremely confident CEOs can make a difference for the survival of a firm during a crisis, but they are not all-powerful. If a company is fundamentally unsound, then no matter how confident the CEOs are, it’s going be hugely difficult for them to pull a rabbit out of the hat and save the day regardless of how much smoke and mirrors they employ,” Prof. Hu says.

 

All in all, the beneficial impact of conceited CEOs only worked for companies with more cash holdings, lower leverage, higher ROA (return on assets) and larger market capitalisation before the crisis. In addition, the study highlights that this positive effect only lasted during the crisis period. This impact was no longer notable in the post-crisis recovery period when companies started to bounce back following government interventions and aids.

 

The researchers believe the study has strong implications for companies searching for the right leader. “Companies should think twice before turning down any overconfident CEO candidate because they can be highly beneficial in curbing stock price crashes at crisis times,” says Prof. Hu. “But they should also bear in mind that when the storm is over, then the magic of overconfident CEOs could vanish immediately.”

 

Reference:

Hu, Maggie and Tsang, Desmond and Wan, Wayne Xinwei, CEO Overconfidence and the COVID-19 Pandemic (November 22, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3716618 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3716618

 

This article was first published in the China Business Knowledge (CBK) website by CUHK Business School: https://bit.ly/3BDcmnE.

 

About CUHK Business School

CUHK Business School comprises two schools – Accountancy and Hotel and Tourism Management – and four departments – Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing. Established in Hong Kong in 1963, it is the first business school to offer BBA, MBA and Executive MBA programmes in the region. Today, CUHK Business School offers 9 undergraduate programmes and 18 graduate programmes including MBA, EMBA, Master, MSc, MPhil and Ph.D. The School currently has more than 4,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students from 20+ countries/regions.

In the Financial Times Executive MBA ranking 2021, CUHK EMBA is ranked 19th in the world. In FT‘s 2021 Global MBA Ranking, CUHK MBA is ranked 48th. CUHK Business School has the largest number of business alumni (40,000+) among universities/business schools in Hong Kong – many of whom are key business leaders.

More information is available at http://www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk or by connecting with CUHK Business School on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cuhkbschool

Instagram: www.instagram.com/cuhkbusinessschool

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/cuhkbusinessschool

WeChat: CUHKBusinessSchool

#CUHKBusinessSchool

Symphony showcases front office, operations, and wealth workflows at Innovate 2021

New York and London – News Direct – 4 November 2021 –

Symphony – the leading markets’ technology and infrastructure platform – showcased front office, operations, and wealth workflows that are solving for markets industry challenges in its flagship conference Innovate 2021, held yesterday in New York City.

Symphony showcased for the first time how its secure and compliant collaboration platform is integrating the technology of the two companies it acquired earlier this year: StreetLinx’s counterparty mapping platform and Cloud9’s markets voice and electronic communication platform into one powerful inter-firm workflow.

Symphony CEO Brad Levy said: “Harnessing networks and connecting with purpose has never been more important. This year’s Innovate gave us the opportunity to highlight how we can help bridge this gap across workflows and client segments, bringing finance and tech together for the benefit of users, clients and counterparties.”

The hundreds of financial professionals that joined the day’s sessions in person and online learned about the innovation and digital transformation taking place across markets directly from Symphony partners, customers, developers and innovators. Innovate 2021’s highlights included discussion panels with industry leaders and live demonstrations of Symphony’s platform and partnerships.

Chief product officer Michael Lynch added: “We were thrilled to showcase such a diverse set of innovations, all meant to help our customers be more connected and efficient—moving beyond legacy disparate systems into a holistic ecosystem of interoperability and collaboration.”

Videos from all the sessions will be posted on innnovate.symphony.com.

About Symphony Symphony is the most secure and compliant markets’ infrastructure and technology platform, where solutions are built or integrated to standardize, automate and innovate financial services workflows. It is a vibrant community of over half a million financial professionals with a trusted directory and serves over 1000 institutions. Symphony is powering over 2,000 community built applications and bots. For more information, visit www.symphony.com.

Contact Details

Symphony Communication Services

Odette Maher

+44 7747 420807

odette.maher@symphony.com

Company Website

https://symphony.com/

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/symphony-showcases-front-office-operations-and-wealth-workflows-at-innovate-2021-442870921