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On March 31, Dr. King Au, Executive Director of HK FSDC & Axiom Managing Director Alvin Ma, who also serves as an adjunct Assistant Professor & lecturer at the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) Business School, facilitated a guest speaking event with Michael Ha during their senior AMPB (Asset Management & Private Banking) Capstone class.

Michael currently serves as the Investment Director at the BCT Group responsible for Performance Analytics and Product Development. After graduating from McMaster University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Chemistry, Michael led numerous roles overseeing marketing and client strategies in the financial field. He has served as the Head of Marketing and Client Services for multiple institutions: including BOCHK Asset Management Ltd. HSBC, AIG Asset Management Co. (Asia) Ltd, Jardine Fleming Unit Trusts Ltd, and Royal Trust Canada.

Students in the Capstone class got to hear a detailed breakdown of the day-to-day operations of Asset Management companies from Michael, with his presentation going over the following:

• What is an Asset Management Company (AMC)?
• Typical Structure of an AMC inclusive of Marketing; Front Office Asset Management; Compliance & Legal & Operations
• HKSFC Licenses – an Important Part of a Frontline Person (especially for Type 1, 4 & 9 regulated activities)
• HKSFC’s Manager-In-Charge (MIC) Regime for Licensed Corporations – 8 core functions & examples to be appointed as MIC
• Examples of Pooled Products being Managed by an AMC – Mutual Fund vs Trust Structure
• Frontline Structure and Considerations
• Sales Operations in lieu with Strategy; Technology; Performance & Operations
• Client Types: Retail Clients, High Net Worth Retail Clients, & Institutional Clients
• Working with other Professionals, communication between different departments and functions in an AMC:
  • With Marketing over event supports
  • With Legal & Compliance over marketing materials
  • With Investment Team over bad fund performance
  • With Risk Management over sales processes
  • With Finance over sales targets and costs
  • With Operations over orders and process efficiencies
  • With Information Technology over sales and servicing technologies

Michael also shared some interesting experiences throughout his career to serve as wisdom and advice for graduates, soon to be entering the financial field themselves:

• Gatekeeper of a retail bank – selection of funds for distribution
• Pension client trustee and member briefing – fund performance explanation
• Investment Director of a family office – making investment decisions