This November will be remembered as a milestone month in Hong Kong’s journey out of the pandemic. As vaccinated inbound travellers are no longer required to complete hotel quarantine, we can expect the number of visitors to the city to gradually recover. Several landmark events got the ball rolling.

The first was the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit. Hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, this event brought together senior figures from over 100 financial institutions. The summit was not only venue for attendees to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the global financial community, was also an opportunity for top management to reconnect with their teams in Hong Kong.

We also saw Hong Kong FinTech Week – a major annual event that showcases innovation in Hong Kong’s financial services industry. One highlight was Financial Secretary Paul Chan announcing a series of pilot projects to promote the local development of virtual assets.

The other notable event in November was the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. Although this is not a financial occasion, the return of this much-loved sporting tournament was a further sign that Hong Kong is getting back to normal.

Continual progress

What can visitors to Hong Kong expect? They should be pleasantly surprised that despite the challenging backdrop of the pandemic over the last two years, the city’s diversified financial markets continued to make significant progress in several important areas.

Take asset management for example. In 2021, assets managed by Hong Kong’s asset and wealth management companies remained resilient, with a year-on-year 2% increase to HKD35.5 trillion (USD4.5 trillion). Investors from outside of Hong Kong remained a major source of funding, accounting for 65% of the AUM.

Hong Kong’s status as a risk management centre also received a boost. Last year, HKEX launched the MSCI China A 50 Connect (USD) Index Future, which is an important tool to hedge A share exposure. Adoption was swift, with the average daily turnover in July already exceeding 19,000 contracts. In June, the city also launched its second insurance-linked security – a USD150 million catastrophe bond, which is a product that helps manage climate change-associated risk.

Finally, Hong Kong’s uniquely strong connectivity to Mainland China deepened throughout the pandemic. The Northbound channel of Bond Connect was busy due to increased demand among international investors for onshore Chinese bonds, with average daily turnover up 22% in the January to July period of 2022.

Connectivity is also broader than ever before. Last year, the Southbound channel was launched for Bond Connect, enabling onshore Chinese investors to trade offshore bonds in Hong Kong. Wealth Management Connect went live around the same time – a mutual market access initiative that allows residents of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area to buy wealth management products in each other’s markets. And in recent months, there has been a flurry of activity – ETFs were included in Stock Connect, and a Swap Connect for interest rate swaps was also announced.

The personal touch

All these numbers show that Hong Kong has been hard at work throughout the pandemic, enhancing its core strengths. But if we look beyond the quantitative, and focus more on the qualitative, it is undeniable that something has been missing over the last couple of years – namely, the personal touch.

Videoconferencing did an incredible job at keeping us connected during the pandemic. It is, however, no substitute for a face-to-face meeting. Easier travel into Hong Kong means that people can come to the city and reconnect with colleagues, clients, and other business contacts.

The return of the in-person meeting will likely lead to a flurry of dealmaking activity, as people sit down together to close transactions. We can also expect hiring activity to pick up, especially at the senior level, as management from headquarters come to meet and select candidates for new positions.

And perhaps most importantly, people will be able to come to Hong Kong and see with their own eyes that it has retained the unique mix of dynamism and professionalism that makes it one of the world’s greatest international financial centres.

I strongly recommend that our friends in the global financial community take advantage of Hong Kong’s new arrival policy by making a trip to the city. We look forward to seeing you again.