On 13 October 2022, the Faculty of Finance of the City University of Macao held the Finance Seminar Series [5] Hengqin-Macao Cross-Border Finance Seminar – Second Talk at the Ho Yin Convention Centre. Dr Chin Lam Chu, Chairman of Macau Asset Management Association, senior financial industry executive of 35-year industry experience, honorary chairman and vice-chairman of Macao associations and charitable organizations, members of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th CPPCC of Chongzuo City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and guest professors of the Faculty of Finance, University of Macau, was invited to deliver a speech titled “The Role and Importance of Insurance Companies of Macau in Modern Financial Industry of Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin”. Guests attending this seminar include Dean Adrian Cheung and Associate Dean Eva Khong, City University of Macao.

Dr Chin Lam Chu first introduced the basic situation of the development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. Science and technology R&D and, high-end manufacturing industry, traditional Chinese medicine and other Macao brand industries, cultural tourism, convention and trade industry, and modern financial industry are currently the four major industries in the development of the Cooperation Zone. Modern financial industry is a new runway for Macao's economic development, including securities business, wealth management, financial leasing, cross-border insurance, and green finance. In recent years, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Singapore, the United Kingdom and other places have been constantly reforming and innovating to accelerate the development of the financial industry. Due to the epidemic situation, Macao's various industries have suffered, and the financial industry is the only one that stands out, especially the insurance industry, where the premium income of life insurance has increased significantly. The financial and insurance industries accounted for 14.5% of Macao's industrial GDP last year, ranking second.

Dr Chu discussed the prospects of global wealth management. Ultra-high-net-worth individuals refer to people with assets of more than 30 million US dollars. In the 2022 wealth report, there are currently more than 600,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the world, with Asia ranking third, just behind North America and Europe. There are nearly 130,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the world who start from scratch and are under the age of 40. It is predicted that the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the world will more than double in the next five years, and Asia is expected to overwhelm Europe. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, women from the affluent class in Asia have been more actively involved in investment activities, and some wealth management and banking institutions have also stated that on the basis of rapid expansion, the Asian wealth management business will recruit more talents. By the end of June this year, the total assets of China's banking industry had ranked first in the world, while the insurance industry had ranked second. The number of "wealthy families" with 6 million yuan of assets in China had exceeded 5 million, with Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong as the top three. Data from the Global City wealth index showed that Hong Kong and Beijing ranked eighth and tenth respectively, representing the tendency of the rich to live and invest in these cities.

To arouse students' interest, Dr Chu quoted a number of newspapers and media information to explain the political, economic, social and cultural, technological, environmental, legal and other factors, so as to explain the macro environment of wealth management, and explore the role of Macao's insurance industry in the future. In recent years, the internationalization of RMB has accelerated to record highs. Experts predicted that it will become the third-largest currency in the world by 2035. According to statistics from the Macau Monetary Authority, the broad money supply, household deposits and loans have continued to rise. The RMB accounts for 7.6% of the deposits in Macao's banking system, which has met the initial basic conditions for the development of the RMB savings policy platform. Dr Chu suggested that Macao's financial industry should strengthen the training of financial and insurance talents in the future, grasp the wealth management opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, and RMB-denominated wealth management savings products. He also pointed out that insurance is very important in trust asset management, and suggested that through trust law legislation in future, the financial industry should play an important role in wealth management business to meet business opportunities, and use large insurance policies to attract people with a high net worth in the Greater Bay Area to manage trust wealth.

At the end of the sharing session, the students took this valuable opportunity to actively pose questions related to insurance and wealth management business and Dr Chin Lam Chu answered in detail. In the Seminar, students paid attention to the current situation and future trends of the insurance industry in Macao, the Greater Bay Area and even the world, and gained a lot through the financial seminar series. The students also expressed their expectations for the sharing of the next finance seminar.