On 9 March 2023, the Faculty of Finance of the City University of Macau held the Finance Seminar Series [18] at the Ho Yin Convention Centre. Mr. Andy Lo, Director of Asset Business and General Manager of Financial Marketing Department, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited, was invited to deliver a speech titled “Introduction on Macau Private Equity Fund Management Business”. Mr. Lo has been engaged in financial market investment management for 27 years. He has been involved in foreign exchange, currency, bonds, stocks, derivatives and other major financial markets,, and engaged in the management of bank assets and liabilities, bond investment and fund portfolio, involving the amount of funds under management exceeding MOP100 billion or equivalent. Guests attending this seminar include Dr Chin Lam Chu, Chairman of Macau Asset Management Association; Dean Adrian Cheung and Associate Dean Eva Khong of Faculty of Finance, City University of Macau.

Mr. Lo first introduced the current situation of Macao's financial industry and Macao's modern financial industry. The economic orientation of Macao has changed from "four economic pillars" from 1970s to 1990s to "promoting moderately diversified development" in the current century. The policy orientation has also changed from "characteristic finance" from 2016 to 2019 to "modern finance" in 2020 to 2023. During the epidemic, the financial sector accounted for 10% of GDP; Macau's banking sector was mature, while insurance and pension funds were relatively unstable. The five business forms of modern finance include bond market, wealth management, financial leasing, RMB clearing, private equity and green finance, among which private equity was listed separately for the first time in the 2023 Policy Address.

Mr. Lo then introduced Macau private fund management business. Private equity funds originated from the late 19th century to the early 1920s in the United States, while the early embryonic stage of China's private equity funds was in the early 1990s, and with the deepening of reform and opening-up, there are currently about 54 registered private equity fund managers in China, with an asset management scale of about 20 trillion yuan. Private funds can be divided into securities investment funds and private Equity funds, and private equity funds are further divided into private equity funds (PE, Private Equity) and venture capital funds (VC, Venture Capital) according to different investment cycles. Mr. Lo mentioned the laws and regulatory guidelines that should be followed for the establishment of private funds in Macau, the basic definitions that should be understood, the relationship between relevant subjects involved, and the requirements and procedures for the establishment of management entities and the reporting of private funds.

Lastly, Mr. Lo briefly explained the prospect of Macau private equity business. According to the Statistics and Census Service, the deposit level of local residents in Macau has steadily increased in the past decade. Currently, the investment products available to local residents are mainly money market financial products and securities financial products. Private equity fund business is one of the important development areas of Macau's modern financial industry. On the one hand, it can assist local financing and mainland project investment, better integrating Macau into the overall situation of national development and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, carrying out cooperation with the modern financial industry of Shenzhen Cooperation Area, and promoting the diversified development of Macau's economy. On the other hand, it is conducive to introducing capital into the key industries of Macau, which is expected to promote the closed-loop benign development of the four key industries.

Faculty of Finance expresses gratitude to Mr. Andy Lo and Dr. Chin Lam Chu, both CityU alumni, for their continued support to the development of their alma mater and for encouraging students to work hard to enhance their knowledge of the theories and practices of finance. At the end of the sharing session, the students took this valuable opportunity to actively pose questions related to private equity, and Mr. Lo answered in detail. The Seminar enables students to pay more attention to the development of Macau’s financial market, and have an in-depth understanding of the development and prospect of Macau’s private equity market through the financial seminar series. The students also look forward to participating in more financial seminars held by the Faculty in the future.