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The University of Hong Kong - Standard Chartered Hong Kong 150th Anniversary Community Foundation FinTech Academy (HKU-SCF FinTech Academy), Cyberport and Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) today announced the results from the FinTech Talent Study Report (the Report) at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2022, revealing an urgent need to nurture more talents to address the FinTech talent gap in the financial services industry.  The design of the Study has been benefited from the initial ideas of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the implementation, primarily carried out by HKPC, has involved in-depth interviews with twelve executives from financial institutions and FinTech companies in December 2021, followed by questionnaire survey of over 390 companies in the financial services industry in May-June 2022.

The survey reveals that E-payment and Digital Currency, as well as Cyber Security and Data Privacy are considered to be the top FinTech trends in Hong Kong, while Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are expected to be the key driving technologies to transform the industry in the near future. The industry in general believes that Hong Kong has the potential to lead FinTech development in Greater Bay Area, yet there are rooms for improvement in FinTech development to make Hong Kong a true FinTech leader and competitive among nearby cities; and it is therefore imperative to engage the community to follow up on what Hong Kong is currently missing and what the city should do in relation to FinTech development.  

In terms of demand for FinTech professionals, over half (57%) of the companies surveyed are actively looking for FinTech professionals, especially for technical roles. The salary expectation gap was found to be the top issue leading to the FinTech talent gap, and the lack of relevant skillsets being the second issue. The technical roles to be most in demand in the next year include App and Software Developers, AI / Machine Learning Specialists, Blockchain / Digital Currency Specialists, System Architects and Cloud Specialists, as well as Data Scientists. Regarding the skillsets of technical FinTech roles, two-third of the companies surveyed (65%) do not have strong requirements on financial services knowledge. For non-technological FinTech roles (such as Project Managers and Digital Marketing Specialists), nearly two-third of the companies surveyed (64%) require some knowledge of technology, and knowledge in Cyber Security and Data Analytics is most desired. To increase the supply of local FinTech talents, 69% of the companies consider practical experiences such as internship to be more important, while providing more FinTech courses is another effective means to help potential talents build up their foundation.

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has become an increasingly important factor in finance (e.g., green and sustainable finance). However, 38% of the companies reported having no knowledge of ESG, and 42% reported having some. Of the companies that adopt ESG practices or engage in ESG-related business development, 85% are currently using or planning to apply FinTech in ESG.

Based on the results derived from the interviews and questionnaire survey, three recommendations are concluded to address the pain points of the industry, including:

1. To increase the provision of FinTech courses;
2. To encourage more collaboration between the industry and academia to provide FinTech internship opportunities for university students; and
3. To raise the industry’s awareness and knowledge of ESG.

For more details of the Report, please click https://fintechacademy.cs.hku.hk/fintech-talent-study-final-report/.

Professor Tak-Wah Lam, Executive Director of the HKU-SCF FinTech Academy and Head of Department of Computer Science in HKU, said, “HKU is mandated to nurture future FinTech talents and shape the growth of FinTech through first-class research.  We are gratefully impressed by the enthusiastic responses and support of the financial services industry in this survey.  The survey has provided us with a comprehensive and timely guidance on the enhancement of FinTech education on and off campus, and on how to further foster industry-community-university partnerships to advance FinTech and ESG innovation.”

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Supplementary Note: HKU-SCF Scholarships in FinTech awarded to 9 students in 2022. The third HKU-SCF FinTech Academy Scholarship Presentation Ceremony also took place at the same occasion. This year, a total of nine HKU students with outstanding academic performance in Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Financial Technology [BASc(FinTech)], Master of Science in Financial Technology Data Analytics [MSc(FTDA)] and Master of Science in Computer Science (Financial Computing Stream) [MSc(Cs) Financial Computing Stream] have been awarded the HKU-SCF scholarships in FinTech (specifically, each undergraduate awardee to receive a scholarship of HK$50,000, and each postgraduate awardee to receive HK$60,000). These scholarships is one of the initiatives of the HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, which was established in 2020 with a HK$60M support from the Standard Chartered Hong Kong 150th Anniversary Community Foundation, to attract and nurture elite students for the future development of FinTech.

About The University of Hong Kong - Standard Chartered Hong Kong 150th Anniversary Community Foundation FinTech Academy ("HKU-SCF FinTech Academy")
The HKU-SCF FinTech Academy was established in April 2020 with a mission to make a sustainable impact in FinTech by grooming world-class talents and leading innovative research to further strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre. Through a commitment of HK$60 million from the Standard Chartered Hong Kong 150th Anniversary Community Foundation, the HKU-SCF FinTech Academy is steered by Faculty of Engineering, with support from Faculty of Law as well as Faculty of Business & Economics of The University of Hong Kong.

For more information about the HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, please refer to this website: https://fintechacademy.cs.hku.hk

For media enquiries, please contact:
Mr Louis Tse, Executive Manager, HKU-SCF FinTech Academy (Tel: 2859 2183, email: lwtse@cs.hku.hk)

About Cyberport
Cyberport is an innovative digital community with over 1,800 members including over 800 on-site and 1,000 off-site start-ups and technology companies. It is managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government. With a vision to be the hub for digital technology, thereby creating a new economic driver for Hong Kong, Cyberport is committed to nurturing a vibrant tech ecosystem by cultivating talent, promoting entrepreneurship among youth, supporting start-ups, fostering industry development by promoting strategic collaboration with local and international partners, and integrating new and traditional economic by accelerating digital transformation in the public and private sectors.

For more information, please visit www.cyberport.hk.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Erin Wong, Marketing Communications, Cyberport (Tel: 3166-3985, email: erinwongtl@cyberport.hk)

About Hong Kong Productivity Council
The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is a multi-disciplinary organisation established by statute in 1967, to promote productivity excellence through relentless drive of world-class advanced technologies and innovative service offerings to support Hong Kong enterprises. Being a key enabler of Industry 4.0 and Enterprise 4.0, HKPC strives to facilitate Hong Kong’s reindustrialisation, as well as bolstering Hong Kong to be an international innovation and technology hub and a smart city. The Council offers comprehensive innovative solutions for Hong Kong industries and enterprises, enabling them to achieve resources and productivity utilisation, effectiveness and cost reduction, and enhance competitiveness in both local and overseas marketplace. The Council partners and collaborates with local industries and enterprises and world-class R&D institutes to develop applied technology solutions for value creation. It also benefits a variety of sectors through product innovation, technology transfer, and commercialisation, bringing enormous business opportunities ahead. HKPC’s world-class R&D achievements have been widely recognised over the years, winning an array of local and overseas accolades. 

In addition, HKPC offers SMEs and startups immediate and timely assistance in coping with the ever-changing business environment, as well as enhancing their competitive edge by providing a variety of FutureSkills trainings to upskill and nurture talents with digital capabilities and STEM competencies. For more information, please visit HKPC‘s website: www.hkpc.org.

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