UM & AsianFA successfully co-organized the 36th Asian Finance Association Annual Conference - 工商管理學院

The Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) at University of Macau (UM) and Asian Finance Association (AsianFA) has recently successfully co-organized the 36th Asian Finance Association Annual Conference at Studio City, Macau during June 25-26, 2024. The Asian Finance Association Annual Conference is one of the largest and most influential finance academic conferences in the Asia-Pacific region. Aimed atpromoting frontier innovation infinance research, the conference attracted approximately 300 participants from various Asia-Pacific countries and beyond to exchange their research findings and share valuable insights.

At the opening ceremony, Prof. Michael King Man HUI (許敬文教授), Vice Rector (Academic Affairs) of UM, extended a warm welcome to all the guests who were attending the conference. Prof. HUI provided an overview of the conference program and encouraged all participants to explore groundbreaking ideas and collaborate. After Prof. HUI’s opening remark, the conference featured its first keynote speech, “Talent, Location and the Creation of Firm Values”, which was delivered by Prof. Sheridan TITMAN, the McAllister Centennial Chair in Financial Services at the University of Texas at Austin and the Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. This keynote speech was moderated by Prof. Rose LAI (黎寧教授), Dean of Honours College. On the next day, the conference featured its second keynote speech,“Historical Origins of Financial Development”, which was presented by Prof. Chen LIN, Chair of Finance, Stelux Professor in Finance, Associate Vice-President, Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange, and Director of DBA Programme at the University of Hong Kong. This keynote speech was moderated by Prof. Wenjin KANG (康文津教授), Head of Department of Finance and Business Economic.

This year, the conference received nearly 800 paper submissions from leading finance scholars worldwide. The conference program committee, which was co-chaired by Prof. Jun YU (余俊教授), Dean of FBA , Prof. Wenjin KANG, and two other non-UM professors, invited 22 track chairs and then assembled a team of more than 70 reviewers who thoroughly evaluated the submissions. Based on the reviewers’ suggestion, around 200 papers were accepted to form more than 50 vibrant sessions, including a doctoral consortium. The sessions covered a diverse range of cutting-edge finance topics, including Algorithmic Trading, Cryptocurrencies, ESG and Green Finance, Fintech, Machine Learning, etc. A special industry panel session, chaired by Prof. Wenjin KANG, invited experts from both academia and industry, and conducted in-depth discussions about Big Data and Fintech/AI Technology in Finance Research.

During the gala dinner, Prof. Jun YU, Dean of FBA, expressed heartfelt gratitude to all those involved in making the conference a success. He emphasized that the conference would contribute significantly to the advance of future finance research in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Six papers received Best Paper Awards sponsored by AsianFA, affiliated journals, and WRDS. One of the awarded papers was “Preference for dividends and stock returns around the world”, co-authored by Prof. Allaudeen HAMEED (NUS), Prof. Jing XIE (謝靜教授) (UM), and Prof. Yuxiang ZHONG (HUST). Additionally, three PhD travel grants were awarded to candidates from prestigious institutions, including Boston College, Tsinghua University, and the University of Hong Kong.

The conference organizing committee was composed of Prof. Wenjin KANG (co-chair), Prof. Rose LAI, Prof. Rachel MA (馬笑蓉教授), Prof. Tingting QUE (闕婷婷教授), Prof. Tony QIN (秦振江教授), Prof. Jing XIE (co-chair), Prof. Endong YANG (楊恩東教授), name alphabetically ordered. The passionate efforts of all the organizing committee members played a crucial role in ensuring the success of the conference. The dedicated FBA administrative staff members – Rex CHAN (陳仲豪), Sterling CHAO (周曦賢), Peggy CHEANG (鄭嘉珮), Remington LAO (劉嘉雄), Triss LIANG (梁泳欣), Cornelia NG (吳家淇), Tina SI (施婷娜), Jason TANG (鄧聯輝), Calvin VONG (黃冠昇), Kevin WONG (黃錦榮), Kelmen YEUNG (楊曉雯) (name alphabetically ordered) – together with hardworking student volunteers, worked tirelessly behind the scene to bring this event alive.

Group photo at Conference Opening Ceremony

Welcome Remark by Prof. Michael King Man HUI, Vice Rector (Academic Affairs) of UM, at Opening Ceremony

Keynote Speech by Prof. Sheridan TITMAN, McAllister Centennial Chair in Financial Services, University of Texas at Austin

Keynote Speech by Prof. Chen LIN, Chair of Finance, Stelux Professor in Finance, University of Hong Kong

Closing Remark by Prof. Jun YU, Dean of FBA, at Gala Dinner

Special industry panel focusing on Big Data and Fintech/AI Technology in Finance Research, chaired by Prof. Wenjin KANG, Head of Department of FBE, FBA (first from left)

This year’s conference attracted nearly 300 participants

Prof. Jun YU, presented AsianFA Best Paper Award

Prof. Wenjin KANG, presented AsianFA Best Paper Award

Prof. Dragon Yongjun TANG (right), IRF Editor, Professor of Finance, The University of Hong Kong, presented International Review of Finance Best Paper Award

Prof. Tao CHEN (right), Associate Professor in Finance with tenure, Nanyang Technological University, presented Pacific Basin Finance Journal Best Paper Award