‘We've to create a language to speak to the world’

Globally, there’s a theme of democratization of asset management under the current technology revolution, with lots of the money management power now decentralized in a way from institutions to investors as they are having more control on how to invest, according to Alvin Fan, director and chief executive officer of Oriental Patron Investment Management.

He says technology is changing the asset management business into something that needs emerging fund managers as technology development rages on the Chinese mainland. But, he admits that the adoption rate of technology in asset management is still in its infancy.

The current challenge for technology development, he believes, is that it’s a bit insular and only China centric and it has yet to speak to the rest of the world. It may need to build the technology to speak the same asset management language globally.

last year its strategic investment in Fundseeder — an emerging financial software company based in Florida, US — to help institutional investors link up with undiscovered trading talent and bring trader analytics and a trader talent search platform to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

On the asset management side, Fan says they are exploring opportunities in blockchain and bitcoins, but will wait to see more successful cases.

Talking about markets, he says they do see capital moving into emerging markets like Vietnam, Thailand and India, as the Chinese mainland is cleaning up and the cost of production
is going up due to manufactories moving out. Hong Kong occupies a unique position through its history as a financial hub, and it’s the first place where international investors will look at to access Silk Road assets and where central Asian countries which do not have deep capital markets will consider for funding.

Fan came to Hong Kong and landed his first job at IBM doing project management from 2001 to 2003 after graduating from the University of Western Ontario. Then he pursued the MBA
program at the same university from 2004 to 2006. After that, he moved to private equity and joined Oriental Patron Financial Group in 2009.

In terms of management philosophy, Fan says he relies a lot on technology in managing funds and believes that online is the key to the industry’s
future.

For the younger generation aiming to enter the trade, he advises: “I usually tell my interns they must decide their own level of participation. It’s not about the job title, but your trade
skill, your craft. Whether it’s speaking, writing, design or research or project management, working hard on your craft will allow you to add unique value to the firm.

He believes there’s opportunity in any sector of the financial world. It may take 10,000 hours to be a master of everything, so just “put in the hours” and concentrate on it.