Perspective Is Hong Kong opening up fast enough, I think?
I do believe so. I believe that this administration, as
you have seen, is action oriented by the fact that we are now sitting here
without loss in the fintech week. With so many important financial
personnel coming from around the world, they are being action oriented.
Obviously, they don't want to, at the best case, do not want to run a
U-turn, given a lot of concerns on mainland China's on Covid going forward.
So I think they are running a very tight ship and I wish Hong Kong all the best.
Does this emphasis now as we got the roadmap yesterday for creating more of
a, you know, environment for digital assets and essentially get down the
road, perhaps the trading of retail trading of crypto currencies?
Does this allow the mainland kind of a road forward as well for their digital
assets economy? Right now, you can't trade legally
crypto currencies in China. Is that going to be Hong Kong's role to
kind of be a test center for China and the digital assets?
I think it may be. I have no inside information, but I
think it's taking advantage of this opportunity for Hong Kong is is a very,
very good opportunity. When do you see the border opening up?
The Hong Kong's had a lot of challenges, Richard, obviously.
And it's a, you know, kind of exacerbated by the Fed and the rising
interest rate environment. The Hong Kong dollar peg, you know, is
basically raising interest rates here, but geopolitical pressures are there and
then the border with China is still flowing.
When do you see that pressure alleviating on Hong Kong?
I think it's it will be a gradual process.
I think that all the right DNA of what makes Hong Kong take is still here.
And I'm optimistic. But I think we need to be a little bit
patient. Need to be patient.
We talk in six months. Do you think or is there a time frame,
do you think? I think our administration here in Hong
Kong has to navigate between Hong Kong's economic needs, as well as the concern
of the greater population of the nation as a whole.
So I think it is a tightrope that they have to walk on.
As a businessman and investor, a strategic investor, how do you then plan
for the future out of Hong Kong? And what are you looking at?
I still feel that Hong Kong is a very good hub for ISE is a very good
financial hub for capital. So I have no complaints.
And I think Hong Kong would continue and do well.
Are you concerned, though, by the brain drain that we've seen, the Hong Kong
population has dropped one point six percent in the last year to June.
Singapore has gained. I know you've heard that that
competition for years and years and years between Singapore and Hong Kong.
Is Singapore even Hong Kong's lunch? Or is Hong Kong going to be back?
I believe that there is some brain drain, but I think we would also have
brain game coming up. You heard the chief executive's policy
on fighting to get talent back. And I believe that for everyone that
leaves, there may be at least one, if not more.
That would be coming to Hong Kong. So I'm not too concerned about that.
How difficult over the past three years has been for you?
I think the past two years in terms of the business that I am very enthusiast
again for after beauty, during the Covid, the insurance industry has been
hit similar to other industries. It's the past three years has been
weaker than all of the years prior to that.
But we have still been growing in the insurance.
We have this value of new business. We still have been growing at 18 percent
compounded since 2 0 1 9 during this Covid period.
18 percent is a little bit less than what I have hoped for.
But it's still respectable. Where areas are you looking at?
I know Southeast Asia is a big push. Is there any progress on a potential
China license for F.W. DE?
I think that that's too early to say. And we are optimistic on the economy in
China, and we hope that we can make some progress there.
But Southeast Asia, as it holds right now, has been outgrowing the rest of the
world in this industry. So we are relatively happy and also that
the cost has been able to be contained unless other regions with inflation
going very, very, very high. We have no insurance industry.
This measurement core underlying surplus.
And we have swung from a negative last year.
To a material positive this year. So
we we could not complain much. No, I know you can't comment
specifically on the plans for an IPO, but for the viewers out there, we know
that originally we heard that you were seeking upwards of three billion dollars
in the U.S. You scrapped that coming to Hong Kong,
maybe a billion dollars. I know you can't comment on it
specifically, so I will give you that respect.
But can you kind of comment on what the market is kind of shaping up?
It's been a difficult equity market here in Hong Kong.
The market is down more than 50 percent since February of last year and down
thirty seven percent year to date. So can you kind of talk about.
Why would you potentially go IPO now? I again, I cannot comment on when and
we'll go on IPO. But I can tell you in its public
statement that in the past 12 months, we have in private capital raised over one
point eight billion U.S. without having to go IPO.
So in terms of capital, we are very comfortable where we are.
And at the right moment, our board would decide when is a good time to tap the
market. OK.
Maybe within the next year. That's the last time I'll go fishing.
I could Courtney Donohoe. Okay.