Speakers

Jane Cheng is the head of ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Hong Kong.

A seasoned marketing and PR professional with over 15 years of experience, Jane brings a background focussed on corporate communications, investor relations, marketing and journalism. Prior to joining ACCA Hong Kong, Jane has held senior positions in leading multinational companies including GXS and CDC Corporation (formerly known as chinadotcom). She started her career in journalism, working as political reporter and US correspondent for Wharf Cable Television (now known as Cable TV Hong Kong).

Jane holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Hong Kong Baptist University, and an MA in Asian Studies from Seton Hall University. She completed an EMBA programme offered by The Chinese University of Hong Kong in July 2013.

Nicholas Yang has been Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since November 2015.

Nicholas graduated in 1977 from the California Institute of Technology in the United States with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. He pursued further studies at Stanford University and obtained a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1978 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1982. Nicholas worked as a senior design engineer for Intel Corporation in 1978 and later as a strategic management consultant for Bain & Company.

After returning to Hong Kong in 1983, he joined Shell Electric Mfg (Holdings) Limited as its Executive Director and Deputy Group Managing Director until August 1999. He took up various posts in several technology, venture capital and private equity firms from 1999 to 2003. He worked as the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited from October 2003 to February 2010. He was Executive Vice President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University from March 2010 to February 2015. He was appointed as Non-official Member of the Executive Council and Advisor to the Chief Executive on Innovation and Technology in March 2015.

Edwin Hui is the leader of KPMG Data & Analytics solution team in Hong Kong. The team has a mandate to deliver data-driven solutions that help to transform and improve business for our clients, leveraging KPMG's deep industry knowledge and global technology platforms developed and owned by KPMG. Edwin also leads data strategy and planning projects, bringing the perceived benefits of big data platform into reality for our clients here in Hong Kong.

Edwin has 20+ years of experiences in the data and analytics field, with experiences in business intelligence, data warehousing, data governance and strategy. In the last 10 years he spent his time mainly in the financial services sector, acting as an advisor to key clients across mainland China and Hong Kong, helping them to identify the optimal technology and approach that would fulfil the prioritised business objectives.

Prior to joining KPMG Hong Kong, Edwin has spent his time with IBM Shanghai and HSBC, as well as different business intelligence and database vendors.

Sean Lee is an accomplished general manager with professional experience working with start-ups and global technology firms in North America and Asia. He is a renowned conference speaker, focusing on digital innovation and FinTech.

He is currently managing director at Dell Technologies, with global go-to-market responsibilities across its portfolio of companies. He has also co-founded a FinTech start-up in Hong Kong, with aspirations to be the leading private equities exchange for global unicorns.

Prior to Dell Technologies, Sean was regional director for Pivotal, a Silicon Valley based start-up focusing in modern agile software development. Pivotal went public on NYSE in April 2018. Pivotal is one of the portfolio companies within Dell Technologies.

Sean holds an Executive MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a double major in computer science and mathematics from the University of Waterloo in Canada. He is bilingually fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Alison Sim works with a specialist shared services team in Hong Kong and the Czech Republic. From pre-sales advisory, to operations and account development, the Crown team manages a US$ 200m portfolio of internal and external clients spanning more than 65 countries.

Driven by a commitment to employee engagement and great customer service, Alison and her team are currently researching affordable strategies that will increase quality, efficiency, build trust, reduce costs and enable divisional growth.

Alison is a hands-on professional with experience in business transformation, process optimisation and developing, managing and launching business process outsourcing shared services. Recent projects include establishing the team in the Czech Republic and the Robotic Process Automation Center in Hong Kong.

Her previous experience includes project manager at healthcare software start-up, and media sales and publishing organisation.

Dr Mark Lee has over ten years of research and teaching experiences at the university. His areas of research cover strategy, innovation and leadership. He is currently the research director at Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy. He was invited by leading associations as speakers including American Chamber of Commerce, Association of International Accountants, Brand Development Council, The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, Federation of ASEAN Accounting Firms, Federation of Hong Kong Industries, GS1, Hong Kong Chamber of Insurance Intermediaries, Hong Kong Exporter Association, Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Society of Registered Financial Planners, etc. 

Dr Toa Charm has over 30 years of management, marketing, consulting and executive education experience in innovation and technology industry. He held senior management positions in leading multinational, Hong Kong and mainland technology and financial services companies including Cyberport, HSBC, IBM, Oracle/Hyperion, Kingdee and Jardine Pacific. 

Dr Charm specialises in AI/Big Data, FinTech, digital economy and transformation, business strategy and business model innovation, digital tech entrepreneurship and emerging enterprise internationalisation. He is active in the AI/Big Data and FinTech industries and communities in Asia Pacific. Dr Charm nurtures talents and start-ups in the region. He acts as advisors and mentors for enterprises, start-ups, universities, non-profit and government bodies, and professional and business associations in Hong Kong, Greater China and Asia Pacific. 

Dr Charm holds a Doctor’s degree in Business Administration (DBA), a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. He was presented the ‘2018 Outstanding CityU DBA Alumni Award’ by The City University of Hong Kong.

Steve Monaghan is chairman and CEO of GenLife, a limited partner and investment committee member in True Global Ventures, Vice Chairman of Borderless Healthcare Mobile China, Vice Chairman of the HK Israel Trade Association, a Board Member of Pulse Global and a private investor in Artificial Intelligence, Life Sciences, Healthtech, Fintech and ICO's.

Originally a commercial pilot, Steve has held senior corporate and banking roles in product, marketing, operations, innovation and general management. He has worked for leading corporations and financial institutions including Dell, Compaq, Citigroup, OCBC, Shinsei, DBS Bank and AIA. Throughout his career, Steve has specialised in introducing new business models, businesses and products in all major markets in Asia and has filed six patents in FinTech.

At AIA Steve and the Edge team built Asia and Oceania's leading corporate Accelerator, became the first Insurance company to join R3 blockchain consortium, pioneered Digital Health in Asia and initiated the company's journey into Artificial Intelligence. Steve created GenLife, a Silicon Valley based start-up in which AIA became the lead investor, to create an R&D capability for Insurers around the world in Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain.

Steve is a frequent presenter, author and lecturer around the world on subjects including innovation, banking, insurance, working capital, M&A, artificial intelligence and investing. He has served as an advisor to Intel, Astri, AIA and Veritas Genetics. Steve holds an EMBA with ‘first in class academic standing’ from the Helsinki School of Economics and has attended senior leadership courses at IMD and Wharton.

Dominic Wu is the managing director and senior risk manager with the Bank of New York Mellon covering APAC risk activities. Dominic having more than 20 years of experience in banking, securities, assets management and consultancy. Dominic is a qualified accountant, fraud examiner and professional risk manager and did his MBA from University of Hull, UK. He is sought out speaker and conduct extensive research in finance and risk management. He is the founding chairman of Asia Financial Risk Think Tank and Hong Kong Chapter of the Institute of Operational Risk (IOR). He is also the head of Beijing Global Research Think Tank and is advisor to various universities, financial institutions and professional bodies.

Teddy Liu is the head of the corporate and talent development department of New World Development Company Limited, responsible for planning, promoting and managing New World Group’s corporate strategy, management system, process improvement and business and operational reviews, as well as for overseeing the group’s talent training and development function, including setting talent development strategies and advocating learning initiatives based on the ‘training for development’ rationale. He is also the head of group internal audit, responsible for the risk management, corporate governance and internal audit affairs of New World Group.

Teddy is a professional accountant and a member of various professional bodies, including the Hong Kong Certified Public Accountant, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Institute of Hong Kong Certified Public Accountants, the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, the Hong Kong Institute of Company Secretary, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of England, and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Hong Kong.

Teddy has over 20 years of experience in business management and corporate controllership functions which encompass strategic process improvement, financial management, cost control, investment appraisal, risk management, corporate governance, internal control, business and operational review, corporate reorganisation, and merger and acquisition advisory. 

In addition, Teddy has over 10 years of experience in providing internal training, especially in the areas of financial control, risk management and legal knowledge, focusing on steering learning programmes that align with corporate development. 

Narayanan Vaidyanathan is head of business insights at ACCA. He has a global remit for the topics he covers and leads a team of subject-matter and policy experts with diverse skills. He oversees ACCA’s futures research exploring the impact of future trends on business, and on the profession. He is the staff expert for the Accountancy Futures Academy Global Forum, and represents ACCA on government, industry or academic forums such as an all-party parliamentary group in the UK and an international standards body.

Specific areas of thought leadership within the research portfolio include ACCA’s work on the global economy, emerging technologies and business models, sustainability, social mobility, as well as sector specific insights, in relation to the public sector, financial services and oil and gas. 

Natalie Chan has been a committee member of ACCA Hong Kong since 2014, in addition to her role as the co-chairman of Professional Development Sub-Committee since 2015. She is currently the financial services industry audit and assurance partner of Deloitte China.

Natalie has more than 20 years of experience in providing audit and advisory services to financial institutions in Hong Kong and China with a diverse clientele of global banks, Hong Kong and China listed financial institutions, securities and investment management sector. With extensive audit experience among global, regional and local financial institutions, she also supports clients with a wide range of regulatory advisory services.

Natalie is a fellow member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is also a member of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Quin Thong describes self as a doer who is learning to dream. A Chartered Accountant qualified with ACCA, she served as regional CFO/COO for multinationals, beginning her accounting career with PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Quin is the Managing Director Asia a corporation listed on the London Stock Exchange, where Wilmington is dedicated to training finance professionals in financial modelling, valuation, risk and compliance. Impactful story telling for CFOs is a course she enjoys facilitating for her fellow CFOs. 

As part of the financial literacy empowerment programs encouraged by World Bank, she co-authored a children’s book ‘The Art of Wealth Management for Kids’ published by Oxford University Press. 

In her spare time, Quin runs ANA by Karma, an award winning social enterprise she founded in Bhutan; with a mission to empower poor illiterate Bhutanese women to become financially independent. www.anabykarma.com

When asked how she manages her time between the different priorities, she will happily share her 1:1-1 formula.