Exclusive | HSBC to feature ex-ECB president Draghi and Ark Investment’s Wood at summit in Hong Kong

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Global Investment Summit will run from March 25 to 27 next year

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An HSBC branch in Mong Kok. Photo: Nora Tam

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 12:05pm, 27 Nov 2024Updated: 12:45pm, 27 Nov 2024

HSBC Holdings’ second global investment forum next year will feature former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and veteran US investor Cathie Wood, as Hong Kong continues its campaign to be a premier host for financial summits.

The Global Investment Summit will run from March 25 to 27 next year, HSBC said in a statement on Wednesday. Besides Draghi and Wood, the founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management, the summit will feature as speakers Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, Robert Fairbairn, vice-chairman of money manager BlackRock, and Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba Group Holding, it said.

The conference is expected to draw more than 3,000 delegates from around the world and registration is open now, HSBC said.

Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management. Photo: Reuters

High-profile gatherings like the Global Investment Summit will help Hong Kong to retain its position as a global financial centre at a time when it is weathering downturns in the property and initial public offering markets and grappling with a slowdown in economic growth on the mainland. Hong Kong’s stock market, the third-largest in Asia, is also struggling to maintain momentum after China disappointed investors with a fiscal stimulus plan and Donald Trump’s re-election as US president.

Last week, Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng led a large delegation to the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, an event organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Top executives from HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, BNP Paribas, Oaktree Capital Management and KKR were also there in a show of support for Hong Kong. The city is a key profit centre for many of these companies and some of them maintain major regional headquarters there.

At the summit, He pledged more support for Hong Kong to strengthen its status as a centre for the offshore yuan market by issuing more government bonds and helping Chinese companies to list in the city. China Securities Regulatory Commission chairman Wu Qing also said commodity trading could be added to the Connect scheme that currently allows for cross-border transactions on stocks, bonds and wealth-management products.