Networking in Shenzhen

A handful of mid-level financial professionals in Shenzhen is organizing a new association with the support of the Shenzhen Securities Association to provide networking opportunities for the industry. The Shenzhen Society of Financial Professionals will kick off its inaugural event on 2 December, says Gerald Klayman, a member of the business development department at Baoying Fund Management.

He, along with his colleague Yu Bing, Penghua Fund Management's Ken Dooley and ABN AMRO Securities chief representative Ruth Li, have garnered the support of organizations such as the Shenzhen branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to create a young professionals' group.

Klayman notes that in cities such as Beijing, foreign professionals from various industries have similar organizations, reflecting the kind of industry get-togethers common in the United States. But because they are mainly expatriate affairs, they do not have the numbers to specialize in just the finance sector.

This new organization is instead aimed at Chinese people working in the finance industry in Shenzhen. "Most people working in the industry are extremely young, as the industry itself is only 10 years old," Klayman says. "There are existing organizations here for people at the CEO level but we wanted something for younger people at other levels to talk about the hot topics, meet each other, and talk shop."

The organization plans to bring in speakers from Hong Kong, with Salomon Smith Barney chief economist Huang Yiping agreed to speak (in Mandarin) at the inaugural meeting about China's new QFII regime. Klayman adds the group is fund raising to bring an investor education specialist from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to Shenzhen to address the group early next year.

The first meeting will be at the Wu Chou Hotel. Anyone interested in learning about this new organization can contact Klayman at [email protected].