People

Dr. Peter So is a foresightful and strategic practitioner with a global vision and over 30 years of financial experience gained from leading investment banks. He believes a multidisciplinary knowledge base, lifelong learning, and innovation are essential to future success. He was the Head of Research for securities divisions from a diversity of corporate cultures in Citigroup (US), Credit Agricole Indosuez (France), ING (Netherlands), Schroders (UK), Macquarie Group (Australia), DBS Vickers (Singapore), and China Construction Bank International (China). His strong leadership and forward-looking capabilities rewarded him with a promotion from a research role to co-Managing Director and Board Director position to lead CCB International (CCBI) Securities, which operated in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the US.

Dr. So has participated in over 200 IPO (Initial Public Offerings), mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt issues, and sustainable financing projects in Greater China, through which he identified many successful business models and developed new valuation tools for a broad range of industries. He and his dynamic teams helped facilitate the evolution of numerous medium-sized companies into industry leaders and even Hang Seng Index Constituent stocks via intensive in-depth research and joint global marketing efforts. Dr. So’s entrepreneurship provided a strong real case for transforming CCBI’s research team from a small start-up in 2008 to a highly respected and influential market force within a few years after the Global Financial Crisis. Dr. So has struggled through multiple financial crises, enabling him to master invaluable crisis management skills and constructive resilience tools.

Dr. So and his research teams achieved high rankings across many sectors in Asiamoney and other international Brokers’ polls. In 2010, Asiamoney ranked CCBI the “Best Local Brokerage in Hong Kong #1” and “Most Improved Brokerage in Hong Kong #1”. Dr. So also personally achieved high rankings among “Best Strategist in Hong Kong”,“Best Analyst in Hong Kong”, and “Best Economist in Hong Kong”in various years in Asiamoney’s polls. Dr. So was among the leads in driving his organisation’s technological transformational change, which laid a good foundation for it to actively participate in the capital and asset management markets (especially in the emerging industries), gaining high public recognition and numerous championship awards. He also won multiple awards for Product Innovation, Brand Building, Marketing Achievements, Transformation Champion and Emerging Industries Promotion for many years at CCBI.

Dr. So firmly believes people are crucial to the success of any organization. He actively developed and marketed innovative ideas to global investors and senior corporate management, inspiring his teams to learn and think outside the box to create value for stakeholders. Many analysts in his teams have now become leaders in multinational corporations. Dr. So regularly participated in conferences and media interviews (e.g. Bloomberg, CNBC, HK Economic Times and HK Economic Journal) to share his unique analytical views and help advance the community’s investment skills. He is a mentor for HKU, CUHK, HKICPA, and HKCGI, and a speaker on sustainability at some universities.

Dr. So’s professional network extends across accountancy, law, finance, banking and other industries, which provides a good platform for his mentees to cultivate friendship with professionals, learn new industry practices, and source desirable opportunities. Dr. So is currently the Vice Chairman of the Professional Committee of Financial Services of Hong Kong Association of China Business, which aims to assist professionals and enterprises in developing careers and businesses relating to China. He is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.

With a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Hong Kong, an MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a DBA from the University of Hull, Dr. So persists in lifelong learning across disciplines and national frontiers. He continued further education in Sustainable Finance, Financial Engineering, Negotiation, Leadership, Supply Chains, Fintech, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from top-tier universities, including Cambridge, Oxford, Peking, Tsinghua, Stanford, Harvard, and MIT. Alumni Associations of these Universities provide good forums for Dr. So to learn diverse practicable insights from top talents. Seeing ample opportunities in sustainability and Islamic regions, Dr. So acted swiftly to become CESGA, CSFM™ and CIFE.

Dr. So has contributed many publications (integrating innovative techniques in ESG investing, asset allocation, investment strategy, sector and company analysis) distributed globally to professional investors and international platforms (e.g. Thomson Reuters, Factset and Datastream).

Further information on Dr. Peter So is available at Linkedin. (www.linkedin.com/in/dr-peter-so/)