Meet the most ‘influential’ person in Hong Kong fintech

If you work in Hong Kong fintech (or if you plan to), you should probably get to know Helene Li. She’s not a front-office banker or a technologist, but she’s now at the forefront of the fintech startup scene in Hong Kong.

The finance-sector veteran states on her LinkedIn profile that data provider Refinitiv rates her as one of APAC’s top-five financial services (social media) ‘influencers’. And she has just resurfaced as the new general manager of the Hong Kong Fintech Association, a membership-based body representing Hong Kong’s burgeoning fintech community.

Li’s own career suggests she would be a particularly informative person to talk to if you want to move from a large bank into a startup – a popular career change that is nevertheless fraught with potential problems (many of which are outlined in this article we posted earlier in 2019).

Her resume is full of tenures in strategic planning and marketing roles at global banks. Most recently (December 2013 to September 2018), she was a managing director and APAC head of strategic planning, brand and communications at BNP Paribas Wealth Management in Hong Kong. Prior to that, Li was Lombard Odier’s head of Asia Pacific marketing, also at MD level. And she did the same job for JP Morgan’s private bank between 2007 and 2009, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Li has recent experience of launching and running a startup. In January this year, she and serial entrepreneur Andy Ann founded GoImpact Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based sustainable finance platform.

The best way to meet Li in person may be to attend the same conference as her – Li appears to be in demand as a speaker and moderator. She was a speaker at the Financial Times Investing for Good Asia event in April, for example. Expect to see her name among panelists at Asian fintech conferences in the near future.

If you do get to meet Li, be sure to chat to her about sustainable investment in Asia – not just your own career plans in fintech. You can read a summary of her views on this LinkedIn post, which discusses the hurdles that the sector has yet to overcome. Li has also been hosting a series of sustainability podcasts this year.  

Image credit: George Pagan III, Unsplash

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