Three years after the financial tsunami, the global economy is not yet out of the woods. While Asia has grown remarkably, Europe and US are still searching for the right recipe for economic growth. Since the second quarter, the world's economy has been plagued by a series of uncertainties such as the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the worsening US economy and fiscal position, and inflationary pressures in the emerging markets etc. The downgrade in the US credit rating and the default risk of the EU states have further exacerbated the situation and global markets have experienced extreme volatilities of late.

The financial world has changed since the financial tsunami, most prominently in the shift of focus from profits to risk. Hong Kong, being an international financial center, is highly sensitive to these changes. Undoubtedly, regulatory and economic policy changes are of utmost importance and will continue to be high on the agenda.

On the regulatory front, the proliferation of changes, both locally and globally, is impacting different segments of the industry as well as the behavior of the investors. In the past one year, the Hong Kong fund industry has been working in full force with regulators and distributors to roll-out new measures, including the Products Handbook, Key Facts Statement, investor characterization and enhanced disclosures etc. However, the impact of these new measures on market development, business model, operations, clients' demands and investor protection remain to be seen. How would these changes affect the fund management industry and the investors? While we all agree that the key is to achieve an appropriate balance between investor protection and market development, this has become more challenging as the financial markets get more complicated.

On the business side, China's growing economic influence continues to offer Hong Kong huge opportunities. In line with the Mainland's 12th Five-Year Plan, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang announced in August a series of initiatives to reinforce and strengthen Hong Kong's bid to be the leading offshore RMB center. With the fastening pace of RMB internationalization, Mainland-related business will certainly remain the center of attention for Hong Kong in the coming years. We have witnessed significant growth in the offshore RMB business in the past one year but RMB funds launched in Hong Kong to date are numbered. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions have been positioning proactively to capture the offshore RMB business. With the support of China, it is important for Hong Kong fund industry to get better prepared for the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities.

With all these changes and challenges, the industry must adapt quickly to fully capture the wave of changes and strengthen our competitive edge. With the theme "Riding the Wave of Change", the 5th HKIFA annual conference will bring together over twenty seasoned professionals to discuss the critical issues pertinent to the fund industry and provide a platform for market participants to explore ways to surf through these changes and ride on the opportunities.

This year's event highlights include:

• The implications of the Mainland's 12th Five-Year Plan and how should Hong Kong's fund industry position itself to leverage on the opportunities?
• Striking an appropriate balance between investor protection and market development
• EU: what are the latest regulatory changes and how would that affect non-EU jurisdictions?
• Cross-border distribution of mutual funds in Asia
• The implications of FATCA to the fund industry (outside U.S.)
• Exploring MPF ECA - from the perspective of intermediaries
• The latest developments of RMB business in Hong Kong
• QFII, QDII, offshore RMB business, Mainland fund market - opportunity sets for international fund managers and Mainland fund managers