IFEC Publishes Annual Report 2020-21: Financial Learning under the New Normal

30 June 2021

The Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC) today published its Annual Report 2020-21 which highlights its key achievements in advancing financial literacy in Hong Kong during the year.

Themed “Financial Learning under the New Normal”, the report underscores the IFEC’s commitment to provide investor and financial education to the people of Hong Kong, amid a challenging year with the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift towards rapid digitalisation.

IFEC Chairman Mr Lester Huang said, “In face of the COVID-19-induced shutdowns and social distancing measures, we had to accelerate our digital transformation journey to adapt face-to-face learning into online resources to continue to cater to the investor and financial education needs of the various segments that the IFEC serves.”

“We are also aware of the financial stress that the pandemic has imposed on many households. This further underpins the importance of financial literacy, and the need to have ready access to practical and relevant personal financial information and tools, especially during such times,” he said.

Key highlights of our past year’s work include:

  • Accelerating digital transformation to deliver publicity campaigns across multiple mainstream and online channels. Key campaigns included Keep Your Finances in Good Shape under COVID-19 campaign, Debt and Borrowing Campaign, Anti-scam Campaign, World Investor Week and Global Money Week. IFEC’s public campaigns generated in excess of 16.5 million video views in total. The IFEC Chin Family website recorded over 2.5 million page views, with more than 80,000 and 7,500 Facebook and Instagram pages followers respectively.
  • Supporting home-based learning for young schoolchildren with various online activities and resources. The online Santa Challenge attracted over 5,100 participants, including 85 schools which took part in the school division. The Lunar New Year interactive web games and other resources for parents and children had over 51,000 page views.
  • Extending the reach of education programmes through digital channels for various target groups. Key programmes included The Chin Family Financially Literate Schools for primary schoolchildren, the Personal Finance Ambassador Programme for tertiary students and various online programmes for employees and retirees.
  • Launching the territory-wide virtual Hong Kong Money Month 2021. Together with 60 stakeholders, 80 financial education initiatives were organised for the public.
  • Organising the Financial Education Champion Award to recognise 40 organisations for the provision of quality financial education.
  • Publishing the OECD International Network on Financial Education International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy. Findings revealed that Hong Kong ranked first in financial knowledge among the 26 countries and economies, sixth for financial behaviour and 14th for financial attitude.

IFEC General Manager Ms Dora Li said, “Under the ‘new normal’, the IFEC will continue to step up its efforts to help advance investor and financial education in Hong Kong. Going forward, despite uncertainties, new challenges also mean new opportunities. We look forward to even closer collaboration with our stakeholders to help steer Hong Kong towards a better future.”

An online version of the annual report is available on the IFEC website.

Photos and captions:

1. An Image of the IFEC Annual Report 2020-21.