IFEC Publishes Annual Report 2019-20: Cultivate a Financial Mindset

24 June 2020

The Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC) today published its Annual Report 2019-20 which provides an overview with key statistics of its work during the year, including key ongoing initiatives to improve financial literacy in Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong’s economy has taken a blow as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with increasingly more people faced with financial and unemployment difficulties. This highlights the need and urgency to have the capabilities and confidence to manage finances for ourselves and our families to weather through these tough times,” said Mr Lester Huang, Chairman of the IFEC.

“The IFEC endeavours to empower the people of Hong Kong to make sound financial decisions to enhance their financial well-being.”

The report theme, “Cultivate a Financial Mindset”, exhorts everyone to adopt a positive approach towards money and financial planning to pave the way for financial success.

Key highlights of our work in the past year include:

• Expanding the reach of our target education programmes across various key segments. During the year, over 400 seminars and workshops were conducted for more than 21,000 participants.
• Delivering public campaigns to the Hong Kong population via The Chin Family, the IFEC’s consumer education platform, and our newly-designed website. Key initiatives included the Good Old Times family event, World Investor Week, Borrowing and Debt campaign. During the reporting period, The Chin Family website recorded over three million page views and one million users, more than 73,000 Facebook page likes and 3,800 Instagram page followers.
• Conducting the Financial Literacy Monitor to track the financial literacy level in Hong Kong. Findings revealed that on a scale of 1-21, the financial score of Hong Kong people went up from 14.4 to 14.8 as a result of improvement in the areas of financial knowledge and attitude when compared to 2015, but behaviour scores have dropped.
• Launching the Core Competencies Framework on Financial Literacy for Investors, in conjunction with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Organization of Securities Commissions, to support the development and implementation of investor education initiatives across various jurisdictions.
• Organising the Financial Education Champion Award to recognise 42 organisations for providing quality financial education.

Ms Dora Li, General Manager of the IFEC said, “As we live in a world of rapid change, financial education becomes all the more important for people to manage their finances in order to tackle these changes. We look forward to collaborating with our stakeholders to help enhance the financial literacy levels in Hong Kong.”

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

Photos and captions:

1. Image of the IFEC Annual Report 2019-20.