Jointly organised by the FinTech and Business Analytics Centre (FBAC), the Department of Economics and Finance, and the Department of Decision Analytics and Operations under the College of Business, the 5th Annual Hong Kong Conference on FinTech and AI in Finance was successfully held on 14 and 15 June 2026. This year’s conference brought together around 100 participants from leading academic institutions and industry circles worldwide to engage in deep discussions on the frontiers of FinTech and AI in finance.
Professor Allan Timmermann (University of California, San Diego) captivates the audience with his keynote address, “Computer, Complexity, and the Scaling Laws of Return Predictability,” offering fresh insights into the evolving landscape of financial forecasting.
The programme was anchored by three distinguished international scholars. Professor Allan Timmermann from the University of California, San Diego delivered the keynote speech, while Professor Olivier Scaillet from the University of Geneva and Professor Markus Pelger from Stanford University served as invited speakers. Their insightful presentations focused on asset return predictability, financial machine learning, and market stability, setting a rigorous scholarly tone for the event.
In addition, the conference featured 13 curated paper presentations, spanning emerging interdisciplinary domains such as AI and finance, machine learning and data science methods, financial markets and asset pricing, information mechanisms and textual data, sustainable finance, and digital platforms and FinTech applications. To further foster interactive exchanges among early-career researchers, a dedicated poster session was also featured, showcasing the latest work of 12 young scholars.
The resounding success of this year’s event further solidifies the conference’s position as a premier international platform that unites global academic and industry leaders. Looking ahead, this flagship annual event remains dedicated to driving cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, nurturing the growth of young scholars, and fostering deep innovations in the evolving FinTech and AI ecosystem.
Professor Olivier Scaillet (University of Geneva) presents his thought-provoking research, “Green Silence: Double Machine Learning Carbon Emissions under Sample Selection Bias,” exploring innovative approaches to sustainability analytics.
Professor Markus Pelger (Stanford University) shares his cutting-edge study, “Do AI Algorithmic Traders Lead to Market Instability? A Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Approach,” during his presentation on 15 June, sparking lively discussions on the future of AI-driven markets.
Professor Gavin Feng, Director of the CityUHK College of Business Research Centre of Fintech and Business Analytics, welcomes nearly 100 participants from leading universities, research institutions, and industry organisations across the globe, fostering dynamic exchanges on the latest developments in FinTech and AI-powered finance.
Professor Jingyu He, Associate Professor in the Department of Decision Analytics and Operations and the Department of Economics and Finance, moderates an engaging session featuring Professor Markus Pelger’s presentation and the ensuing discussion.