The Inaugural School of Finance Alumni Forum was held at Renmin University of China (RUC) on July 4th, gathering more than 60 alumni around the globe.

The Forum was jointly organized by the School of Finance of RUC and China Financial Policy Research Center with an aim to unite the strength of RUC alumni and foster academic exchange.

Ye Kangtao, Vice President of RUC, delivered the opening speech. He spoke highly of the contributions made by the School of Finance in talent cultivation and expressed his wish for alumni to participate in as well as contribute to the development of RUC.

Wang Yue, RUC alumna and John Spooner Professor of Finance at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, delivered a keynote speech titled “Rise of Non-Financial Preferences and the Future of Finance”, which systematically summarized her research achievements and predictions in recent years.

Professor Wang Yue offered novel insights into the hypothesis of rational man and the theories of risk preference and time preference. She proposed that the attitude towards risk is rooted in cultural backgrounds rather than financial preferences. Factors such as ESG, income inquality and political orientation are playing increasingly larger roles and influencing the financial market. Through empirical study, Professor Wang Yue found that the market imposes stronger “punishment” towards enterprises with unequal income distribution, reducing their valuation. This proves that factors unrelated to financial preferences are influencing and will continue to influence or even reconstruct the financial market.

The Forum consisted of five parallel sub-forums themed “Asset Pricing”, “Corporate Finance”, “Commercial Banking”, “Macro and Theory”, and “Finance and Insurance”. Eighteen renowned scholars at home and abroad delivered informative speeches and thought-provoking comments.

The Forum also set up a best paper award. After rigorous review, the award was conferred on Jiang Wenxi, an associate professor of the Chinese University of Hongkong and a 2007 alumnus of the School of Finance, for his co-authored paper “How Index Funds Reshape Intraday Market Dynamics”.

Aside from the sub-forums, the School of Finance also organized academic workshops and face-to-face seminars convened by Professor Wang Yue, Professor Jiang Wenxi and other scholars, providing opportunities for young teachers and graduate students to communicate with elites in their fields.

The School of Finance plans to turn the Forum into a regular annual forum held every summer, aiming to gather outstanding students in the field of finance and establish an open platform for in-depth communication and interaction among alumni.