Fresh perspective puts talented PR man on top

Strategic decision to specialise in the financial field turns co-founder of consultancy into home-grown success story The winner of this year's Young Entrepreneur Award is a true Hong Kong success story. Public relations man Richard Tsang, 37, managing director of Strategic Financial Relations, was born, raised and educated in the city. He began his career by going briefly into hotel public relations before joining the Burson Marsteller international communications consultancy, initially working on corporate public relations before transferring to the financial team, where he quickly discovered his true talents and interest lay. 'I worked with Burson for about five years and then I left and joined Edelman, helping them build up their financial team in this region. I was only with Edelman for about a year and then I started this firm with a group of partners,' Mr Tsang says. That was eight years ago. This year, Strategic Financial Relations was ranked 3rd in the PRWeek consultancy ratings - the only Hong Kong agency to feature in the top 10. It claims to be the largest financial public relations consultancy in the city and Mr Tsang has emerged as a widely recognised industry spokesman. 'I think we are different in that we have lots of people focusing on the financial field, and in terms of stability, our people are committed to the company. 'We are only eight years old but we have people who have been working here for more than five or six years - lots of them. Some have been with me for more than 10 years. They worked with me at Burson, then joined me at Edelman, and then joined me here.' When he established Strategic Financial Relations, Mr Tsang says, the area of communications in which he specialises was not widely understood, but he believes companies are now much more aware of the need to communicate with their shareholders. 'I think it's better than a few years ago,' he says. 'People now appreciate the importance of investor relations. Shareholders are demanding more. Companies know that they need somebody to help them, and people are more appreciative of what we do.' That fresh perspective is certainly reflected in the company's growing list of retainer clients, which numbers more than 100, ranging from Hutchison and Cheung Kong's Tom.com electronic media operation to industrial companies such as LCD manufacturer Varitronix International and consumer audio products manufacturer Alco Holdings. According to Mr Tsang, the company has handled more than 100 initial public offering communications programmes, including some of the most successful of recent years. 'I think we achieved quite a lot over the last year. We enlarged our market share considerably. We handled at least 40 per cent of the IPOs. We did 26, and we have at least 20 competitors doing the same thing, so I think that's quite something,' he says. This year has been difficult and challenging for most companies, but Mr Tsang believes his company has managed difficult times well, for which he credits a strong management team. 'Our greatest strength is our team of 50 talented professionals, whose experience and expertise cover every aspect of business and financial communications,' he says. That experience and expertise covers financial media, corporate banking, corporate finance, stock market analysis, fund management, financial marketing and general public relations. Mr Tsang says clients also benefit from the synergies arising from the company's membership of the Hong Kong Consultants Group, which claims to be the largest public relations and communications group in Hong Kong, set up at the same time as Strategic Financial Relations by Mr Tsang and five partners. Fields of activity within that group include corporate and marketing communications, China relations, public affairs, government relations, lobbying, event organisation and video production. The group is also a member of the Worldcom network, which gives it access to more than 100 PR consultancies in about 30 countries. This was also the year Mr Tsang and his team began to focus seriously on the important China market. 'Just after Sars, I started building up our Guangzhou office,' he says. 'Within three months we were up and running, and we now have our first big project - a multi-national company opening in Guangzhou.' Strategic Financial Relations already has branches in Beijing and Shanghai with joint venture partners, but the new office is its first wholly owned China operation. Mr Tsang is delighted with the Young Entrepreneur Award, which, he points out, is being given to a service company for the first time. 'I think it may be a good sign, because that is the direction in which Hong Kong is going,' he says. 'Perhaps another reason is that we have helped a lot of small companies to get listed in Hong Kong that have gone on to become medium-sized or large. Rather than helping just one company, we have helped several industries to grow in the market.' The award also recognises Mr Tsang's contribution to his industry in the form of education. He teaches financial public relations at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University. Given his busy schedule, where does he find the time? 'Fortunately I am able to delegate a lot of my duties to my senior people,' he says.