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Ben Kwok

Reminiscing about the glory days of Sun Hung Kai Financial
About 1,000 past and present employees of Sun Hung Kai Financial will attend a party next month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the former No1 brokerage house in Hong Kong.
Invitations for the reunion bash have been sent out, with the organisers expecting to fill 100 tables for a banquet at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. 
Adding to the party atmosphere is a dress code that requires 'business attire or costume from the 1960s to 1970s'.
Those were the golden days for Sun Hung Kai, founded in 1969 by Fung King-hey and his partners,  Lee Shau-kee and the late Kwok Tak-seng. The partners eventually left to establish two of the city's biggest property firms -  Kwok set up Sun Hung Kai Properties and Mr Lee, Henderson Land.
Over the years, the brokerage arguably has proved to be the best training ground for some of the city's top business minds, including Hong Kong Exchanges  and Clearing chairman Ronald Arculli and chief executive Paul Chow Man-yiu, Hong Kong Jockey Club chairman John Chan Cho-chak and Trade Development Council chairman Jack So Chak-kwong, who all spent their early careers at Sun Hung Kai.
There is sure to be much reminiscing about the time in 1982 when Mr Fung cut a share-swap deal with  Merrill Lynch that many described as 'the minnow swallowing the whale', as he became the single largest shareholder in the then largest brokerage in the United States. It eventually earned him a 100 per cent return on his US$65 million investment.
But SHK Financial  has never been as  dominant since. In 1996, the Fung family sold its 33 per cent stake for HK$743.6 million to  Malaysian businessman Lee Ming-tee's family-controlled Allied Group.
Under Mr Lee's son Seng Huang, SHK embarked on a push into the mainland, online trading and wealth management, sealing a strategic tie-up with Dubai Investment Group in 2007. Last year, the firm came under the spotlight for its marketing role in the Lehman Brothers minibond case.
It has been an eventful 40-year ride. Long may the journey continue.
Making their mark globally
The emergence of China Inc is nothing new, but the rise of the country's top brands on the global stage may surprise a few.
Ranking alongside Google, Microsoft and Coca-Cola is China Mobile, considered the world's 7th most valuable brand, at US$61 billion, according to a new survey.
 Thanks to the global financial crisis that has turned the banking world on its head, three  mainland lenders are up there, too - Industrial & Commercial Bank of China is No12, with a brand value of US$38 billion, China Construction Bank is ranked 24th,  at US$22 billion, and Bank of China 27th,  at US$21 billion.
All three mainland banks, which also happen to be the world's biggest by market capitalisation, are ranked ahead of HSBC, 30th, with US$19 billion.  As for the former giants, Citi comes in at 49th with a brand value of US$14 billion and Morgan Stanley 92nd with US$6.7 billion.
The survey was carried out by BrandZ, which says it graded 23,000 brands from 31 countries using a formula involving the companies' attributable earnings,  intangible earnings and potential growth.
The only local brand to make it into the top 100 was Esprit, owned by blue chip Esprit Holdings, which ranked No97, with a value of US$6.5 billion.
Caution a little premature
We're glad we didn't heed the 'hot stocks' warning of HKEx chairman Ronald Arculli three weeks ago.
On May 8, he was reported as saying he wouldn't be a buyer of stocks trading in the city, as they were at their most expensive valuations since January 2008, going on to stress that he was 'acutely conscious of it'.
Since then, the Hang Seng Index has gained 5.5 per cent, closing yesterday  at 18,171, an eight-month high. With this momentum, chances are the market could return to the pre-Lehman-bankruptcy level.
But to Mr  Arculli's credit, he was right about his own company's share price. HKEx has  risen only 1 per cent, closing  at HK$119.50 yesterday. 
More better?
Our quote of the week belongs to an Australian fund manager from Paradice Investment in Sydney for trying to put this positive spin on the financial crisis: 'People are anticipating a recovery and demand for commodities going up on the back of that. Things are getting less worse.'



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Sun Hung Kai Properties

Lai See