“Giving back is one of Morgan Stanley’s core values, and for 87 years the firm has been committed to supporting and strengthening the communities in which we live and work, with an emphasis on children’s health and education, our global philanthropy theme.”

Laroia added: “We are very proud to have partnered with Operation Santa Claus for 26 years to support good causes that create a lasting impact on our local community.”

Marking its 35th anniversary this year, OSC has raised HK$353 million since its launch in 1988 to support the Hong Kong community through 323 charitable projects. A total of 15 charities are being funded this year.

The money raised by Morgan Stanley this year brings its 26-year fundraising total for OSC to more than HK$54 million, benefiting more than 310 projects, according to Laroia.

These include projects undertaken by the bank’s three core charity partners – the Zubin Foundation, Integrated Brilliant Education and SLCO Community Resources, all of which are among this year’s beneficiaries.

“Through these Operation Santa Claus partners, we fund unique projects that provide mental health support, preschool education and sign language intervention to local and ethnic minority children with special needs in Hong Kong,” Laroia said.

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With funding from Morgan Stanley through OSC, the Zubin Foundation will open a centre providing counselling and therapy to children from ethnic minority communities who have special educational needs. Integrated Brilliant Education will set up a kindergarten with Cantonese as the language of instruction mainly for non-Chinese speaking pupils. The SLCO project uses sign language to help children with special needs overcome barriers in communication.

In keeping with tradition, the firm’s OSC fundraising activities this year included the week-long Cake Bake Auction, with treats baked by select employees put under the hammer.

Managing directors of Morgan Stanley together with the founders and directors of its three core charity partners made cakes together at the Core Charities Bake-off.

Apart from baking, the investment bank’s senior leaders also hit some high notes at the virtual Directors’ Choir, a charity sing-off with teams going head to head, showcasing their creativity and musical talent.

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“To celebrate the 20th year of our Directors’ Choir, we invited the beneficiary children from our three core charity partners … to perform We Wish You a Merry Christmas, the same song that opened our very first choir performance 20 years ago,” Laroia said.

“We try to make [the fundraising activities] as fun as possible by encouraging divisional participation and adding competitive elements to further incentivise our [colleagues] to be generous.”