At the 2026 Global Asset Management Center Evaluation Index Release and CEIBS Lujiazui Finance 50 Forum Autumn Meeting held in Shanghai on September 15, Wang Hong, President of CEIBS, Chairman of the CEIBS Lujiazui International Finance Research Institute, and Co-Chair of the CEIBS Lujiazui Finance 50 Forum, stated that Shanghai has leveraged its accumulated strengths in underlying assets, growth momentum, and asset management technology this year to carve out new advantages in an evolving competitive landscape.

Wang Hong pointed out that competition among global asset management centers can no longer be simply measured by scale of assets under management, number of institutions, or market share. What will truly separate the leaders going forward is a city's comprehensive financial service capability and its global asset allocation ability.

She emphasized that changes in the environment and technology place higher demands on Shanghai. On one hand, Shanghai must further enhance its global asset allocation capability, better leveraging its role as a hub connecting Chinese assets with global capital. On the other hand, it needs to continuously improve risk management and financial service capabilities, ensuring that global investors are not only willing to come to Shanghai but also eager to allocate assets, manage risks, and conduct business there on a long-term basis.

In Wang Hong's view, the future competition among asset management centers ultimately comes down to "trust." Asset management is fundamentally a fiduciary business. When handling long-term funds entrusted by clients, professional judgment is crucial—but what matters even more is a sense of responsibility. AI can enhance the efficiency of investment research and decision-making, but it cannot replace human accountability.

"As AI becomes increasingly embedded in asset management operations, institutions need to integrate human professional experience and responsibility awareness with AI capabilities, establishing a clear, traceable, and trustworthy human-machine collaboration mechanism. Only in this way can the efficiency brought by technology truly translate into long-term value that investors can rely on," Wang Hong said.