Hong Kong will continue to be a pre-eminent financial centre and will play a central role in opening up China’s financial system to the rest of the world despite recent political upheaval, according to the new head of BlackRock’s Asia-Pacific operations.
Rachel Lord, whose move to Asia after four years running the asset manager’s European operations was announced on Tuesday, said the city’s history and business infrastructure supported its status.
“Infrastructure is very hard to move,” Lord told the Financial Times. “It’s less about politics and more about the way the ecosystem is set up and I don’t see any sign that Hong Kong loses its pre-eminence.”