JPMorgan’s Hong Kong CEO, Kuan Kam Sing, discussed tariffs, supply chain fragmentation, and geopolitical uncertainty at an economic forum. She emphasized that addressing volatility requires calmness and experience, noting that outcomes cannot be predicted and preparation for all scenarios is essential.
She highlighted that short-term volatility creates opportunities, with market operations potentially benefiting from such fluctuations. However, prolonged uncertainty could harm the economy. Despite market fluctuations over the past four weeks, the group’s overall business performance in the first quarter was strong. She recommended continuous stress testing, improving risk management tools, and providing clear leadership guidance to employees.
Regarding Hong Kong, Kuan Kam Sing identified the city’s most prominent advantage as its ability to connect capital with market opportunities, supported by a common law system, open capital markets, robust market infrastructure, and predictable regulatory frameworks. As global investors, corporations, and institutions seek to diversify risks, Hong Kong will play a critical role through its stable, predictable, and deep capital markets.
On AI, Kuan Kam Sing stated that the group’s technology investment this year will approach $20 billion, with increased focus on AI and machine learning. The company has established foundations in generative AI and is advancing toward intelligent agent AI. Practical benefits are evident in productivity improvements in software engineering and operational fields, with 90% of software engineers leveraging AI to enhance efficiency.
She also noted that the group has rolled out its proprietary large language model suite to more than 300,000 employees globally, with adoption rates among Hong Kong employees exceeding 80%, the highest worldwide. Employees use it daily for meeting preparations, generating presentation materials, research summarization via AI, complex fraud detection in operations, and corporate treasury clients utilizing AI tools to forecast cash flows. Additional capacity created by AI is being reinvested into growth areas, so the group continues to hire, particularly for frontline roles in Hong Kong, as client management still requires personal interactions.
