Biography

Dr Cheng is the Dr S H Ho Professor of Banking and Finance. He is also the Director of the Research Centre for ESG as well as the Research Institute for Business at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. He is a member of the Hospital Governing Committee of Ruttonjee & Tang Shiu Kin Hospitals (April 2023 – March 2026). He was a member of the Investment Committee of the Hospital Authority Provident Fund Scheme (2016-2022) in which he led the effort in promoting ESG integration for an investment portfolio. Dr Cheng actively engages in ESG and green finance research. In addition to publishing on Green Bond, he received various research donation and grants related to ESG and financial services for over USD 1 million.  He is also a coauthor of a book chapter titled “Fintech Unicorns” in The Palgrave Handbook of Fintech and Blockchain, 2021.

Dr Cheng is a member of the Business Studies Assessment Panel for Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-financing Degree Sector under the Research Grants Council (RGC). He also served as a member of the Business Studies Panel (Joint Research Schemes) for the RGC, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Panel, and University Council and Trustee Board of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Pension Fund. He is currently a member of the Examination Board of The Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK).

Dr Cheng graduated with a DBA in Finance from Louisiana Tech University in 1989. He has been a CFP^CM certificant since 2001. Before joining Hang Seng University, he was Professor of Finance and Director of Economic Sustainability and Entrepreneurial finance at PolyU. From 1989 to 1998, he was an Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor at Murray State University in Kentucky. In 2003, he served as the HSBC Fellow at the University of Exeter in UK. Moreover. He has over 100 articles and books published including the Journal of Finance. Dr Cheng is an author of Fundamentals of Financial Planning, and the lead author of Financial Planning and Wealth Management: An International Perspective, both by McGrawHill.

Dr Cheng served as a project consultant for various organizations including United Nations, Bank of China (HK) Private Banking, Investor Education Centre (IEC), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Authority (MPFA), Value Partners, Agricultural Bank of China (HK) Private Banking, Bank Consortium Trust Hong Kong, Fubon Bank, Hong Kong Exchanges (HKEx), Charles Schwab (US), Tai Fook Securities, and Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute (HKSI).

Research and Teaching Interests

• Teaching: Wealth Management
• Research: ESG and Green Finance, Behavioral Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, IPOs

Intellectual Contributions (Publications, Conferences, Books, Book Chapters, etc.)

Publications (Recent 5 years):

• Fan, K. Y., Shen, J., Hui, E. C., & Cheng, L. T. W.(2024). ESG components and equity returns: Evidence from real estate investment trusts. International Review of Financial Analysis, 103716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103716
• Cheng, L. T. W., Cheong, T. S., Wojewodzki, M., & Chui, D. (2024). The effect of ESG divergence on the financial performance of Hong Kong-listed firms: an artificial neural network approach. Research in International Business and Finance, 102616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102616
• Cheng, L. T. W., Siu, Y. W., Wong, A., Wong, P., Armatas, C., & Yuen, K. P. (2024). Perceived employability during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China. Chinese Economy, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10971475.2024.2398962
• Fung, M. K., Cheng, L. T. W., & Shen, J. (2024). Do media message receivers asymmetrically react to non-strategic and strategic media coverage? Evidence from Hong Kong. Research in International Business and Finance, 70, 102335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102335
• Chan, R. Y. , Shen, J., Cheng, L. T. W., & Lai, J. W.M. (2024). Impacts of investment relations service quality on corporate information transparency and intangible value: the moderating role of competitive intensity. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 42(4), 704–724. https://doi.org/10.1108/mip-06-2023-0297
• Chang, X., Cheng, L. T. W., Kwok, W. C., & Wong, G. (2024). Stock price crash risk and firms’ operating leverage. Journal of Financial Stability, 71, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfs.2024.101219
• Cheng, L. T. W., Sharma, P., & Yan, S. (2023). Success begets success! Exploring the carry-over effects of total underwriting effort on post-IPO issuer firm outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 163, 113928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113928
• Wojewodzki, M., Cheong, T. S., Shen, J., & Cheng, L. T. W. (2023). Does corporate carbon performance converge in the global market? Evidence from a distribution dynamic approach. Journal of Environmental Management, 342, 118355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118355
• Cheng, L. T. W., Lee, S. K., Li, S. K., & Tsang, C. K. (2023). Understanding resource deployment efficiency for ESG and financial performance: A DEA approach. Research in International Business and Finance, 65, 101941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.101941
• Cheng, L. T. W., Shen, J., & Wojewodzki, M. (2023). A cross-country analysis of corporate carbon performance: An international investment perspective. Research in International Business and Finance, 64, 101888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.101888
• Cheng, L. T. W., Sharma, P., & Broadstock, D. C. (2022). Interactive effects of brand reputation and ESG on green bond issues: A sustainable development perspective. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(1), 570–586. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3161
• Cheng, L. T. W., Poon, J. S. C., Tang, S., & Wang, J. W. (2022). Does supplier concentration matter to investors during the COVID-19 crisis: evidence from China? Financial Innovation, 8(85). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40854-022-00391-0
• Ling, X., Yan, S., & Cheng, L. T. W. (2022). Investor relations under short‐selling pressure: Evidence from strategic signaling by company site visits. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 49(7–8), 1145–1174. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12592
• Cheng, L. T. W., Armatas, C. A., & Wang, J. W. (2021). The effects of work-integrated education and international study exchange experience on academic outcomes. Journal of Teaching in International Business, 32(2), 135–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/08975930.2021.1960243
• Cheng, L. T. W., Sharma, P., Shen, J., & Ng, A. C. (2021). Exploring the dark side of third-party certification effect in B2B relationships: A professional financial services perspective. Journal of Business Research, 127, 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.031
• Cheng, L. T. W., & Wang, J. W. (2021). Equity ownership and corporate transparency: International evidence. International Review of Economics & Finance, 76, 143–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2021.03.005
• Broadstock, D. C., Chan, K., Cheng, L. T. W., & Wang, X. (2020). The role of ESG performance during times of financial crisis: Evidence from COVID-19 in China. Finance Research Letters, 38, 101716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2020.101716
• Sharma, P., Cheng, L. T. W., & Leung, T. (2020). Impact of political connections on Chinese export firms’ performance – Lessons for other emerging markets. Journal of Business Research, 106, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.08.037
• Cheng, L. T. W., Armatas, C. A., & Wang, J. W. (2019). The impact of diversity, prior academic achievement and goal orientation on learning performance in group capstone projects. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(5), 913–925. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1699028

Non-Referred Publications (Selective):

• Broadstock, D. C., Cheng, L. T. W., & Poon, J. S. C. (2021). Fintech unicorns. The Palgrave Handbook of FinTech and Blockchain (pp. 109–170). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66433-6_6
• Broadstock, D. C., Cheng, L. T. W., & Wang, T. (2020). Understanding green bond challenges: A stakeholder’s perspective. Green Finance, Sustainable Development and the Belt and Road Initiative (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003021667-8
• Cheng, L. T. W. (2015). Financial Management (2^nd ed.). Pearson.
• Cheng, L. T. W. (2014). Basics of Personal Financial Management (2^nd ed.). Pearson.
• Cheng, L. T. W. ,Leung, T. Y., & Wong, Y. H. (2009). Financial planning and wealth management: an international perspective. McGraw-Hill.

Research Grants and Awards

• Project coordinator, Innovation and Technology Fund, Funding: $1,212,600 (ITF Funding Sought $1,073,600 + Sponsorship $139,000), Title: Fostering Big Data Applications and Innovation to Reflect Corporate ESG Performance through Media and Social Listening, HSUHK, 2023 - 2024 Aug
• Team Leader, RGC Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) grant, Funding: $4,095,000, Title: Establishing a Research Infrastructure for ESG Intelligence: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective, HSUHK, 2022-2024.
• PI, Donation grant from The S. H. Ho Foundation Ltd, Funding: $1,577,883, Title: Overcoming Challenges of Banking Services for the Next Decade: Sustainable Lending and Digital Banking, HSUHK, 2021-2023. Received UGC Marching Grant Scheme with amount $1,341,200.
• Faculty Award for Outstanding Performance (Teaching) in 2018/2019 at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• PI, CEDB PASS Grant, PT: $1,018,490, Title: Educating Accounting Professionals on How to Adopt Green Finance in Capital Projects, PolyU, 2019-2021

Business and Professional Engagement (including membership)

Highlights

• Member of the Hospital Governing Committee of Ruttonjee & Tang Shiu Kin Hospitals, April 2023 – March 2026.
• Member of the Assessment Panel for Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-financing Degree Sector (SF sector) under the Research Grants Council, March 2022 – February 2026.
• Member of the Investment Committee of the Hospital Authority Provident Fund Scheme, November 2016 - November 2022.
• Chairman of the Advisory Board of Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (HKIRA), 2016 – present.
• Member of the Examination Board of the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK), 2006 – present.