Maggie Ng

Maggie Ng has transformed a career in banking into one at the forefront of digital finance.

She logged nearly 20 years at Citi, all in Hong Kong, across responsibilities including consumers and risk. She joined the bank as a customer service director, headed credit cards, and later rose to serve as the consumer bank’s country risk manager.

Her banking career culminated in serving as Asia Pacific head of consumer lending – one of the biggest P&Ls at Citi globally. She held that role for seven years before turning to the opportunities in fintech.

Last year she left the bank to set up her own business, FinEx Asia, seeing an opportunity to use technology to offer specialized products – in this case, U.S. loans – to a broader audience, using machine learning to structure portfolios, and tapping P2P marketplaces to source assets.

“U.S. lending assets offer high yields, low volatility and resiliency, but there is no vehicle to introduce them to Asian investors,” Ng said. “Fintech is a bridge.”

Today she is working to launch the asset class in the form of a closed-end fund, to be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, provided she secures the necessary licensing. “This will enable entire categories of institutional investors to access [the asset class],” she said, particularly those in mainland China.

Her next goal: to move into supply-chain financing by harnessing blockchain technology.