Stanley Shih Kuang Kwan (; January 10, 1925 – December 31, 2011) was a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

banker best known for creating the

Hang Seng Index The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is a freefloat-adjusted market- capitalization-weighted stock-market index in Hong Kong. It is used to record and monitor daily changes of the largest companies of the Hong Kong stock market and is the main indicator ...

. The Hang Sang Index opened on November 24, 1969.

Biography

Stanley S. K. Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1925 into a traditional Chinese banking family. He attended King's College until the fall of Hong Kong in 1941 and joined the Chinese army as an interpreter for US forces during the war. From 1962 until he retired in 1984, he headed the Research Department in Hang Seng Bank. He launched the Hang Seng Index in 1969, served on the government's Statistics Advisory Board during 1976–84 and was awarded the MBE in 1985. He now lives in Toronto, Canada. Kwan creation, the Hang Seng Index, has been widely used to measure the health and growth of the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is rep ...

. In 2008, Kwan published his memoirs, ''The Dragon and the Crown: Hong Kong Memoirs''. In the book's foreword, written by

Robert Neild Robert Ralph Neild (10 September 1924 – 18 December 2018) was a Professor of Economics at Cambridge University. Robert Neild was born in Hertfordshire in 1924, and was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Elected ...

, the President of the Hong Kong chapter of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, Neild calls the Hang Seng, "the ultimate

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

measure of Hong Kong." As of 2012, the Hang Seng Index consists of forty-eight companies incorporating some of the largest in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. These include

PetroChina PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and ga ...

, which is Asia's largest company in terms of

market value Market value or OMV (Open Market Valuation) is the price at which an asset would trade in a competitive auction setting. Market value is often used interchangeably with ''open market value'', '' fair value'' or ''fair market value'', although th ...

, and

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC; ) is a Chinese multinational bank. Founded as a limited company on 1 January 1984, ICBC is a state-owned commercial bank. With capital provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the b ...

, the largest lender in the world based on market value. Kwan launched his career within the Hong Kong banking industry following the end of the war. He joined the staff of

Hang Seng Bank Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong-based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Group, ...

in 1962. In 1969, Hang Seng Bank chairman

Ho Sin Hang Ho Sin Hang (; 1900 – 4 December 1997), also known as S. H. Ho and He Shanheng, was a Hong Kong entrepreneur, philanthropist and financier. He co-founded Hang Seng Bank in 1933, and served as its chairman. Ho also cofounded the Hang Chong I ...

and general manager Q.W. Lee decided that there should be a Hong Kong version of New York's

Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...

. Kwan headed the Hang Seng Bank's research department at the time. Together with his staff of seven employees, Kwan created the Hang Seng Index using input from

economists An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

statisticians A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

and government officials. The Index debuted in Hong Kong on November 24, 1969. The Hang Seng Index would benefit, or suffer, based on the political and economic fortunes of Hong Kong. The Index crashed in 1974 following the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had su ...

, and again in 1983, during a political stalemate in negotiations between China and the United Kingdom over the future status of Hong Kong. The Index grew following the

transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admin ...

in 1997, when mainland Chinese markets were opened to Hong Kong business interests. Stanley Kwan retired from the banking industry and moved to Canada. He died in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

on December 31, 2011, at the age of 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwan, Stanley 1925 births 2011 deaths Alumni of King's College, Hong Kong Hong Kong bankers Hong Kong writers Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Hang Seng Bank