An Extensive Reader & A Globetrotter,Keep Growing Through Business Endeavors

By Lily Wang

Reading extensively and travelling to many places will give people a new understanding of the world. People may obtain rich knowledge through extensive reading， but still lack practical experiences； they may be brave when it comes to taking actions after travelling a lot， but may face challenges or obstacles without wide knowledge. It is important for people to integrate learning knowledge with practical experience before growing up.

Underneath youll find Prof. Dr. Tsang Wai Chun Mariannas experiences， founder and chairperson of TWC Management Limited. She has been learning continuously and starting business endeavors， to operate her business with integrity and honesty， and reciprocate to society with love. She has been demonstrating positive energy and inspiring people to move forward.

Study hard and start businesses

Looking back at her businessstarting process， Marianna Tsang has been learning throughout. She graduated from HKBU （Hong Kong Baptist University）， an experience that laid a solid foundation for her business career and shaped her own character. “HKBU provides all-round education， covering all aspects of morality， intelligence， physique and beauty. As the school motto ‘faith and perseverance mentions， HKBUs whole person educational concept has empowered her with innovative thinking， an efficient management capability and also a good character.”

After graduating from Hong Kong Baptist University， Marianna Tsang has successively finished her MBA studies at Heriot Watt in the UK and her postdoctoral studies at California State University in the U.S. Studies overseas further broadened her horizon and inspired her entrepreneurial thinking.

After leaving campus， Marianna Tsang never stopped studying. She took various professional qualification courses while working， and obtained more than 20 professional qualifications， certified by institutions like Association of International Accounting UK， the Institute of Public Accountants of Australia， the UK Chartered and Hong Kong Corporate Governance Institute， the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong， Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK and the Hong Kong Society of Registered Financial Planners Institute.

Marianna Tsang was in her element at the workplace after achieving academic success. During the 20 years after graduation， she had worked for many large business and professional institutions and served as a legal secretary， accountant and chairman of the audit committee of listed company. She has also served as financial and tax management consultants for many client companies. Due to her outstanding performance in the professional field， Marianna Tsang herself has been invited to serve as judge or panel chairman of a number of contests， including the panel chairman of the MBA Award committee of HKBU， panel judge of the faculty knowledge transfer award， and the panel judge of the student business proposal contest； she also served as the panel judge chairman of the Seed Program of HKPC， the member of Government tax appeal Board of Review of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a special researcher and post-doctoral thesis defence judge of National Academy of Governance Government Economics Research Centre.

With her university experience and wide scope of professional knowledge， Marianna Tsang is able to achieve success in her career. In 2000， an alumnus of HKBU introduced her to the corporate partner by coincidence. At that time， Marianna Tsang had been serving as director of a CPA firm， however her dream of starting her own business over the years would become reality if she resigned， she thought. With her professional qualifications and educational background， even if she failed in starting a new business， she had the confidence to return to the workplace. Therefore， Marianna Tsang resigned and embarked on the road of starting her own business， striking a balance between being brave when it comes to innovation and being conservative in terms of life choices.

For Marianna Tsang， staring a new business was not only a commercial activity to earn profit， but also a process of serving and contributing to society. “I hope that I can help customers solve their problems and also shoulder corresponding social responsibilities. Therefore， she named her company as ‘TWC， meaning the enlightening grace of heaven and the adherence to business virtue and reciprocating kindness to others （society），”she said.

Opportunities are always reserved for those who are well prepared. Marianna Tsang admitted that the process of founding her company was quite smooth， and she was grateful to her parents for their early years education， as this taught her to face life in a positive way， helping her career and making it easier to win recognition of clients. After the set up of TWC management， she received strong support from her partner and also her friends， and these friends became the first batch of clients of the company. “This is because I had made strategic preparation before I started my business.”

Customer oriented， honesty comes first

At the beginning that the company of Marianna Tsang was set up， its corporate brand had not been established， as it was just getting started. Finding out how to build up a stable client base and gain new business， especially large enterprise clients， became an important issue for Tsang. Tsang concluded： “in fact， the solution is quite simple， which is， ‘strength+business ethics. The most important thing is to help clients solve problems or meet their needs， instead of taking earning profits as the primary goal. If we could help our clients solve problems， the company will reap profits naturally. The ‘three hearts is the core of our companys corporate culture， that is， to make our clients trust our professional capability， to have confidence about our efficient and quality services and feel satisfied about our integrity and reliability.” Our company always sticks to the concept of customer-oriented and honesty coming first. With the recommendations by our old clients， TWC management has received high recognition and started to gain a foothold in the market.

As the financial hub of Asia， Hong Kong has natural advantages in developing financial services. It is said that TWC management has been committed to becoming an enterprise that provides cross-border services. The scope of services includes accounting， financial reports， helping enterprises set up both Hong Kong and offshore companies， providing company secretarial work and providing legal related services etc. At present， TWCs clients cover all business sectors， including trade， finance， manufacturing， information technology， property management and logistics. These clients are not only from Hong Kong， but also from the mainland， the U.S.， Singapore， Europe the U.K.， Southeast Asia and Japan etc. In addition， Tsang also has expert experiences in the management of private equity funds， and has also helped clients with their initial public offering （IPO）， providing advice for the restructuring of quasilisted companies， and assisted clients in applying for the license issued by the SFC （Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission）.

In the early days of Tsangs entrepreneurship， private equity funds were quite popular， and the clientsasset value was high. For a third-party financial service provider， there can be two modes of paying service fees： the first type of fee is equal to a percentage of the total assets managed， and the second way is charging a certain amount based on the time and complexity of services provided. The first type of management fee may generate high profits， but will also bring high risks. Tsang said that TWC has a prudent business style and adopts the second way of charging management fees. In the past few decades， although Hong Kong had experienced many financial storms and crises， and also suffered from the impact of the COVID-19 for three years， life was relatively easy for TWC management. “Although the asset value of certain clients has declined， or even ended the contract with us due to closure of their business， it has little impact on our companys business as a whole. In fact， some large enterprises have turned to employ local small and medium-sized companies like us in order to save costs， which means that we have also benefited from the crisis. We should take a positive view of these crises， maintain a high degree of vigilance， and stand side by side with our clients. Even if some clients require a reduction in management fees due to a decline in business， we are very willing to offer a helping hand.”

Play the role of “two windows”and build a bridge of cooperation

Today， TWC management focuses on providing private fund services， including the establishment of private funds and the full set of management services after its establishment， such as the subscription of investors， issuing shares or partnership interest， analysis of financial statement and returns， establishing structure to hold the investments managed by the fund manager， processing investment-related legal documents， calling of capital injection， distributing investment income to investors， processing bank income and expenditure and conducting due diligence.

Tsang said that the biggest feature of TWC is its familiarity about the local situation of Hong Kong， and also its international perspective and ability to compete with large financial groups in the world market.

Although Hong Kong has a superior market environment and attracts many Chinese and foreign investors to do business here， the competition is also quite fierce. “We are able to make use of our professional knowledge， flexibly use of international and local practices， and offer more competitive prices compared to international enterprises. We also provide personalized services， and give quick feedback. We dont have the structural restrictions that are often seen in large international groups. Also， we could provide focused and loyal services for our clients and help them adapt to the business environment of Hong Kong and make business or investment decisions，” Tsang said.

“In the early days of reform and opening up of China， it was generally overseas funds， including private equity funds， that chose to invest in Chinamainland. Now China has become prosperous， with sufficient capital funds. The demand for ‘going overseas has been increasingly significantly. It is expected that more Chinese enterprises will set up regional headquarters in Hong Kong， a platform for ‘going overseas.TWCs clients come from the mainland as well as from all over the world. We are committed to building a bridge for foreign clients to come to Hong Kong or develop business in the mainland； meanwhile， when China domestic capital funds go overseas， TWC will help them develop business or invest in Hong Kong and overseas，” Dr. Marianna said.

Hong Kong is a window for China to face the world and also a bridge for foreign enterprises to develop business in Chinas mainland. Hong Kong is playing the role of two windows and is able to benefit from the advantage of “one country， two systems.” It is also one of the four core engines of the Greater Bay Area national planning.

The Outline of the Development Plan for the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong， Hong Kong and Macao points out that Hong Kong， Guangzhou， Shenzhen and Macao are listed as the four central cities and core engines for the Greater Bay regional development. With the advantage of “one country， two systems，” Hong Kong is positioned as an international financial， shipping， trade center and aviation hub in the Greater Bay Area， and is a window to the world. Before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out， Hong Kong International Airport was one of the busiest airports in the world， and its passenger volume had also been leading the world. Hong Kong has the largest offshore RMB capital pool in the world， and plays the role of the global offshore RMB business hub and international asset and risk management center. Its professional services are renowned in the world. In addition， Hong Kong can offer wealth management services for Chinas mainland， which will bring new business opportunities for the development of the Greater Bay Area.

“In 2020， Hong Kong passed the Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance， which provides a low-cost， simple and efficient channel for the establishment and post-maintenance of private equity funds， and has vigorously promoted the development of private equity fund management in Hong Kong. As a fund management consulting company， TWC management has 20 years of management experiences of private equity fund. I hope we can fully grasp the dual circulation opportunities， and hope we can contribute to the development of the Greater Bay Area，” Tsang said.

Practices and give love

Since 2004， Dr. Marianna Tsang and TWC management have won numerous awards including： outstanding entrepreneur award， outstanding contribution award， business leader award， most socially responsible female entrepreneur award， Chinese model award， China integrity model award， Greater Bay area outstanding leader award， excellence award for outstanding women， outstanding business women award， outstanding Hong Kong people award， most valuable company award， outstanding enterprise award， best private fund management award， etc. She was also appointed as a visiting professor and honorary professor by universities.

Tsang is enthusiastic about public welfare， and she has been volunteering services in education and social services for more than 30 years. She always appeared in various charitable or nonprofit organizations （NGO）， governmentfunded or private charitable groups， and other charitable institutions in Hong Kong， Chinas mainland and overseas（Cambodia and the United Kingdom， for example）. These charitable organizations cover primary school， middle school and college students， alumni， government funded NGOs， drug control/ rehabilitation agencies， vulnerable groups， environmental protection NGOs， associations of commerce and industry， mediation and professional academic groups.

After completing her university course at HKBU， Dr. Tsang got involved in social volunteer work， and this opened the first page of her life in contributing to the society. But Tsang has never forgotten the cultivation of HKBU and always tries to reciprocate to her alma mater. Since the late 1980s， she has spared time amid her heavy workload to participate in alumni affairs. In 2001， she was elected president of the Alumni Association of HKBU， responsible for managing the only organization representing all alumni. During her tenure， she worked hard to unite alumni and improve the relationship between her alma mater and alumni； she worked with the Alumni Affairs Office to promote the participation of alumni in the development of HKBU. She also launched various fund-raising activities to raise funds for her alma mater. In 2014， Marianna Tsang received the first Distinguished Alumni Award granted by HKBU for her outstanding contributions to the University and public welfare.

Even though she served on multiple social positions， Tsang still acts as a“servant leader” and contributes to society with the mentality of serving others. Work like this is what lead Tsang to be awarded the Medal of Honor of Austrian Albert Schweitzer Award for her contribution to charity and public welfare.

It is worth mentioning that during the COVID-19 pandemic， Tsang actively helped people from all walks of life who had challenges in their life due to social unrest and as a result of the pandemic. For example， her company chose to hire young people with less solid educational backgrounds or with no working experience and to provide training to them， to create job opportunities amid societys high unemployment rate. Tsang also actively responded to the SEED program of HKBU， and offered internship opportunities for new graduates. She donated masks to students and organised free clinic activities. Although she could not return to Chinas mainland during the pandemic， she still worked hard to complete the a China arbitration case in which she served as the chief arbitrator.

At the beginning of last year， Dr. Tsang started to serve as the vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Inheritage Foundation， and promoted the concept of time bank， which is used to store personal charitable public service/ donations/walking steps into the time bank account. When others need help， the time points of the account can be exchanged for other peoples services， or be donated to people in need. Such initiatives can maintain personal dignity and enhance equality. At the same time， the time points can also be exchanged for shopping discounts.

It is easy to do a good deed once， but it is difficult to keep the good deeds going for all in ones life. Marianna Tsang has been doing exactly that， partaking in doing good deeds for 30 years. She said，“regarding money lightly is enough to gather people， self-discipline is enough to persuade others， being generous and tolerant is enough to win people， and setting examples is enough to lead people.” She practiced such concepts in her business career， and has achieved great accomplishments； she devoted care and love to her real practices， which has lead to her business to continually grow in the striving for success.