Stanley Kwan

Who was Stanley Kwan?

Stanley Shih Kuang Kwan was a Hong Kong banker who created the internationally known Hang Seng Index in 1969. The Hang Sang Index opened on November 24, 1969.

Kwan creation, the Hang Seng Index, has been widely used to measure the health and growth of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2008, Kwan published his book and memoir, "The Dragon and the Crown: Hong Kong Memoirs." In the book's foreword, written by Robert Neild, the President of the Hong Kong chapter of the Royal Asiatic Society, Neild calls the Hang Seng, "the ultimate capitalist measure of Hong Kong." As of 2012, the Hang Seng Index consists of forty-eight companies incorporating some of the largest in Asia. These include PetroChina, which is Asia's largest company in terms of market value, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the largest lender in the world based on market value.

Kwan was born in Hong Kong on January 10, 1925, to a family involved in the banking industry. Kwan lived through the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. However, he moved to mainland China, where he worked as a language interpreter for American forces during World War II.

Kwan launched his career within the Hong Kong banking industry following the end of the war. He joined the staff of Hang Seng Bank in 1962. In 1969, Hang Seng Bank chairman Ho Sin Hang and general manager Q.W. Lee decided that there should be a Hong Kong version of New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average. 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, statisticians and government officials. The Index debuted in Hong Kong on November 24, 1969.