On April 12th (GMT+8), InnoKOL had a fascinating conversation with Mr.Paul Schulte, the Founder of Schulte Research, talking about his talented expertise in financial technology innovation strategies and deep insights on the digital transformation of property in greater China.
Jokia: How would you describe yourself in three words?
Paul: Curious. Adventuresome. Traveler
Jokia: Can you please share more about your educational and professional background? And we’d love to hear what brought you to Fintech.
Paul: Starting in 2007, I was the head of the financials research group at Lehman and then Nomura. After that I was global head of financials research at CCB intl. By 2013, I was convinced that fintech would pose a big threat and wrote a book to make the case. It was called “The Next Revolution in our Credit-Driven Economy: The Advent of Financial Technology”. Since then, I have been focused on fin tech and insurtech and have written three other books on the topic. I have a BA in philosophy. I made an MA in Political Economy and an MA in International business from Tufts University (Fletcher School).
Jokia: Some of the figures in your resume are particularly prominent. 31-year career in equity research covering the Asian and emerging markets and work experience for all three branches of the US Government including the White House, as well as teaching at 11 universities on five continents. How does you combine so many interests and manage to be successful in all those areas? What’s your advice for Fintech start-ups entrepreneurs?
Paul: We have to keep on learning. We need to remain curious. We have to see life as an adventure.
Jokia: From your experience and perspective, why cool technologies sometimes flop?
Paul: Technologies flop because egos get in the way. Our human Ego is really fear-based and afraid of being discovered. It is a poor substitute for living in the part of the frontal lobe of the brain which is planning, consequences, emotion. This requires quiet time, meditation, exercise. It is a daily “mental hygiene”. If we fail to do this, our fragile and fear-based ago takes over and we try to control, dominate, compel, and force situations rather than negotiate, appreciate and empathise.
Jokia: With the rise of mobile and shift to online banking, today's banks need to be more innovative than ever to compete with the growing number of fintech banking companies. How technology, finance, and regulation come together to impact innovation of retail banks?
Paul: There are only a few banks which are aggressively moving into fin tech — and more recently moving into crypto. These are JPM, Goldman Sachs and Citi to a lesser extent. The real winners in the financial scene which have been more innovative than any others are actually the credit card companies Visa and Master Card. They are so far ahead of the banks.
Jokia: We’ve noticed that your next book is entitled “The Digital Transformation of Property in Greater China”. How digital transformation is shaping a new china from your perspective?
Paul: My new book “The Digital Transformation of Property in Greater China” is all about the next phase fin the attachment of finance to the internet of things. It is about how physical assets (buildings, houses, smart cities, warehouses) will be digitized, tokenized and traded along the new digital rails of China called BSN (blockchain service network). This will form the foundation of the DC/EP central bank coin. China is years ahead of any country in this new pursuit.
Jokia: From your perspective, what’s unique and game-changing about Blockchain technology? How do you foresee the opportunities and challenges for China’s digital currency revolution especially the Central Bank Cryptocurrency?
Paul: China knows it is vulnerable to being sanctioned by the US for any reason. If the US sanctions China, it could be cut off from dollar activity through its “expulsion” from SWIFT. So, China is creating a system for countries and companies that want to trade with it via BSN and The Central bank coin (DC/EP). Plus, it is easy to use, cheap and convenient. And it has smart contracts attached to it. Plus, companies like Linklogis will link into it and lower the cost of doing business.
Jokia: How prepared is Schulte Research to play a leading role on accelerating financial technologies revolution?
Paul: I work with sovereign wealth funds who invest in both private and public companies. I work with the boards of directors of banks and insurance companies who are embracing fin tech. I work with hedge funds in their public equity portfolios. And I work with fund management companies who manage large portfolios of fin tech companies globally.
Jokia: We’ve noticed that you’ve conducted more than 50 keynote speeches at international fintech and blockchain forums globally, what’s your benchmark to select the qualified conferences?
Paul: HK FinTech week and Singapore Fin tech Festival are key conferences each year, so I speak at these. I work with consulting firms (big 4) and their internal conferences. I work with insurance and banking institutes as well and I speak at universities frequently. I am currently a professor of practice at three universities.
About the speaker:
Mr.Paul Schulte has worked for all three branches of the US Government, including the White House. He has worked for the #1 Ranked Research Departments at Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers, Nomura, and China Construction Bank. He has authored five books on Financial Technology. He has taught at 11 universities on five continents. He has advised the largest sovereign wealth, insurance, pension and hedge funds globally on financials and financial technology. He has worked with private equity firms on financial technology. He is also a Professor of Practice at two universities and have been a Visiting Scholar at four universities.
About the MC:
Ms. Jokia Yin is the Founder of Innoverview and InnoKOL, the Vice Chatiman of HK International Blockchain Finance Association as well as the Head of Media at United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce。 Jokia has over 8 years of marketing and management experience, much of which has been in the Asia Pacific Region within events and PR industry. She has held key leadership roles executing market research and entry, developing sales channels and revenue generation, building marketing, finance and Operations related infrastructure for a more than 20 events related to retail, tourism, energy storage, blockchain, cosmetics domains.
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