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Alaya Consulting is a specialist consultancy focusing on ESG reporting, pre-assurance and sustainability training.
Alaya Consulting is a specialist consultancy focusing on ESG reporting, pre-assurance and sustainability training.
Associate consultant
Ruby Fang joined Alaya Consulting as an associate consultant in hopes to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Her main role includes day-to-day client communication, data management and preparation of reports. She graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a major in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Social Sciences. Ruby has also completed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accreditation training.
Associate consultant
I joined Alaya Consulting with an interest in environmental protection and sustainable development, hoping to provide better solutions for different companies, promoting sustainable development and achieving carbon neutrality. I was mainly responsible for data collection, environmental disclosure, carbon audits and assisting in the preparation of reports. I am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. I graduated with a master’s degree in environmental engineering and management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from Nanjing University. I am also a yoga enthusiast.
Associate consultant
Xiaotong is responsible for handling data collection, writing ESG reports, and day-to-day client communications. She also assists with ESG disclosures and client support. She obtained her Master of Chemical Engineering in Shenzhen University, with a longterm focus on environmental pollutant assessment.
She also graduated in Bachelor of Engineering Science from Chang’an University, majoring in water pollution management.
Intern
Alisa Lam is an intern working at Alaya consulting during her gap year. She plans on studying Politics, International Relations and Global Sustainable Development at Warwick University in 2022. She has a keen interest in understanding what makes the best sustainability report, promoting corporate social responsibility and learning how to tailor sustainable strategies for different companies. She understands that implementing environmental and social policies is crucial in building a successful and resilient enterprise in today’s world. She is responsible for writing and revising reports as well as doing research for Alaya.
Management Trainee
Gabriel joined Alaya Consulting as a management trainee, responsible for conducting ESG advisory and reporting along with assisting the business development and marketing team.
He graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree of science majored in Environmental Science. Gabriel understands that working towards improving environmental and social issues is fundamental to building a sustainable and successful business. He would like to make a positive impact by joining the ESG advisory industry.
Associate consultant
Better ESG management shapes a more resilient and sustainable future.
Responsible for handling social data collection and analysis; Assist in preparing the sustainability report and daily communications with clients; Advise clients on ESG- related issues to optimize ESG disclosure and improve ESG performance.
Graduated from Uppsala University in Sweden with a master's degree in business and economics. Master thesis themed in green finance.
Associate Consultant
Eason joined Alaya Consulting as an associate consultant, responsible for preparing ESG reports. He is passionate about sustainability and eager in helping enterprises to improve their ESG performance. He graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in science, major in Earth System Science and minor in Biology. Eason’s hobbies are playing table tennis and playing the guitar.
Consultant
Alva Yeung is keen in helping companies create sustainability strategies to help mitigate environment and social impact. Coming from an international relations background, she is familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UN Global Compact and other international initiatives. She is also responsible for social data analysis, facilitating stakeholder communication, ESG report writing and day-to-day client communication. Alva has completed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accreditation training.
Alva obtained her Master of International Relations and Public Affairs in University of Hong Kong and Bachelor Degree in City University of Hong Kong, major in Asian and International Studies.
Business Development and Marketing Manager
Sunny joined Alaya in 2020 with a goal to bolster ESG and sustainability in Hong Kong.
He works with Alaya to develop and promote its initiatives such as HERA and ESG Newswire.
He also works with existing and new partners to collaborate and host events promoting ESG strategy and disclosure.
Sunny has great plans to design and develop Alaya’s own ESG rating system in the coming future.
Born in India, bred in Hong Kong, and a bachelor’s degree from NYU, Sunny comes from a rich and diverse range of experiences.
He majored in Finance and Marketing and minored in Social Entrepreneurship.
He co-founded his own social enterprise, Grounded Upcycling, in New York that upcycles spent coffee grounds into soap and face masks.
In his free time, Sunny likes to go hiking, read, or play Squash!
Founder
Tony is the founder of Alaya Consulting Limited. With more than 16 years of experience in advising C-suite executives, both in-house and from the client side, he is particularly experienced in the development of corporate sustainability strategies, training, communication and ESG reporting approaches.
Tony works with client companies to help them improve disclosure levels and ESG ratings. Recent clients include AAC Technologies, CIMC, Panda Green Energy, Chiho Environmental Group, Integrated Waste Management, Baguio, MicroPort, Tianjin Port and others. Recent projects include organising the Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards, contributing to the development of industry best practices.
Tony is a Chartered Company Secretary, a GRI Nominated Trainer, a carbon audit professional accredited by the Association of Energy Engineers, a Practitioner of Institute of Environmental Management Association and a certified sustainability assurance practitioner. He has also successfully completed the practitioner training of Integrated Reporting.
Prior to setting up Alaya, Tony assumed senior roles in various leading communications agencies and a Fortune top 10 financial services group. Before embarking on his career in communications, Tony spent a number of years in banking and financial journalism. He received a master’s degree in Corporate Governance from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a bachelor’s degree in International Business from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Hang Seng ESG 50 Index Incentivizes Better ESG Performance
Hang Seng Index launched a brand-new addition to its ESG Index Series – ESG 50 Index in July, which aims to winnow out the top 50 ESG leaders with relatively high market-capitalization listed in Hong Kong. Within the pool of constituents in the Hang Seng Composite Index (HSCI), the top 50 blue chip securities will be selected based on their Sustainability Performance Scores (also known as ESG Scores), while assessment will be undertaken annually to ensure an up-to-date list of high performing constituents.
In May 2019, HSI ESG Index and HSCEI ESG Index were introduced to integrate ESG initiatives with the pre-existing Hang Seng Index (HSI) and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI). Despite having the same universe of securities as their respective constituents, different weightings are adopted to align with the objective of promoting corporate sustainability practices. “The weightings of constituents with relatively high ESG scores will be increased, while weightings of those with relatively low ESG Scores will be decreased. As a result, the overall ESG score of each of these two new indexes will be higher than that of their respective base index.”
These new gauges have engendered a greater awareness towards companies’ ESG performances, taking into consideration the higher weightings assigned to constituents with better sustainability scores, vice versa. For instance, in 2019, the weighting of Sun Hung Kai Properties in the ESG Index was almost three times as high as that in the HSI. The new changes generate stronger incentives for listed companies to work towards more sustainable corporate practices in boosting their weightings, given that the newly launched indexes encompass a higher sensitivity to ESG performances. Industry observers commented that companies that join the ESG indexes will attract more passive fund managers.
Nonetheless, with a continuous expansion of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index Series, sustainability investment has inarguably been made easier and more lucid. Vincent Kwan, Chief Executive Officer of Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited, pointed out that “ESG investing is continuing to gain momentum in market around the world,” and that the new indexes “provide bases for product issuers to develop investment products linked to the portfolios of our flagship indexes but with a greater emphasis on ESG.” Since sustainability indexes serve as a bridge between companies and investors by translating sustainability ratings into a useful metric for investment decision-making, having a comprehensive array of professionally qualified benchmark indexes certainly facilitates the identification of viable opportunities for sustainable investment.
Hang Seng Index also has a Corporate Sustainability Index Series which was launched in 2010 in view of the growing prominence of sustainable investment globally, with a particularly vigorous expansion in Asia. Initially, there were five indexes that measured corporate sustainability performance of listed companies in both Hong Kong and Mainland China, which are then used for sustainability investment stocks selection and investment product development purposes. In order to better cater to the augmenting interests from fund managers for ESG investment, three new indexes had been established since 2019, adding up to a total of five corporate sustainability indexes for Hong Kong-listed companies.
Taking a closer look at the original Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index (HSSUS) and Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index (HSSUSB), they account for primarily Hong Kong-listed companies that are shown to have profound performances in pursuing corporate sustainability. Meanwhile, HSSUS consists of the top 30 securities in HSSUSB with the highest sustainability performance scores.