Chapter 43

(Third update! Bowing to thank "Ma Feng iz" for the support!)

In the luxurious sea-view room at the Victoria Hotel where Zhou Ming was staying, Zhou Ming stood in front of the mirror, allowing Lin Muqing to adjust his attire.

Zhou Ming, who had been used to a carefree life in his previous life, felt very uncomfortable being treated like a mannequin by Lin Muqing. He complained, "Sister Muqing, that's enough, right? You're making me feel really uncomfortable."

Lin Muqing, who was kneeling on the ground to adjust Zhou Ming's pants, looked up and gave him a glare, saying irritably, "You have to endure it, Zhou Ming. You're not just an ordinary person anymore. You're the owner of Jinming Fund Company and the new millionaire in Hongcheng. Today is your first day at the company after the acquisition. You need to look like a boss. Otherwise, how will you establish your authority? Without authority, how will you manage the company?"

Zhou Ming chuckled, "What can I do, Sister Muqing? That's just my personality! And there are other ways to establish authority!"

Actually, Zhou Ming was deliberately complaining to Lin Muqing. After all, the sight of a beautiful white-collar lady kneeling in front of him was reminiscent of certain scenes from action movies. Especially since Lin Muqing was dressed up today, wearing a well-tailored shirt and skirt, paired with stockings and high heels, and emitting a faint fragrance. If Zhou Ming didn't find a topic to distract himself, it would be hard to control his restless nerves. Moreover, Lin Muqing was kneeling right in front of him, and if he had any reaction that she noticed, it would be even more embarrassing.

While Zhou Ming was silently reciting "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" in his mind, Lin Muqing finally finished adjusting his attire.

At 9 a.m., Wang Yunlong and Sun Wei came to the hotel to pick up Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing and take them to the company. The office of the fund company was in Central, and they quickly arrived.

Wang Yunlong had informed the company in advance. When Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing arrived, the employees were all at the entrance to welcome Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming glanced around and saw that there were eleven people in the company. A middle-aged man stepped forward and said to Zhou Ming, "Welcome, Mr. Zhou, to take over the fund company. Everyone, please give a warm welcome."

After the eleven people clapped, Zhou Ming, who had reviewed the company's information, knew that this man was Cao Haiyang, the vice president of the company.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "I know there's a meeting room in the company. Since everyone is here, let's go straight to the meeting room and have a meeting."

Zhou Ming led the way to the meeting room, with Lin Muqing closely following behind. Wang Yunlong and Sun Wei followed, and Cao Haiyang and the other employees immediately took their notebooks and pens and entered the meeting room.

Once everyone was seated in the meeting room, Zhou Ming spoke first, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhou Ming, and I will be the owner of this company from now on."

Then Zhou Ming introduced Wang Yunlong and Sun Wei, "This is Wang Yunlong, the general manager of the company, who will manage everything on my behalf. This is Sun Wei, the vice president, who will be responsible for market research."

Cao Haiyang nodded to show his understanding and asked, "And this beautiful lady?"

Lin Muqing smiled slightly, "My name is Lin Muqing, and I am Mr. Zhou Ming's personal secretary."

Everyone said "Oh" and was not surprised by this answer. They were all envious of Zhou Ming's youth and wealth, which made it understandable why he had such a beautiful personal secretary.

Zhou Ming didn't dwell on this issue and went straight to the point, "I have two tasks to assign to you today. First, we need to quickly audit the company's situation, including finances and performance. Second, we need to launch our new fund as soon as possible to improve our performance."

Zhou Ming deliberately paused. He noticed that everyone in the company was surprised by the tasks he had assigned, especially the people from the business department, who looked at each other in confusion. Zhou Ming knew they didn't understand his ideas, so he continued, "I know you have different thoughts. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and communicate. If you have any ideas, please share them."

Hearing this, the people from the business department kept giving Cao Haiyang signals. After some consideration, Cao Haiyang said to Zhou Ming, "Mr. Zhou, I have some thoughts."

Zhou Ming gestured for him to speak, and Cao Haiyang said, "I agree with your idea of auditing the company's situation. I think it's very necessary, whether to give an account to our clients or to plan the company's future development. However, I think launching a new fund and trying to improve performance is very troublesome."

"What's so troublesome about it?" Zhou Ming asked.

"Over the past month, the stock market crash has affected you as well. The Hong Kong stock market has collapsed, leading to the inability to execute all of our fund contracts. Not only our company, but the entire financial market in Hong Kong is in a downturn. During this period, no one has money to invest, and even if someone does, they won't dare to invest due to the economic downturn," Cao Haiyang replied. Not only the people from the business department nodded, but the other employees also agreed.

"I understand your point. Because of the poor economic situation in Hong Kong, no one is willing to invest because they are afraid of losing money, right?" Zhou Ming asked.

Cao Haiyang and the others nodded, and Zhou Ming continued, "What if we tell them that our new fund is a guaranteed fund, which will never lose money no matter how the market changes?"

Zhou Ming's words were like a stone thrown into water, causing a ripple. The scene was in an uproar.

"Guaranteed fund? How is that possible?"

"That's right. The principle that investment carries risks is well-known. How can a fund that never loses money exist? Even the best investors wouldn't make such a guarantee."

Even Cao Haiyang said to Zhou Ming, "Mr. Zhou, I heard you are from the mainland, so you might not understand the situation here. Investment always carries risks, even for professional funds. It's impossible for a fund to never lose money. Moreover, we need to disclose our fund's movements to clients every day. If we can't guarantee no losses, we will not only have to bear the responsibility for compensation but also lose the fund's credibility. Especially given the current poor situation in Hong Kong, even the government and the stock exchange can't revive the market. All the banks' retail investors are losing money, and we are just an ordinary fund company. It's impossible for us to ensure that the fund won't lose money."

Cao Haiyang's words made Lin Muqing very unhappy. The underlying meaning was that he was belittling Zhou Ming as a mainland person, thinking he didn't understand finance and was giving blind orders.

Lin Muqing said to Cao Haiyang, "Manager Cao, who told you that it's impossible to make money during a financial downturn? I'll tell you, Mr. Zhou made a profit of 20 million during the stock market crash!"

Lin Muqing's words were like a bomb, shocking everyone. They looked at Zhou Ming in disbelief, and Cao Haiyang said, "Is Secretary Lin joking? The entire Hong Kong stock market has been plummeting since the crash, with no stocks rising, including the futures market. How could Mr. Zhou make so much money?"

"What if he was shorting the Hong Kong stock index futures?" Lin Muqing asked.

"If it was a short position on the Hong Kong stock index, he would have made a lot of money. But the Hong Kong stock index has fallen so much that it's impossible to enter a short position," Cao Haiyang said.

"Impossible to enter a short position during the crash, but what about before the crash?" Lin Muqing asked.

Lin Muqing's words made everyone gasp. They stared at Zhou Ming, speechless.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Zhou Ming knew the time had come. He continued, "So, I'm using my actions to tell everyone that nothing is impossible in this world."

"But that only shows that Mr. Zhou has a keen eye for investment. It doesn't prove that our fund will never lose money," Cao Haiyang said cautiously, his tone much weaker than before.

Zhou Ming smiled, "I said, nothing is impossible in this world, including a guaranteed fund that never loses money. Now, please let our new general manager, Mr. Wang Yunlong, explain our new fund to you. Everyone, please give him a warm welcome."

Zhou Ming led the applause, and Wang Yunlong thanked Zhou Ming before speaking, "Actually, the concept of a guaranteed fund is not difficult to understand. We will use most of the fund's money to invest in fixed-income assets, such as financial bonds and government bonds. A small portion of the fund, or even the interest from these bonds, will be used to invest in high-risk areas like futures and foreign exchange. Since most of the fund's money is guaranteed to generate returns, no matter how the market changes, we can ensure that the fund is 100% guaranteed."

Wang Yunlong's words stunned everyone. Cao Haiyang said in a daze, "I've been in the fund industry for many years, and I've never heard of this kind of fund investment strategy. Is this investment plan your idea, Manager Wang?"

"No," Wang Yunlong shook his head, "This plan was not my idea, but Mr. Zhou's."

Hearing this, Cao Haiyang was suddenly filled with respect for Zhou Ming, saying in a reverent tone, "Mr. Zhou is truly a genius in the financial world, coming up with such an investment strategy. No wonder Mr. Zhou made 20 million during the stock market crash. Your insight is far superior to ours. With this method, the problem of fund guarantees, which has eluded all financial geniuses for over a hundred years, has finally been solved by you. Mr. Zhou, you will definitely be recorded in the annals of fund history as a great figure!"

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