In this just-ended semester, I introduced a new class MBA exercise. At the beginning of the session in March 2026, I asked my MBA students to select three companies listed on the US stock market. Over 4 months, they should monitor the share price performance of these firms. In July 2026, they should explain the impact of strategic transformation efforts of these firms on their share prices.
My interest was to make my MBA students understand the impact of strategic transformation efforts on share prices of companies. Most of my MBA students chose Nvidia, which was not unexpected.
The investment platform used was Moomoo, an online trading platform owned by Futu Holding Ltd., a company listed on NASDAQ. As at July 24th, 2026, the market value of Futu was about US$14 billion, as compared to the leading online trading platform, Robinhood Inc., at US$84 billion.
I have been using Moomoo to invest in world-leading companies, such as Nvidia, TSMC, Google and Amazon. We do not need to purchase the shares of these companies at 1 share (unit), which often cost hundreds of US$. The US market allows an investor to purchase a minimum of 0.0001 shares, called fractional shares with a minimum investment of US$5.0. This feature allows an investor with a small capital to invest in world-leading companies, which shares would likely appreciate over time. Practically, we can invest directly in shares instead of through a unit trust or mutual fund.
I hope the experience my MBA students gained in this investment exercise would give them a useful investment exposure in wealth creation through share ownership in world-leading companies.
Back to Futu Holding Ltd
The founder of Futu was the 18th employee of Tencent, a US$500 billion Chinese games company. Futu’s business model was to rewrite share brokerage experience through faster software, smoother and easier account opening and an investor community modeled partly on social-media platforms. Li Hua, the founder of Futu, is from Loudi, a city in China’s Hunan Province. He graduated from Hunan University in 1995, majoring in electronics and computers. He joined a then start-up company, Tencent, which was only one-year old and virtually unknown outside China. Li was drawn to OICQ, the early messaging product later renamed QQ. He was the company’s first graduate employee.
In first eight years at Tencent, Li worked in marketing, operations, R&D and product management. He participated in the early development of QQ and later helped build Tencent Video, according to Chinese media reports. Tencent granted share options to some early employees such as Li. After Tencent was listed in Hong Kong in 2004, the shares were worth a lot. Li became wealthy and began trading in Hong Kong stocks. His experience in trading stocks led him to move into the securities industry. He recalled that share brokerages charged high commissions but the technology was lagging. Opening an account took one or two weeks, trading systems were unstable, moving funds was cumbersome, and customer service could be difficult to reach after the market closed. He concluded that there was a need for better stock brokerage services. Subsequently, Li assembled a team to develop a Hong Kong trading stock trading system. The system completed technical certification with the Hong Kong Exchange through a partner institution. He tested it by conducting several billions in Hong Kong dollars using his own capital.
The experience convinced him that the product development and engineering skills accumulated by internet companies could be applied to traditional brokerage services. Developing only a front-end trading tool would have required less capital and fewer licenses. But it would have left trading, clearing, customer assets and much of the service chain under the control of traditional financial institutions. Li concluded that the only way to control the entire customer experience was to become a licensed securities firm.
Fund raising for the venture proved difficult. By 2012, Hong Kong’s brokerage industry was already crowded and many investors struggled to understand why a former Tencent employee with no traditional finance background wanted to enter a heavily regulated business. When outside funding failed to arrive quickly, Li invested about HK$40 million of his own money in regulatory and early operations, according to his previous public comments. He also took the qualification examinations required for Hong Kong’s security industry. At at its most difficult time, Futu had only 11 employees.
Came Tencent backing
Futu’s fortunes began to change later after Wu Xiaoguang, a former Tencent executive, tried the product in 2013 and found it easy to use, according to earlier reports. His endorsement helped attract the attention of Tencent’s investment team.
In March 2014, Tencent, MPCi and HSG invested in Futu’s series A funding round. The three investors also participated in subsequent financing rounds. Before Futu’ NASDAQ listing in 2019, Tencent held about 38.2 per cent of the company., making it the largest institutional shareholder.
Futu sought to distinguish itself from other brokerage firms though technology. By 2018, customers could complete the entire account opening process online with applications approved in as little as five minutes.
Futu added more than 215,000 new accounts that year compared with roughly 138,000 in 2017.
Li also insisted on calling the app “Moomoo”, using informal cartoonlike name at a time when Chinese software typically favored names evoking intelligence or wealth.
From its launch, Futu embedded Tencent-style social and product thinking into securities. Customers could check market data and place orders while also reading news, opinions and following other investors. These features eventually developed into an investor community, which increased the time users on the platforms, raised engagement and reduced customer- acquisition costs.
Experiencing high growth in Hong Kong stocks
Futu experienced rapid growth in 2015. In that year, trading volumes on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong jumped sharply, putting pressures on brokerage systems. Futu’s platform remained stable with support from Tencent Cloud, helping it build a reputation among active investors.
Futu entered another period of rapid growth during Covid-19 pandemic. Increased interest in trading from home and active US and Hong Kong stock markets fueled rapid growth in customers, transaction volumes and profits.
Now Mommoo operates in the US, Singapore, Australia, Canada and Malaysia. At the same time, several competitors are offering online trading platforms, with Robinhhod, a US company being the largest company by market caps. Thus, active investors have many choices to invest in US and Hong Kong markets, other than Futu (Moomoo).
Teaching MBA students about strategic impact of capital markets on firms
Innovations such as fractional shares of world-class firms and online trading platforms such as Moomoo and Robinhood have made teaching about capital market very simple and interesting.
My MBA students are comfortable in investing in US shares and knowing it as a method of long-term wealth creations. In the process, they will learn why these firms are highly valued by investors.
AI will make investment in shares of world-class firms less complicated.
I forsee older investment products such as unit trusts (or mutual funds) will become less attractive as AI can make decisions on portfolio allocations of shares.
Source:
The Business Times published July 25th, 2026. “Toughest test: A securities fraud class action suit is pending against Futu, Li Hua, financial officer, Chen Yu.”