The University of Cambridge, Monash Business School and Tsinghua University launch the 2016-2017 Asia Pacific Alternative Finance Industry Survey with the support of major industry associations across the region.

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at University of Cambridge Judge Business School, Australian Centre for Financial Studies at Monash University and Tsinghua University Graduate School at Shenzhen are teaming up to launch the 2016-2017 Asia-Pacific Region Alternative Finance Industry Survey with the support of more than 20 major industry organisations across the region. This is the largest regional study to date focused on crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending & other forms of alternative finance.

From equity-based crowdfunding to peer-to-peer consumer and business lending, invoice trading to reward-based crowdfunding, these alternative financing activities are supplying credit to SMEs, providing venture capital to start-ups, offering more diverse and transparent ways for consumers to invest or borrow money, nurturing creativity, fostering innovation, generating jobs & funding worthwhile social causes across the Asia Pacific region.

Opening on February 15th 2017, this benchmarking survey aims to capture the key trends, developments, size, transaction volume and growth as well as the impact of changing regulations on the alternative finance markets across Asia in 2016 – building on last year’s inaugural study.

Last year’s inaugural report – Harnessing Potential – gathered survey data from 503 leading alternative finance platforms operating in 17 Asia-Pacific countries and regions. The study was cited by over 100 mainstream media organisations and has informed policymakers and regulators of industry developments in Asia Pacific countries including Malaysia, Singapore, India, Australia, Hong Kong and Indonesia for example. The report estimated the total Asia-Pacific online alternative finance market to have grown 323% year-on-year to reach 102.81 billion USD in 2015. China is the world’s largest market by transaction volume, registering 101.7 billion in 2015. Outside mainland China, the rest of the APAC region accrued 1.12 billion USD in 2015 with a 313% year-on-year growth rate from the 271.94 million raised in 2014. The authors hope this year’s study will dive even deeper into the growth and dynamics of the APAC alternative finance market.

Bryan Zhang, a Director at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, said, “This year’s survey aims to capture the development, diversity and dynamism of the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending markets across the region, in turn, inform evidence-based policymaking and regulation. It is our pleasure to partner with the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, Tsinghua University and over 20 leading industry organisations to conduct this study and further our understanding of alternative finance.”

Professor Rodney Maddock, the Interim Director at the Australian Centre for Financial Studies said, “Finance is in the midst of an exciting transformation. This survey will provide key insights into how the sector is changing, how quickly and in which directions. Monash is pleased to be a partner in this leading research.”

Professor Kong Ying, a Dean at the Tsinghua University, said “Like the inception of any new business model, the alternative finance industry also takes a gradual progress to maturity and perfection. As society progresses, this survey report provides authoritative information and useful references for regulators, academics, practitioners in the industry, and also serves the public interest.”

The findings of the survey will be made publicly available in the 2016-2017 Asia Pacific Alternative Finance Industry Report due to be published in Q2 2017. This benchmarking study will inform policy-makers & regulators, facilitate dialogue & learning between industry associations & key stakeholders, raise the level of awareness about crowdfunding & p2p lending in startup, SME and social enterprise spheres & amongst the wider general public.

This industry survey is supported by a wide array of organisations and industry research partners including: the CME Group Foundation, Wangdaizhijia, Japan Crowdfunding Council, Taiwan Fintech Association, Zhongguancun Crowdfunding Union, Crowdfunding Institute of Australia, LendIt, New Zealand Crowdfunding Society, Crowdfund Asia Association, Change Fusion Thailand, Crowdsourcing Week, FinTech Hong Kong, CrowdfundInsider, Ahmedabad University, 25fifteen, Crowdfunding Association of Malaysia, Fintech Australia, Fishburners, h2, Melbourne Fintech, New Zealand Crowdfunding Society, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, Singapore Fintech Association, Stone and Chalk and Tyro Fintech Hub

All crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and other alternative financing platforms that are currently operating in this region can access the industry survey. All participating platforms will be prominently acknowledged in the industry report with their logos display in the final report.

Links to the survey:

English – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EnglishAPAC2017
Chinese Traditional – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ChineseTraditionalAPAC2017
Chinese Simplified – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ChineseSimplifiedAPAC2017
Japanese – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/JapaneseAPAC2017
Korean – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KoreanAPAC2017
Thai – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ThaiAPAC2017