The Journal of Finance and Data Science Conference (JFDS) 2026

Conference Agenda

2026 ABFER-JFDS Conference on AI for Finance

Date: August 18-19, 2026

Location: International Institute of Finance, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China

Presentation Time:
  • Keynote Speaker: 60 minutes (45 for presentation, 15 for Q&A)
  • Invited Speaker: 40 minutes (30 for presentation, 10 for Q&A)
  • Regular Speaker: 40 minutes (20 for presentation, 15 for discussion, 5 for Q&A)
Day 0: Monday, August 17, 2026 - Evening
Time Program Details
18:00–20:00
Dinner
Day 1: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 - Morning Venue: #5 202
Time Program Details
08:30–08:40
Opening Remarks
Conference Chair: Henry Cao (Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business)
 
Moderator:  Jiaquan Yao (University of Science and Technology of China)
08:40–09:40
Keynote Speech
Pricing the Global Trade Vulnerability
Speaker: Jun Pan (Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance)
09:40–10:00
Group Photo & Break
10:00–10:40
Paper 1
Interpretable Systematic Risk around the Clock
Speaker: Songrun He (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Discussant: Guang Ma (Rutgers University)
10:40–11:20
Paper 2
When AI Acquires Data: Strategic Complementarities in M&A
Speaker: Zilong Zhang (Zhejiang University)
Discussant: Tao Yuan (Nanjing University)
11:20–12:00
Paper 3
Deepseeking Investment Value through Analyst Reports
Speaker: Zilong Niu (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)
Discussant: Difang Huang (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
12:00–14:00
Lunch at School Canteen
Day 1: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 - Afternoon Venue: #5 202
Time Program Details
Moderator:  Qunzi Zhang (Shandong University)
14:00–14:40
Invited Speech 1
Completing the Curve: Visual Extrapolation and Short-term Return Predictability
Speaker: Jianfeng Yu (Tsinghua University)
14:40–15:20
Invited Speech 2
Incorporating Return Prediction in High-dimensional Mean-Variance Portfolio Optimization
Speaker: Xinghua Zheng (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
15:20–15:40
Break
15:40–16:20
Paper 4
Blessing of Markowitz: Hedge the Uncertainty of Covariance Matrix for High-dimensional Portfolio Optimization
Speaker: Shiwei Huang (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Discussant: Leheng Chen (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
16:20–17:00
Paper 5
When Charts Help and Mislead: Visual Peer Effects in Stock Markets
Speaker: Ruijing Yang (University of Macau)
Discussant: Wei Wang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen)
17:00–17:40
Paper 6
The Sound of Silence: AI Language Models, Policy Signals and Risk Premia
Speaker: Gayeon Hong (Seoul National University)
Discussant: Weiming Zhang (Hong Kong Baptist University)
17:40–18:00
Break
18:00–20:00
Dinner
Day 2: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 – Morning Venue: #5 202
Time Program Details
Moderator: Zhigang Qiu (Renmin University of China)
08:30–09:10
Invited Speech 3
Uncovering Latent Stock Risk Linkages: Financial Graph Learning via Mixed Membership Co-jump Networks
Speaker: Yingying Li (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
09:10–09:50
Invited Speech 4
Generative AI for Finance
Speaker: Fuwei Jiang (Xiamen University)
09:50–10:00
Break
10:00–10:40
Paper 7
Can AI Do Financial Research? LLM-Guided Hypothesis Discovery in Asset Pricing
Speaker: Miao Liu (Boston College)
Discussant: Guohao Tang (Hunan University)
10:40–11:20
Paper 8
The Agency Problem of AI Agents?
Speaker: Shiyun Hu (Peking University)
Discussant: Yifeng Zhu (Central University of Finance and Economics)
11:20–12:00
Paper 9
Anonymization and Information Loss
Speaker: Ke Wu (Renmin University of China)
Discussant: Dake Zhang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
12:00–12:10
Voting, Best Paper / Best Discussant Awards, and Closing Remarks
12:10–14:00
Lunch at School Canteen

Conference Program Handbook (PDF)

Click the button to view or download the complete PDF version of the AI4F Conference Program Handbook.

Download Program Handbook (PDF)