There are two ruling passions in Isaac Wen’s life.
One is soccer, which he adores ‘because of the strategy, teamwork and athleticism required to play the sport at a high level’. He himself plays in an amateur soccer league in Hong Kong and reckons ‘soccer could be more of a way of life than a sport’.
His other great passion? Internal audit.
‘What fascinates me most as an internal auditor is that you are exposed to a wide range of business issues’
Having started out in a tech support role for IBM, Wen landed his current post as an internal auditor at a Hong Kong fintech only after a few career twists and turns. It seems to have been well worth the wait.
Deep understanding
‘What fascinates me most as an internal auditor is that you are exposed to a wide range of business issues, no matter whether it is related to finance, operations or IT,’ he says, adding that a deep understanding of the business is key to identifying and assessing risks.
He sees the job as being about identifying areas for improvement, making recommendations for change and helping the company achieve its objectives by providing insights and assurance on the effectiveness of internal controls and risk management processes.
When making a proposal to management, Wen tries to think like a business leader. Coming up with viable and cost-effective solutions for management is no easy task, and he says that building strong relationships with key stakeholders, including management and the board, is key to be ‘successful in delivering the value’ for the company. This kind of effective stakeholder management, he points out, ‘requires excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build trust and credibility’.
Land of wonder
‘My journey to accounting began in an exotic country,’ he says. He found a position as a senior accountant at a Huawei financial shared service centre in Argentina after finishing his time at IBM in a previous project management role. The four years he spent working – and playing soccer – in Buenos Aires proved such a wonderful time that when Argentina won the Qatar World Cup 2022 ‘I was equally exhilarated and proud of my Argentine friends on the other side of the world,’ he says.
Before that point, though, the idea of being an accountant had never occurred to him. But with over a decade of experience now as an auditor with a focus on tech companies, Wen has a solid understanding of technology and digital transformation, and its central place in finance.
‘AI will help auditors identify patterns faster and more accurately’
Tech is as crucial in audit as other aspects of finance, he says, as it drives the efficiency and effectiveness of risk assessment and audit execution. ‘The use of data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning will continue to grow in internal audit. These technologies will help auditors perform large-scale data analysis, identify patterns and detect anomalies faster and more accurately. Internal auditors need to be familiar with emerging technologies, such as AI and blockchain, and how they could impact their organisation’s operations and risks.’
The growth in reliance on technology and data means a growing focus on cybersecurity and data privacy, Wen points out, and the need to evaluate and provide assurance of the organisation’s ability to protect sensitive information and remain compliant with data protection regulation.
CV
2021
Assistant manager, group internal audit, WeLab, Hong Kong
2019
Lead internal auditor, HNA Technology Investments Holdings, Hong Kong
2018
Internal audit manager, BIT Mining, Malta
2017
Senior consultant, Deloitte, Guangzhou, China
2012
Senior accountant, Huawei Technologies, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2009
Advisory technical support specialist, IBM, Shenzhen, China
Never stop growing
The adoption of agile working and continuous auditing and monitoring will be further areas of focus for the profession, as will the assurance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, he believes. All will require the development of expertise.
There will also be a need to keep up with regulatory changes. In Hong Kong that includes new requirements by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) along with more global IFRS Standards updates. ‘It requires constant learning and adapting to new requirements,’ he says.
And through it all, internal auditors must remain independent and objective in their work, which is the nature of the role. ‘This can be challenging when they work closely with the same people they are auditing,’ Wen acknowledges. ‘They must be able to maintain a professional distance and avoid any conflict of interest.’
It is, in short, just as much a way of life as soccer.
