Programme
Private Equity Leaders' Summit | Venture Capital Summit | Limited Partners' Summit | Investment Summit (Day one) | Investment Summit (Day two)
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Tuesday, 17th November 2020
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08:50
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09:00
Setting the scene (Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits)
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Senior Executive Director Edmond Lau will open this year’s AVCJ Forum with an overview of Hong Kong’s private equity platform and the latest developments that will benefit the industry, including the new limited partnership law and the proposed tax concession for carried interest. In addition to promoting market development, the HKMA is also one of the region’s major investors in private markets. Mr. Lau will share the HKMA’s insights on investment outlook.
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09:30
Break
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09:40
Asian private equity: Look ahead (Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits)
- How were you able to get comfortable acting on investment opportunities
- Will the new normal will continue going forward
- How has Asia fared compared to the rest of the world
- How did Covid change investment thesis and value creation
- What is the outlook for 2021 and beyond
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10:40
Break
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10:50
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11:35
Break
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11:45
Talent matters: Team building to stay competitive
- Is the emphasis on sector and functional expertise changing how GPs recruit?
- How do you build a balanced team capable of driving portfolio growth?
- Is familiarity with technology a must regardless of domain expertise?
- How should GPs think about hiring now to be competitive in 10 years’ time?
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12:30
Networking lunch
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14:00
Due diligence: How to get it right in 2021
- How have approaches to due diligence changed in response to COVID-19?
- To what extent can technology reduce the need for in-person engagement?
- What are the common pitfalls when assessing new economy businesses?
- Have recent fraud scandals led to increased scrutiny of portfolio companies?
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14:45
Fund structures: Where, when and why?
- What should GPs be mindful of in terms of fund structure and domicile?
- How is Hong Kong’s limited partnership regime likely to stack up versus Singapore?
- What is the long-term outlook of Cayman for fund structures?
- Should GPs be concerned about carried interest tax treatment in Asia?
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15:30
Fund management and reporting: Better engagement
- To what extent does the quality of reporting vary by fund size?
- How are GPs investing in back office and compliance functions?
- Have oversight protocols been tested by the need recapitalize portfolio companies?
- Does the industry need more clarity on subscription lines of credit?
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16:10
Break
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16:20
Asia venture capital: Navigating market instability (Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits)
- How have investment priorities changed since the start of the year?
- What issues are at stake when companies contemplate down rounds?
- How are GPs rethinking their exit options?
- Is the shift in focus from B2C to B2B a cyclical or structural phenomenon?
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17:05
Break
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17:15
Institutional perspective: How European and Asian LPs view Asia (Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits)
- Have COVID-19 and the macro climate altered approaches to Asia?
- What has and hasn’t worked well this year in LP-GP communications?
- Where does specialization rank among the qualities LPs want to see in GPs?
- Is the return profile in Asia skewed toward a couple of sectors?
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18:15
Close of summit
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Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.
Mr Edmond Lau is responsible for external affairs, financial infrastructure and research. He holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in Economics and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Hong Kong. Mr Lau joined the Hong Kong Government as an Administrative Officer in 1986. He joined the HKMA in 1997 as Division Head (Banking Development) and had been involved in banking reform and the establishment of the Deposit Protection Scheme. He also served as the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Executive of the HKMA in 2004 after a one-year secondment to the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau. Mr Lau was promoted as Executive Director (Strategy and Risk) in 2005. He assumed the post of Executive Director (Monetary Management) from 2007 to 2013 when he resigned from the HKMA to pursue further study and, thereafter, take up a leadership role in an NGO. Mr Lau joined HKMC Annuity Limited as Chief Executive Officer in 2017.
Mr. Beaton is a Partner of Lexington Partners where he leads the firm’s Asian activities and manages Lexington’s Hong Kong office. Mr. Beaton is engaged in the origination and evaluation of secondary purchases of non-U.S. private equity and alternative investments as well as raising capital for Lexington funds from investors in the region. Prior to moving to Hong Kong in 2011 to open the Lexington office, he spent eight years as an investment professional in London with Lexington. Mr. Beaton was previously an analyst in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Beaton graduated from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow with an LLB (Honors) and Universität Hamburg and Universidad Complutense de Madrid with a European masters in economics and law.
Mark Chiba is Group Chairman and Partner of The Longreach Group. The Longreach Group is an established independent private equity firm with offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo. The firm focuses on Japan and related Greater China control buyouts in the mature industrial and technology, consumer, business services and financial services sectors. The firm manages three Funds which have accumulated approximately US$2.1 billion of committed limited partner and co-investment capital.
Mark co-founded The Longreach Group in late 2003. Mark's lead responsibilities at Longreach include firm management, senior relationship driven deal sourcing and execution, investments in the financial services sector, and building the firm's capital base and global networks.
Before co-founding Longreach, Mark served as Chief Executive Officer and President of UBS Securities Japan, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Investment Banking Management Committee, Head of Japan Investment Banking and as a member of the UBS Global Investment Bank Board. Previous to this role in Japan, Mark headed the UBS Asia-Pacific Financial Institutions Group.
Mark is an Australian citizen, resident in Hong Kong. He holds First Class Honours degrees in Economics (University of Melbourne) and Law (University of Sydney). Mark is a Rhodes Scholar with a Master of Philosophy degree in International Relations (with Distinction) from Oxford University.
Amit Dixit is a Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Asia Acquisitions, and Head of India for Blackstone Private Equity. Since joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Dixit has been involved with various investments and investment opportunities in India and South Asia. Previously, Mr. Dixit was a Principal at Warburg Pincus. Mr. Dixit received an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS in Engineering from Stanford University, and a B.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai where he was awarded the Director’s Silver Medal for graduating at the top of his program. He currently serves as a Director of several companies including Mphasis, TaskUs, Aadhar, Essel Propack, Aakash Education, Sona Comstar, IBS Software, Jagran Prakashan and Mid-Day Infomedia. Mr. Dixit was previously a Director of Intelenet Global Services, Trans Maldivian Airways, Igarashi Motors India, S.H. Kelkar and Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
Ben Gray is a Founding Partner of BGH Capital, Australia’s largest domestically focused private equity fund. BGH owns Navitas, a leading global Education Company and CyberCX, Australia’s largest Cyber Security Services firm. BGH Post COVID-19 has agreed to acquire four companies including Village Roadshow, Abano Healthcare, Healius Medical Centres and TripADeal. Previously, Ben was a Managing Partner at TPG Capital, where he served as the Joint Head of Asia, as the Head of Australia and New Zealand and as a member of the Global Management Committee. Ben spent almost thirteen years at TPG and led A$2.7 billion of equity investments by TPG including Petbarn, Healthscope, Inghams and Cushman & Wakefield.
Prior to joining TPG in 2004, Ben was a Director at Credit Suisse, where he worked in the investment banking division in New York and Australia from 1994. Ben received a Bachelor of Commerce with First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Business Administration with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School.
Ben is a Director of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.
Xiang-Dong (X.D.) Yang is a Managing Director and Chairman of Carlyle Asia, leading all Corporate Private Equity investments in Asia (ex-Japan). He joined Carlyle in 2001 as a Co-Head of the Asia Buyout advisory team. Carlyle has been investing in Asia for over two decades and is one of the largest private equity investors in Asia. Carlyle Asia has invested over US$15.5 billion in more than 150 companies in corporate private equity, and has current assets under management of more than US$11.8 billion, as of June 30, 2020. Mr. Yang is based in Hong Kong.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Yang spent nine years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Private Equity Investment Asia ex-Japan.
Mr. Yang serves on the boards of Grand Foods Holdings Limited (McDonald’s China) and Du Xiaoman Financial. Mr. Yang is also a member of the Global Advisory Council of Harvard University and a trustee of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C.
Mr. Yang received his BA in economics from Harvard University and MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a native of China.
Alex Wilmerding is a member of the Pantheon global investment team and the Pantheon Asia Regional Investment Committee. He also manages Pantheon’s Asian investor relations. Prior to joining Pantheon, Mr. Wilmerding was a Director at Citi Private Bank with a focus working with financial sponsors including private equity and venture funds and distribution of alternatives. He previously spent nine years as a Partner at Boston Capital Ventures where he sourced, structured, and managed growth and venture investments. Prior to working for Boston Capital Ventures, he served as Commercial Manager Eastern China for the Fednav Group, as well as in executive management positions for the Swire Group in its subsidiaries Cathay Pacific Airways and Cathay Dragon based in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Jakarta. Mr. Wilmerding has a BA from Yale University and MBA from Columbia Business School.
Rich Itri is a Senior Vice President of Professional Services (CIO Advisory) at Eze Castle Integration. Mr. Itri has over 22 years of IT executive experience, spending his entire career managing IT within the financial services industry. Prior to joining Eze Castle, Mr. Itri was Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer for PJT Partners, a boutique investment bank, Principal and Chief Information Officer for Sky Road and held Chief Information Officer positions at Arrowhawk Capital Partners and Arbalet Capital Partners. Over the years, Mr. Itri has developed and managed innovative, business aligned platforms, that drive revenue and operational efficiencies. He holds positions on several Advisory Boards and volunteers his time to help non-profits leverage technology.
Megumi Kiyozuka currently serves as the President & Representative Director of CLSA Capital Partners Japan. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall investment activities of the firm and serves on the board of numerous portfolio companies. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Mr. Kiyozuka was a Director focused on Japanese buyout opportunities in the consumer, healthcare, and industrial sectors with The Carlyle Group in Tokyo. He spent 6 years at Carlyle and was one of the founding members of Carlyle Japan. Prior to his tenure at The Carlyle Group, he was a Senior Manager at the MUFG Bank, Ltd., where he accumulated over 10 years of experience in M&A and syndicated loans across various countries in Asia. Mr. Kiyozuka received a B.A. in Economics from Shiga University and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley.
Justin Ryan joined Quadrant Private Equity in February 2011 and has been on the Investment Committee for 35 Quadrant investments of which he has led or co-led 15, 8 of which have been successfully or partially exited. Prior to this Mr. Ryan was Chief Executive Officer of Alesco Corporation Limited, an ASX 200 industrial company and before that a Director of Catalyst Investment Managers. Mr. Ryan was Chairman of AVCAL in 2003 and is currently Chairman of e-commerce businesses Adore Beauty (ABY), GraysOnline, Quad Lock and Modibodi and is also a Director of Love to Dream and Arq
Mr. Ryan has an MBA from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Law from The University of Sydney. http://linkedin.com/in/justin-ryan-9566282b
Hamilton is a Managing Director of CDIB Capital. Prior to joining he served as the group Chief Executive Officer of Simon Murray & Company and Managing Partner of SMC Capital China ("SMC"), a Greater China focused investment management firm in private equity, long only funds, hedge funds, fixed income, and other direct investments. Prior to that, his background includes appointments as co-CEO of a UA Cinema (Hong Kong) and Vice President at Morgan Stanley investment banking division in New York and Hong Kong.
Hamilton received a JD-MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, and an undergraduate degree from Harvard College.
Vicky is a Director in the Investment Team at HQ Capital Asia. Vicky has more than 10 years of investing experiences in both public and private equities in Asia. Before joining HQ Capital, Vicky was a Vice President at Siguler Guff based in Shanghai, where she focused on Chinese PE/VC fund investing and co-investments. Prior to that, Vicky was an investment professional at Eton Park Asia, Morgan Stanley Special Situation Desk and Lunar Capital. Vicky received her B.A. with first-class honors in Economics from the University of Cambridge and her MBA from Harvard Business School. She is native in Mandarin Chinese and fluent in English.
Mr. Alvin Lam is a Principal with CVC Capital Partners. Alvin joined CVC in 2005 and is a member of the CVC’s Asia Operations Team, based in Hong Kong. Prior to joining CVC, Alvin was a Principal with the Boston Consulting Group’s Greater China practice and worked for Philip Morris International in a regional business development role. Alvin holds a BSc Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
Kyle Shaw is the founder and managing partner of ShawKwei & Partners, a private equity fund manager based in Hong Kong and Singapore investing in Asian advanced manufacturing and service industries. ShawKwei is actively involved in managing portfolio companies and has specialist operating skills in areas such as revenue growth, margin expansion, and capital efficiency.
Kyle has managed investment portfolios starting in 1990 with Security Pacific National Bank in Hong Kong, then in 1993 with the Tudor Investment Group in Shanghai, and in 1998 establishing ShawKwei & Partners. Prior to private equity, Kyle worked in the oil industry with Union Texas Petroleum in Houston and Tidewater in Louisiana and Singapore. During his private equity career, Kyle has served on the board of directors of numerous companies in China, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan including Flextronics, China Fangda Group, YongLe Tape, Amos Holdings, and Beyonics.
Kyle received an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 and a BS Commerce from the University of Virginia in 1983. He studied Mandarin Chinese at Taiwan’s National Normal University Language Institute for foreign students in 1985, and has lived over 30 years in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan.
Jun Tsusaka is CEO, CIO and Chairperson of the ESG Committee of Nippon Sangyo Suishin Kiko Ltd. (NSSK), an investment firm established in 2014 and focused on Japan’ s middle market. NSSK currently manages five investment funds (including its flagship fund and regional impact funds) on behalf of Japanese and international government and private sector pension plans, institutional investors, endowments and family offices.
Prior to Founding NSSK, from 2006, Jun Tsusaka was a Global Partner, Investment Committee Member and Partner Selection Committee Member for TPG Capital and was responsible for establishing and building up the Japan investment and operating team, which make up the core of NSSK today.
Jun Tsusaka is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and has an Advanced Management Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from MIT. He is a former Business Trustee of Japan’s Bankruptcy Court, is a member of the Keizai Doyukai and Seiwajuku and the President of the Harvard Club of Japan.
Jeremy joined CPE Capital (CPEC) in July 2016. He oversees legal affairs for the Group and its investee companies, with a focus on transactions, risk management and governance.
Previously, Jeremy was General Counsel and Company Secretary at Accolade Wines, one of the world’s largest global wine businesses and part of the CHAMP III portfolio. In this role, he managed the legal, compliance, company secretarial, external affairs and government relations functions globally.
Jeremy qualified as a lawyer in 1997 and is admitted to practice in New South Wales, South Australia and the United Kingdom. He has broad legal experience, gained in corporate environments across the wine and finance industries, and from leading law firms in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Jeremy has held directorships in the private and not for profit / industry association sector. He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
A Co-Founder of Blackpeak, Chris has more than 25 years of leadership experience in risk advisory, banking, and finance in the Asia–Pacific region. Based in Singapore, Chris has led risk projects across the region. He has extensive industry knowledge and contacts within the financial and corporate communities in Asia, gained from his various leadership roles in the finance industry.
Chris manages complex due diligence, investigations, business intelligence and dispute cases across Asia Pacific. In addition to client and project work, Chris oversees Blackpeak’s growth and strategic initiatives.
Prior to founding Blackpeak, Chris was the Asia–Pacific head of Kroll, the global risk advisory business, and built the firm’s Southeast Asia practice. He was also the former head of investment banking in Asia for Crosby and, prior to that, was an executive director of BNP Peregrine Capital. Chris is an authority on corporate governance in Asia and has been a member of the secretariat of the Asian Corporate Governance Association since 2004.
Jaideep Das is a Partner and the Global Lead for M&A services in ERM. He also acts as the global lead for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) advisory services, and his work has included supporting fund managers in applying market-leading approaches to integrate ESG into their strategy, investment, and ownership processes. He has worked extensively for private markets clients such as Bain Capital, Bridgepoint, Carlyle, EQT, IFM, KKR, OMERS, Partners Group, Permira, Riverstone and Triton as well as limited partners such as PGGM and APG. Mr. Das was retained by InvestEurope from 2012–2015 to co-develop and deliver their integrating ESG training course to over 60 fund managers and limited partners and currently sits on their ESG Core Roundtable. He was also an author of the PRI-ERM guidance on ESG monitoring, reporting, and dialogue in private equity published in 2018.
Mr. Das has a Master’s in environmental economics and sustainability management from Strathclyde Business School.
Kapil Kirpalani is a Director and serves as KKR’s Chief Compliance Officer for the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Kirpalani was at HarbourVest Partners where he was responsible for the legal/compliance coverage of the funds, secondaries and direct co-investing businesses across Asia. He was previously with Pacific Harbor Capital (a Citigroup affiliate) where he covered a broad range of businesses including special situations, debt & equity investments. He began his career in private practice. Mr. Kirpalani holds an LL.B. (with honors), an LL.M. and has completed further business studies at the University of Cambridge.
Mr. Menezes is a Partner & COO at ChrysCapital and has been with the firm for over 19 years. He is a member of the advisory committee and is responsible for diligence, regulatory/industry relationships, legal, compliance and operations. Mr. Menezes is a private equity veteran and has served on the board of the Indian private equity association for almost eight years, including as the vice-chairman. He has also served as a member of the CII National Committee of private equity and other industry bodies.
Prior to ChrysCapital, Mr. Menezes was with KPMG, in its information technology and U.S. GAAP practices, where, among other things, he was involved in the ADR issues and NYSE/NASDAQ listings of several leading Indian companies. Mr. Menezes is a rank-holding Chartered Accountant and received a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from Mumbai University.
Background
Andrew has 23 years of experience with KPMG principally focused on major IPO and corporate M&A transaction deal execution and project management in multiple major locations including London, New York, Sydney and Singapore.
His principal sector experience is on transactions in the Private Equity and Services sectors.
Andrew has acted as Lead Partner for KPMG on more than 350 significant transactions with an aggregate deal value of more than $150 billion. He has led many of the more complex and demanding projects KPMG has been involved with in Asia over the last ten years.
Professional and industry experience
Private Equity: As Head of Private Equity, Andrew has led projects with most leading financial sponsors including KKR, Blackstone, CVC, Carlyle, TPG, Northstar, CHAMP, CHAMP Ventures, L Capital, Catalyst, TA Associates, Goldman Sachs PIA, TH Lee, and Macquarie Bank Principal Investments.
Complex transactions: Andrew has led the project management and due diligence for many landmark public and private transactions including KKR’s acquisition of Goodpack (SGX), the Seven / Westrac Merger, KKRs acquisition of GenesisCare, the CPPIB acquisition of Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, Macquarie Media Group IPO, DUET’s IPO, AUSTAR’s refinancing, the global consortium acquisition and listing of Dyno Nobel, the global consortium acquisition of Boart Longyear, the consortium acquisition of the DBNGP, the acquisition by AGL of both Southern Hydro and Powerdirect.
Direct / co-investments: Andrew has assisted SWF, major pension funds and fund of funds on direct or co-investments including CPPIB, Temasek, GIC, Ontario Teachers, CalPERS, CalSTRS and HarbourVest.
Location experience: His major location experience include: London (5 Years), Sydney (13 Years) , New York (2 Years) and Singapore. In addition he has led transaction teams in across South East Asia, China, Japan, India, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Hong Kong
Paul leads our Corporate and Investment Funds team in Asia. He is also the Managing Partner of the Hong Kong office.
Paul regularly advises on corporate matters including investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and the restructuring of companies and structures. These will often be private equity-related transactions. He has been with Mourant Ozannes since 1999.
Dr. Federle is the General Counsel and a member of the Executive Committee of Samena Capital.
He has more than 20 years of experience advising investors on M&A, private equity and other complex transactions in equity, debt and real estate. Prior to joining Samena Capital, Dr. Federle was a Co-Founder and Partner of ESO Capital Group, a US$500 million investment manager focusing on alternative assets across Europe.
Prior to this, Dr. Federle was a Partner and Head of Private Equity for Germany at the international law firm Dewey Ballantine where he specialised in transactional work for private equity and hedge funds. Previously he was a Partner at Norton Rose.
Dr. Federle holds a JD and PhD (Dr iur) from the University of Freiburg i.Br., a Licence en Droit from the Université D’Aix-Marseille, and a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is also qualified as a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA)
Experience
Gregory R. Hara oversees all investment and divestment decisions made at the Firm, as well as its strategic direction. Mr. Hara has been responsible for the investment activity of the Firm since 2006 when he, together with other founding Partners, formed J-STAR Co., Ltd. Before that, Mr. Hara was a Senior Manager of Tokyo based JAFCO Co., Ltd., the largest private equity investment firm. Before that, he was a Vice President of Lehman Brothers Inc, based in Tokyo, and prior to that a Vice President of The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, based in Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Chicago.
Education / Others
Mr. Hara graduated KEIO University in 1987 in Tokyo with an LL.B in Political Science. He is a C.P.A (Illinois, inactive) and a Chartered Member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan.
Anson focuses on financial market outreach and promotion, covering the asset and wealth management sector, including traditional and alternative asset managers, family offices and institutional investors. Prior to taking up his current role, Anson spearheaded development of Hong Kong’s private equity and venture capital fund market, including the mapping out of Hong Kong’s Limited Partnership Fund regime, broadening of tax exemption to cover onshore funds, etc. Anson also worked at HKMA’s Direct Investment team and Risk & Compliance Department, where he was responsible for Exchange Fund’s PE and real estate investments and investment operational and business risk compliance matters respectively. Before joining the HKMA, Anson was a member of the HKSARG Administrative Officer grade and served at various policy bureaux including Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, where he closed the railway merger deal and advised on various public infrastructure financing projects; and Chief Secretary for Administration’s Private Office, etc., where he acquired extensive experience in policy formulation.
Having practised tax for about 23 years, Wee Hwee has extensive experience in structuring single country and multiple jurisdictions funds with a Asian focus, both close ended and open ended, listed and unlisted, and across various alternative asset classes include real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy, private equity and debt. Specifically, he has structured several Pan Asian real estate funds that heavily invest in Australia and Japan and is familiar with structuring the fund to be compliant with the Managed Investment Trust regime in Australia and the TMK structure in Japan. He is also familiar with fund platforms in Singapore, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, Labuan, etc as well as tax efficient divestment planning opportunities for funds with multiple exit strategies (be it trade sale, conversion to income producing funds or IPO exit).
Wee Hwee has assisted many Singapore and foreign investors to structure their Singapore real estate investments (both asset and share deals) in a tax efficient manner across various asset classes, ranging from hotels, office, retail mall, residential, data centers, healthcare properties to student housing. Apart from Singapore, he has also extensive experience in advising acquisitions in Australia, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, US, New Zealand, Indonesia, UK, Germany, etc.
His clients comprises of mainly real estate funds, developers, family office / ultra-high net worth, infrastructure fund, sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds, insurance funds, listed REITs and business trusts.
Further, Wee Hwee actively participates as a presenter for workshops organised by the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA), Real Estate Development Association of Singapore and Certificate of Real Estate Investment Finance (CREIF). He sits on the tax committee of APREA and has also spoken on fund/real estate tax topics in various conferences held in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Jakarta. Wee Hwee has also been working closely with the Singapore Exchange to promote REIT and Business Trust listings in Singapore, having recently embarked on a few road shows to various Asian cities.
Schonberger is one of the founding partners of CDH Investments and is the head of the firm’s investor relations activities. He is the principal liaison between the investment team and the firm’s over 100 global institutional investors and regularly participates in investment team meetings. Prior to the formation of CDH Investments, Schonberger was a Vice President in China International Capital Corporation’s private equity group. From 1987 to 1994, Schonberger worked at The First National Bank of Chicago in New York providing corporate finance services to corporate clients. After leaving First Chicago, he returned to China to pursue entrepreneurial ventures from 1994 to 1998. Schonberger received his MBA from New York University’s Graduate School of Business and B.A. from Wesleyan University.
Robert joined Delphos as Chairman for Asia-Pacific in October 2020. He has over 30 years of experience spanning both global finance and sustainable development. He is currently the Managing Director Asia-Pacific for Convergence, the global non-profit network for blended finance. Prior to joining Convergence, he founded and led The Serendra Group, a boutique emerging markets advisory firm that helps CEOs build profitable and sustainable businesses in emerging markets, and was the President and CEO of EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Private Sector Capital Markets Division at the Asian Development Bank, following a global career in senior leadership positions at firms such as ABN AMRO Bank, GE Capital, GE Energy, Lehman Brothers and Singapore Exchange.
Joined Advantage Partners in January 2002. Katsuya has been responsible for Advantage Partners’ investor relations, ESG, and middle/back office administration functions since 2018 and is a member of AP’s investment committee for Japan buyouts. As an investment partner prior to assuming the role of CAO, he was responsible for investments including Polygon Pictures Inc., Nihonkaisui Co., Ltd., and Xacti Corporation. After graduating from university, he joined Bain & Company Japan Inc. and was engaged in various strategic and operational projects for clients across broad industry sectors (financial services, software, auto, electronics, and others). He subsequently transitioned into venture investment and incubation activities for e-commerce and software-related start-ups before joining Advantage Partners. Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, Asian Studies, University of Tokyo; Master of Business Administration (MBA), Harvard Business School.
Bonnie Lo is a founding partner and COO of NewQuest. Ms. Lo oversees the finance, investor relations, operations, and administrative functions of NewQuest. She has over 20 years’ experience in finance and investing. Prior to taking on the COO role, Ms. Lo was co-head of China business for NewQuest. Prior to founding NewQuest, she was a director in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BAML) Asia private equity group focusing on investments in Greater China. Ms. Lo has also held other positions within BAML including in the corporate principal investments and investment banking groups. She also previously worked at 3i Group plc focusing on growth capital investments in Greater China.
Ms. Lo has an Executive MBA from EMBA-Global Asia, a joint programme between Columbia Business School, University of Hong Kong Business School, and London Business School. She received her undergraduate degree in Economics and East Asian Studies, magna cum laude, from Brown University in Providence, RI. Ms. Lo also serves on the Board of the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA).
Henry Yin is partner at Cooley LLP. He is a trusted advisor to clients on complex public and private mergers and acquisitions (including cross-border/outbound investments), private equity, venture capital and growth investments, joint ventures, PIPEs, financings, going-private transactions and other general corporate matters in China, US and globally covering diverse industries including technology, life sciences, film, media, financial services, consumer, automotive, big data, e-commerce, software, hardware, education/edtech, manufacturing, fintech, logistics, blockchain, real estate, reinsurance, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure.
Henry also advises family offices, founders, significant shareholders and corporate clients in negotiated or contested complex transactions, corporate governance matters, boardroom and transaction strategies, ESOP matters, competitive bidding process, Greater China entry strategies and other technology transactions. Henry received his JD with honors from Duke University School of Law and BA from University of International Relations.
Shane is Founder and Partner of Openspace Ventures, a Singapore-headquartered VC focused on investments in Southeast Asia-based technology companies. Openspace currently manages 4 funds with total committed capital of over US$350M. Selected Openspace investments overseen by Shane include Gojek, HaloDoc, Whispir, Biofourmis, Finnomena and Tanihub Group.
Openspace’s inaugural fund is consistently performing top 5% of VC funds globally according to Cambridge Associates benchmark. As of June 2020, a total of US$6.5 bn follow-on capital has been raised by Openspace portfolio companies. In 2018, Shane was a finalist for Asian VC/PE “Professional of the Year” as coordinated by the Asian Venture Capital Journal.
Shane was previously Managing Director and Co-Head (Technology Investment Banking, of Citigroup Asia-Pacific. As a technology banker, he spent over thirteen years advising Asian technology companies and financial sponsors on capital raising and M&A strategies. Over this time, his clients have included strategic players such as Qihoo, Mediatek, Pactera, Acquity, Hisoft, ASE, SAS and sponsors such as Temasek, Khazanah, ATIC, GGV, CVCI and DCM. Shane has acted as advisor on many technology M&A transactions including SaS acquisition of Covalent, sale of Singapore Computer Systems to NCS in 2009 and the private equity buyouts of SPI, Unisteel, MMI and Acument. Prior to his banking career, Shane was a strategy consultant with Bain and Company and GEM Consulting in Australia.
Shane has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD Singapore where he was a recipient of the IAA Asian Campus scholarship and a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce from UWA.
Nisa Leung is a Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners and leading its health care investments. Qiming Venture Partners is a leading investment firm in China which currently manages over USD 5.6 billion in assets and investment in over 370 companies.
Prior to joining Qiming, she was co-founder of Biomedic Holdings with operations and investments in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and health care services in China including Novamed Pharmaceuticals (acquired by SciClone NASDAQ:SCLN) and U-Systems (acquired by GE Healthcare). Nisa was Venture Partner of PacRim Ventures in Menlo Park, and was previously with Softbank/Mobius Venture Capital.
She currently sits on the board of Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals (SSE:603087), Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB; HKSE:9688), Venus MedTech (HKSE:2500), Nurotron, dMed, CanSino Biologics (SSE:688185; HKSE:6185), New Horizon Bio, Berry Oncology, Broncus, Insilico Medicine among others. Her other investments include Aeonmed Medical, Berry Genomics (SZSE:000710), CITIC Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shanghai Pharmaceutical HKSE: 2607), Crown Bioscience (acquired by JSR Life Sciences), Kira Pharmaceutical, LIH, Novast Pharmaceuticals, Origene Technologies (acquired by VCAN Bio SSE:600645), Richen, VR Medical, Wuxi Leiming, Chain Medical Labs, MEDx, Cure Genetics, SinoCell Tech (SSE:688520), Apollomics, Sino United, Schrödinger (NASDAQ:SDGR) and Jacobio among others.
Nisa has been recognized by the Forbes Global 100 VC Midas List in 2019 and 2020, named Top 3 Best Female Venture Capitalist in China by Forbes in 2018 and won Venture Capital Professional of the Year by Asian Venture Capital Journal in 2017.
Nisa earned her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS from Cornell University. She is currently visiting lecturer at Harvard Law School, member of Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council, board member of the Hong Kong Airport Authority and Hong Kong Palace Museum.
Niren is the Managing Director and the Head of NVP India. Niren brings to NVP India more than 25 years of investing, entrepreneurial, finance, operational and investment banking experience from leading consumer oriented companies and global financial institutions. Niren serves as an advisor on India-based venture and growth equity investments across sectors such as FinTech, Internet/Technology, Consumer and Healthcare.
Niren has been with NVP India for over 12 years and has advised Norwest’s investments in Swiggy.com, OfBusiness.com, Pepperfry.com, Quikr.com, RBL, Cholamandalam Fin, IndusInd, ING Vysya, EssKay Fin, Five Star Fin, Kotak, Kishlay Snacks, Jain Irrigation, Shriram City Fin.
Prior to joining NVP India, Niren was the Senior Director of Strategy and Ventures at eBay.com, Inc. in Silicon Valley, where he helped drive the worldwide strategy across eBay. Niren also led the eBay Ventures team where he was responsible for new investments, build or buy decisions, strategic acquisitions and new business opportunities.
Prior to eBay, Niren was part of the Original Executive Management Team of Baazee.com, India largest auction website. Baazee.com was acquired by eBay International in 2004, the largest successful acquisition exit of that era.
Prior to this, Niren was an investment banker with KPMG Corporate Finance in the Technology and Financial Services spaces and before that, a Registered Equity Dealer on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Niren is a rank holder Chartered Accountant and a Gold medallist Masters in Commerce from the University of Mumbai.
Shin is Managing Partner at GLOBIS Capital Partners. Shin leads GLOBIS’s investments in mobile, digital media, and web services. Shin takes a hands-on approach to his portfolio companies initiating strategy development, organization/process development, partnership development, and global expansion.
His track record includes: IPO iStyle (ticker TSE 3660), Aucfan (3674), Kayac (3904), Pixta (3416), and Mercari (4385); M&A Shimauma Print System (acquired by CCC), and nanapi (acquired by KDDI). His portfolio includes Lancers, Viibar, Timers, Coubic, Reblue, and Mirrative etc. Selected as Forbes Japan Midas List Most Influential Venture Investor 2018.
Prior to Globis, Shin led management consulting projects at Arthur D. Little where he developed corporate strategy, new business strategy and innovation strategy for leading IT service providers and software companies. Shin received BA in Economics from University of Tokyo (graduation thesis with Honor), and MBA from Harvard Business School (Second Year Honor). Shin has 8 years of overseas experience in England, Holland and the US.
Marcus Simpson is a private markets consultant, mentor and maker who has been pushing industry boundaries for decades. He was Head of Global Private Capital at QIC until 2020, a program he established in 2005. That is a A$7.0bn global program with top decile global investment performance. He is at the forefront of a new private equity investment model reflected in a 2015 paper co-authored with Josh Lerner and Hugh MacArthur: The Next Generation Private Equity Investor, and as reflected in his participation of the Institutional Investors Roundtable, an international community of large, long-term institutional investors seeking to collaborate on private market investments.
Earlier experience includes Chief Executive, North America, Altius Associates; Head of Private Equity, Virginia Retirement System, and Vice President, Acquisition Finance, Bankers Trust Company.
Mr. Simpson holds a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Virginia and a BSc (Architecture) from the University of Virginia.
Doug Coulter joined LGT Capital Partners in 2007 to lead its Asian private equity investment activities. Prior to LGT, Doug was a Senior Investment Officer at the IFC, responsible for direct investments in the TMT, retail & consumer and healthcare sectors. He previously worked at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong and as a lawyer at Fasken in Toronto. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a M.Sc. from the LSE, a law degree from the University of Western Ontario and a B.A. from Queen’s University in Canada.
LGT Capital Partners is a leading alternative investment specialist with over USD 60 billion in assets under management and over 200 private equity professionals worldwide. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland, the firm has offices in New York, Dublin, London, Paris, Vaduz, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. LGT Capital Partners was selected as Alternatives Manager of the Year in Asia in 2016 and 2017 and Alternatives Fund House of the Year in 2018 by AsianInvestor, was named Alternatives House of the Year in 2020 by Asia Asset Management and was named Fund of funds of the year in Asia in 2018 and 2019 by Private Equity International.
Andress is the Chief Investment Officer of ACP Private Equity & Head of Private Equity, Asia Pacific. She is also a member of the Global Investment Committee for ACP Fund Investments. Prior to working for ACP, Andress was employed at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (Special Investments) in London. She started her career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore where she worked on the China and North American desks and was posted to Germany as First Secretary/ Deputy to the Ambassador and was also a Singapore delegate to the United Nations in New York. She also served as Centre Director for the Singapore Economic Development Board in Frankfurt where she helped German business set up in Singapore.
Nick is based in London and joined MIM in October 2019. He is responsible for the day to day management of the Asia LBO portfolio. Prior to joining MetLife, Nick was Founding Partner at Integrity Capital Partners, a Beijing-based Private Equity firm focused on making cross-border direct private equity (“PE”) investments between China and Europe. Previously he was Vice President in the Beijing office of Schroder Adveq, the PE investment arm of Schroders PLC, focusing on primary, secondary fund investments and co-investments. Nick began his career in Schroder Adveq's Swiss headquarters where he covered European investments. Nick holds an MBA from HKUST Business School, Hong Kong, an MPhil in Finance from Cambridge University, UK, and a BEng in Electronic Engineering from Cardiff University, UK. He is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.
Yar-Ping specializes in Asian pan-regional leveraged buyouts as well as country-focused funds, specifically in Greater China, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. She leads the Primary Investment Team’s Asian practice, and actively participates in all fund investment decisions and manages relationships with several of Adams Street's managers.
Prior to joining Adams Street, Yar-Ping was a Senior Vice President of GIC Special Investments (GICSI), which is the private equity arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. She spent more than a decade at GIC and worked in their New York, Redwood City, and Singapore offices. Yar-Ping was the Head of Asia/Emerging Markets based out of Singapore, leading GICSI’s investments in leveraged buyout funds, growth capital funds, and co-investments.
Yar-Ping is a member of the Adams Street Primary Investments Committee.
Raju Ruparelia leads Ontario Teachers’ direct private equity investing activities across Asia-Pacific. Raju joined Ontario Teachers’ in 2008, was a senior founding member of its Hong Kong office in 2013 and has nearly two decades of combined experience in private equity and corporate finance. He has worked in both Toronto and London for the organization and has been involved in a number of its direct investments, including the acquisitions of Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd., INC Research, Coway, DTZ and Cushman & Wakefield. Raju currently sits on the board of Cushman & Wakefield.
Prior to joining Ontario Teachers’, Raju worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse in New York, in investments at Cadillac Fairview (Ontario Teachers’ wholly owned real estate subsidiary) and in the corporate finance group at Deloitte.
Raju holds a BA from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.