Programme
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Private Equity Leaders' Summit | Venture Capital Summit | Limited Partners' Summit | Investment Summit (Day one) | Investment Summit (Day two)
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Tuesday, 16th November 2021
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08:00
Registration
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08:50
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09:00
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09:30Asian Private Equity: A vibrant Dynamic
Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits
- Following a sharp rebound in late 2020, how has investment panned out in 2021?
- Did COVID-19 lead to normalization in earnings and moderation in valuations?
- Are there sectors that managers are still unwilling to touch?
- How are GPs building resilience into their portfolios to mitigate future shocks?
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10:30
Networking break
Sponsored by:
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11:00Fundraising and investor relations: Virtual to hybrid
- What lasting change will COVID-19 have on investor relations?
- How have GPs re-thought timing, positioning and targeting for virtual fundraises?
- To what extent is there innovation in the nature of investor engagement?
- Under what circumstances would an LP rely solely on virtual due diligence?
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11:45Diversity: The roadmap for attracting and nurturing talent
- What can be done to prioritize diversity in recruitment?
- What role could or should quotas play?
- How are PE leaders promoting inclusivity in their deal teams?
- Will the speaker line-up for AVCJ 2030 be an equal split between genders?
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12:30
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13:00
Networking Lunch
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14:00Fund formation: Essential infrastructure
- What should GPs be mindful of in terms of fund structure and domicile?
- Is the carried interest tax treatment debate in Asia now over?
- What will be the next focal point for regulatory scrutiny of offshore structures?
- Where will managers go if the Cayman Islands becomes a less palatable option?
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14:45Due diligence: Evolving your thinking to cover all bases
- How have approaches to due diligence changed because of COVID-19?
- Are private equity firms investing enough in data analytics?
- How have the different risk factors evolved in Asia?
- To what extent can due diligence be automated?
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15:30Value creation: Utilising analytical insights to empower change
- What tools can be used to enhance data gathering, analysis, and reporting?
- What are the major challenges in executing a business model pivot?
- How do you build a cohesive team of experts, and when and how should they work?
- What internal processes can be outsourced to improve efficiencies?
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16:15
Networking break
Sponsored by:
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16:30Asian venture capital: A new maturity
Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits
- Are LPs able to build geographically diversified portfolios within Asia?
- What are the implications of ever larger funds across multiple strategies?
- Will the rise of B2B lead to a new breed of pan-regional or global Asian start-ups?
- What does increasing growth-stage tech activity mean for liquidity events?
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17:15Institutional Perspective: What works in Asia
Joint session with the Venture Capital and Limited Partners’ Summits
- To what extent has volatility in China’s technology space impacted wider portfolios?
- Has COVID-19 altered how LPs view exposure to different strategies in Asia?
- What challenges are presented by a greater emphasis on ESG?
- What are the key ingredients of a genuine partnership in Asia?
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18:00
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.
Wilson Warren is the President of Lexington Partners and Co-Chair of the Secondary Investment Committee. Mr. Warren is primarily engaged in the management of Lexington's investment operations and oversight for the secondary and co-investment funds.
During 27 years at Lexington, he has been actively involved in more than 100 completed secondary transactions - including complex partnership portfolios, direct secondary investments, hedge fund private equity assets, institutional equity co-investments, and GP solutions transactions, committing more than $18 billion of invested capital including syndications to LPs and other investors.
Prior to joining Lexington in 1994, Mr. Warren was an associate at Landmark Partners and prior to that he was an analyst in investment management at LaSalle Partners.
Mr. Warren graduated from Williams College with a BA in economics.
Mr. Rowan is a Co-Founder and CEO of Apollo Global Management, Inc. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Apollo Global Management, Inc., Athene Holding Ltd. and Athora Holding Ltd. Currently, Mr. Rowan is Chair of the Board of Advisors of The Wharton School and a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees. In addition, he is involved in public policy and is an initial funder and contributor to the development of the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a nonpartisan research initiative which provides analysis of public policy’s fiscal impact. An active philanthropist, Mr. Rowan is a founding member and Chair of Youth Renewal Fund and Vice Chair of Darca, Israel’s top educational network operating 40 schools with over 22,000 students throughout Israel’s most diverse and under-served communities. He also serves on the board of OpenDor Media, a digital media company centered on engaging Jewish and Israel content. He is an Executive Committee member of the Civil Society Fellowship, a partnership of ADL and the Aspen Institute, designed to empower the next generation of community leaders and problem solvers from across the political spectrum. He also serves on the boards of, inter alia, several technology-oriented venture companies.
Mr. Rowan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a BS and an MBA in Finance
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.
Mr. Heath Zarin is the Founder, Chair and CEO of EmergeVest, a global investment firm that seeks to build great businesses, provide innovative capital solutions and generate sustainable value for all stakeholders. Mr. Zarin is also the Founder, Chair and CEO of EV Cargo,an EmergeVest company with more than $1 billion of annual revenues and global operations.
Mr. Heath Zarin was previously Managing Director and Head of Principal Investments, Asia-Pacific, for HSBC, with responsibility for Asian proprietary private investment activities. Previously, he founded and ran Emergent Investment Group (“EIG”), a Hong Kong-based private investment firm. Prior to founding EIG, Mr. Heath Zarin held a series of senior executive roles at Credit Suisse, including forming and managing its Asian private equity business.
Mr. Heath Zarin practiced corporate law with SchuiteRoth & Zabel LLP in New York, where he formed and advised hedge funds and private equity funds. Mr. Heath Zarin’s current and previous board service includes companies across Asia, Europe and North America, in diverse manufacturing and service industries. Mr. Zarin has served as the Chair ofAllport Cargo Services, Adjuno, CM Downton, Jigsaw Solutions, NFT, Palletforce and other businesses.
Mr. Heath Zarin holds a Juris Doctor from the Fordham University School of Law and graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is CFA, CMT and CAIA charterholder and has completed Certificate programs at Harvard Business School.
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.
Ganen Sarvananthan is the Managing Partner of TPG Capital Asia, and a member of the firm’s Holdings Committee. Prior to joining TPG in 2014, Ganen served as Head of Investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the Government of Malaysia’s strategic investment fund, for almost a decade. He also worked at UBS Investment Bank based in London, Hong Kong and Singapore for more than seven years. He is a Barrister-at-Law (England and Wales) and read Law at University College London.
Partner, joined CVC in 2006. Based in Hong Kong, Brian is co-head of CVC's private equity business in Southeast Asia and also leads our regional industry groups.
Prior to joining CVC, Brian spent nine years working in JP Morgan's M&A department in New York, Hong Kong and Korea offices,
advising on a wide range of M&A and corporate finance transactions. Brian holds a BA degree in business economics and political science from Brown University, US.
Thomas has been in the finance industry for 25 years, and have worked across direct investments, capital raising, banking, advisory and corporate governance. He heads the Asia Pacific Business for Eaton Partners, responsible for the private markets origination, execution and distribution of primary fund raisings and secondary transactions in the region. Thomas sits on the APAC, North America, EMEA Private Funds Investment Committees at Eaton Partners.
Prior to joining Eaton Partners, Thomas was with UBS Asset Management for over 13 years, where he was Executive Director and Portfolio Manager for Asia Pacific of the Infrastructure and Private Equity business. He was a founding team member that incubated UBS' global infrastructure funds management business in 2005. Prior to this, Thomas was with UBS Investment Bank, Andersen, PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Australia Bank.
Thomas earned his Bachelor of Commerce with Majors in Finance and Accounting from the University of Sydney, and his Masters of Business Administration (Executive MBA) from the Australian Graduate School of Management. Thomas is a qualified Australian CPA.
Jessie is co-founder and partner at Quantium. Jessie Juan has over twelve years of alternative investment experience across Asia with a focus on PE primary investing in Greater China. Through her years of LP career, she brings best practices knowledge as well as LP due diligence insights to the Quantium platform. Previously, she was VP and Investment Committee member for Partners Group’s Asia Pacific Primary Investments, managing approx. USD 800m in capital deployment across primary, secondary and direct investments, and was Advisory Board member in multiple leading partnerships where she led the due diligence, legal negotiations, and post-investment account management. Jessie holds a B.S. degree from the Leonard Stern School of Business from New York University.
Christina is a Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners and in charge of global capital markets activities. She works closely with limited partners relating to capital raising and new product developments. Gaw Capital is a real estate private equity firm and has raised six commingled funds targeting the Greater China and APAC since 2005. The firm also manages value-add/opportunistic funds in Vietnam and the US, a Pan-Asia hospitality fund, a European hospitality fund and also provides services for separate account direct investments globally. The firm has over USD$ 27 billion in AUM as of Q3 2020. She also serves as Executive Director of Pioneer Global Group (0224.HK) and Independent Non-executive Director and Member of the Finance and General Committee and the Sustainability Committee of CLP Holdings Limited (0002.HK).
Prior to joining Gaw Capital, Christina had an investment banking career with Goldman Sachs and UBS as Managing Director for over 15 years, with responsibilities as Head of Asia Equities Distribution and as Head of APAC Capital Introduction team within Prime Brokerage. She has deep experience in covering some of the largest institutional investors globally.
Christina is also active in community and educational sector capacity work in Hong Kong. She is currently a board member of InspiringHK Sports Foundation and advisor of Teach for Hong Kong, finance committee member and board member of Hong Kong International School, board member of Stellart International School of Arts, executive committee vice chairwoman of St. Paul’s Co-educational College Alumni Association, corporate member of the Cheltenham Ladies College UK, school supervisor for TWGHs S. C. Gaw Memorial College and the council member of Lingnan University, Hong Kong. She has also served as the board member of The Women’s Foundation for over 10 years from 2009 to 2019 and the board treasurer of The Hong Kong Ballet Group from 2010 to 2017.
Christina received her B.S in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco, California.
Doni joined Vistra Hong Kong in 2019 as Director, Fund Services for Alternative Investments. She is responsible for business development activities for Alternative Investments in the North Asia region. She has extensive experience in formulating and executing regional and sales strategies in Asia including Japan and onshore China region. She had worked for global firms within the financial information and technology industries, helping to grow their Asia business by increasing market share and diversifying clientele. She has strong relationships with international and Asian clients at senior executive level and has a deep understanding of institutional clients’ business needs.
Doni holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. She is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Ms. Hu is a managing director for CarVal Investors. Based in Singapore, Ms. Hu is responsible for global fundraising and investor relations. Prior to joining CarVal in 2018, Ms. Hu served in senior pan-Asian fundraising roles at Intermediate Capital Group and CQS Management Limited. Ms. Hu also previously worked with private clients at UBS Wealth Management in London. She earned her M.B.A. from INSEAD and her B.A. from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Ms. Hu is fluent in Mandarin.
Haide Lui is the Head of Investor Relations at Ascendent Capital Partners. Prior to Ascendent, Ms. Lui spent close to 11 years at HarbourVest Partners based in Hong Kong focused on private equity fund investments across Asia. During that time, she served on the limited partner advisory committees of a number of private equity partnerships, including a range of venture, growth, and buyout funds in China, as well as several Asian funds of global private equity firms. Before that, Ms. Lui was with Morgan Stanley in the Global Capital Markets group in Hong Kong, focused on the origination and execution of equity financings, advising Asian and Chinese companies. Ms. Lui graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA Honours in Natural Sciences.
Hilary Hung is a Managing Director in the Institutional Client Solutions Group. She is based in Hong Kong. Since joining Blackstone, Ms. Hung has been involved in raising capital for Blackstone's private investment funds. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, Ms. Hung worked at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong in the Investment Banking Division. Ms. Hung received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School and a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.
RobKoczkar is a Managing Director of Adamantem Capital. His experience spansprivate equity investing, public company governance, strategy consulting, philanthropyand social impact investing. Prior to establishing Adamantem Capital he wasChief Executive Officer of Social Ventures Australia, a Managing Director ofPacific Equity Partners and a Principal with Texas Pacific Group. Rob startedhis career with Bain & Company. Rob received a BEng (Hons.) in Mechanicaland Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Melbourne. He currentlyserves on the boards of Hygain, Servian, Zenitas, Legend and is Chair of SocialVentures Australia.
Brooke Zhou is Partner of LGT Capital Partners, and leads the firm’s overall China business, as well as secondary investment activities in Asia.
LGT Capital Partners is a leading institutional alternative asset and fund of funds manager, currently managing over USD 60 billion AuM on a global basis. The firm is headquartered in Pfäffikon, Switzerland (near Zurich) and has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, New York, Dublin, London, Paris and Dubai.
Prior to joining LGT Capital Partners in 2010, Ms. Zhou was with CDH Investments, a leading Chinese private equity manager, based in Beijing. Prior to CDH Investments, Ms. Zhou spent her career at Bain & Company in Shanghai, as well as Oracle Corporation in Redwood Shores, California.
Ms. Zhou earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ms. Zhou grew up in Shanghai and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
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.
Jean Eric Salata is the Chief Executive and Founding Partner of Baring Private Equity Asia (or “BPEA”). Mr. Salata oversees all investment and divestment decisions made at the Firm, as well as its strategic direction. Mr. Salata has been responsible for the investment activity of the Firm since 1997 when he started the regional Asian private equity investment program for UK-based Baring Private Equity Partners Ltd. Mr. Salata later led the management buyout of this program in 2000 to establish BPEA as an independent firm.
Mr. Salata has lived and worked in Hong Kong since 1989, and graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Finance and Economics.
Darren is a partner in KPMG’s Hong Kong tax practice and leads the M&A Tax team as well as the Alternative Investments practice group. He has more than 25 years experience of serving institutions in a wide range of industries in Hong Kong and Asia Pacific. Darren has been involved in developing appropriate structures for investing into the Hong Kong and other countries within Asia Pacific, along tax and financial due diligence reviews in connection with M&A transactions and advising on cross border transactions. Darren has extensive experience in working with the mainland Chinese market, including structuring acquisitions of investments in China. Darren is also a Member of the Technical Committee of the Hong Kong Venture Capital Association (HKVCA), a Member of Tax Committee of Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the Chair of the Finance, Legal and Tax Committee of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Deputy Chair of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AustCham).
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).
Liam leads Apex’s sales team in Asia Pacific, he is also the regional team lead for Apex’s ESG Solutions in APAC. He has worked in fund services for over a decade, in Europe, the US and now Asia. He has previously held sales leadership positions with SS&C and Apex Group having started his career with SunGard (now FIS). He is a Chartered Alterative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and holds a Masters Degree in Engineering.
Shota Kuwaki currently serves as Executive Director of CLSA Capital Partners Japan. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall investor relations activities of the firm. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, Mr. Kuwaki previously worked as an investor relations professional at domestic buyout fund, Advantage Partners, where he engaged with both overseas and domestic investors. Prior to his tenure at Advantage Partners, he was involved in equity research at Macquarie Securities and Mizuho Securities. Additionally he has experience in the field of insurance at AIG. Mr. Kuwaki received a B.A. in Economics from Keio University.
Irene Koh, Executive Director, Ms. Koh joined JP Morgan Asset Management Private Equity Group in 2008. Prior to joining the Group, Ms. Koh was with JPMorgan's real estate structured finance group, originating and structuring commercial mortgage backed securities for REITs in Asia Pacific ex-Japan. Previously, Ms. Koh was a senior application engineer with Soluris Inc. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a MS in Financial Engineering from the National University of Singapore.
The Private Equity Group is one of the largest global private equity investment managers with assets comprising of over 350 partnerships, direct and secondary investments.
Global Head of AlphaSights' Private Equity Practice with 10+ years of experience partnering with top investment professionals. Oversee all of the firm's private equity, growth equity and venture accounts with full P&L responsibility. Manage and lead a global team of client service professionals to support the knowledge search process of250+ private equity funds, including 18 out of the top 20 firms globally, throughout the entire deal cycle, from deal origination, due diligence to portfolio value creation.
Sylvain is the CEO of SESAMm, an innovative company specializing in big data and AI for investment. Founded in 2014, SESAMm specializes in natural language processing and machine learning to provide investment insights, dashboards and analytics from billions of news, blog posts and messages from the internet.
Clients include leading asset managers, insurers and private equity firms. Sylvain’s passion for new technologies and entrepreneurship led him to start SESAMm, scaling it into an international company with offices in Paris, London, New York and Tokyo.
Sylvain holds a dual engineering in engineering from HochSchule Karlsruhe (Germany) and INSA (France).
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.
Kyle is the Founder and Managing Partner of ShawKwei & Partners, a private equity investment firm established in 1998. ShawKwei & Partners has offices in Hongkong, Singapore, and Shanghai managing investments in Asia, Europe, and the USA. Kyle’s private equity experience before ShawKwei & Partners included managing Asian private equity businesses for Security Pacific National Bank and then the Tudor Group. Kyle has served as a director of several Asian and European industrial and service companies including as founder and director of Flex Ltd. (formerly known as Flextronics International Ltd).
Kyle received an MBA from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, as well as studied Mandarin Chinese at Taiwan’s National Normal University.
Wen Tan is the founder of Azimuth Asset Consulting, providing strategic, organisational and operational advice to guide asset owners and asset managers towards their long-term goals. Wen specialises in complex situations such as redesigning governance structures, conflicts of interests resolution (whether between investors, between managers and investors, within captive managers, or within family structures), succession planning, strategic growth opportunities, spinouts, and post-merger/acquisition integration.
Wen formerly headed Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Asia Pacific private equity platform, and has unique insights into the investment management industry, having viewed the sector from multiple perspectives: as a financial sector specialist at KPMG in London, as an M&A investment banker with Lazard focusing on financial institutions, from an LP perspective on behalf of various types of institutions (Search Investment Group – a family office; Squadron Capital and FLAG Capital – both boutique private equity firms; Aberdeen Asset Management and Aberdeen Standard Investments – both global investment management firms), from a GP perspective at the above firms, and from an operational perspective as de facto local COO dealing with post-M&A integration through multiple acquisitions and mergers.
Wen is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, and is a member of the ICAEW and HKICPA.
Oscar is the Director of APAC Business Development at Ontra, leading the company’s growth and market entry in the region. Prior to Ontra, Oscar was a corporate lawyer at Ropes & Gray LLP, focusing on technology M&A and intellectual property transactions. Earlier, Oscar worked as a Google Public Policy Fellow in Washington, DC. Oscar holds a J.D. from the USC Gould School of Law and an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. He is admitted to the State Bar of California.
Melissa Ferraz, Managing Director, is the Global Head of eFront Insight within BlackRock. eFront Insight is a private markets data and analytics platform. As global head, Melissa is responsible for the overall strategy of Insight as well as all sales, customer success, data operations, product and engineering activities within the business. Previously, Melissa was the Global Head of Client Development, Private Markets at IHS Markit. She was a member of the executive leadership team at iLEVEL where she led the launch of iLEVEL into the European and Asian markets. iLEVEL was subsequently acquired by Ipreo and later IHS Markit. Prior to that she spent 10 years building and developing teams at S&P Global in a variety of leadership roles. Melissa holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Iowa, an MBA from the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago.
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.
Mr. Octoman is a Navis Senior Partner and an Investment Committee member. Mr. Octoman is also the Chief Operating Officer.
Navis was founded in 1998 to make private equity investments in buyouts, recapitalizations and financial restructurings in Asia, particularly on enterprises with a strong presence in Southeast Asia, Australia and China/Hong Kong. The firm manages several private and public equity funds totaling USD 5 billion. Navis acquires control of its portfolio companies, and since its founding in 1998, has made over eighty controlling investments. Navis when it invests has direct strategic involvement alongside an incentivized management teams, focused on growth, margin enhancement, organizational systems/structure/governance strengthening and cash management.
Mr. Octoman joined Navis in 2000. As COO he oversees the investment committee decision-making process, the portfolio operations group, portfolio company deep dives, and ESG at Navis. He continues to selectively originate transactions and work with companies with a primary focus on Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Prior to joining Navis, Mr. Octoman worked with Price Waterhouse Coopers with a focus on capital market transaction and financial due diligence in emerging markets. Mr. Octoman also worked for KPMG in Australia and Canada in Business Advisory services.
A lifetime resident of Australasia, having been raised and educated in Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accountancy from the University of South Australia and is an Australian qualified Chartered Accountant. He is also a member of the UNPRI PEAC committee, and the EMPEA Asia council.
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.
Kiichiro is a venture capitalist at WERU Investment, the oldest university affiliated venture capital firm in Japan. He leads investment research at the firm, covering a broad range of technology and industry domains. He serves on the board of portfolio companies, most notably LeoLabs which provides critical infrastructure for the growing commercial space industry.
Kiichiro began his career as an aerospace engineer working on spacecraft development at NASA/JPL and industry. Thereafter, he led business development at startups in the US and Japan until joining his current firm. Kiichiro holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech.
Prior to founding A91 Partners, Mr. Abhay Pandey (Abhay) was a Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors Private Limited from 2008-2018, which he joined in June 2007. At Sequoia Capital India Advisors Private Limited, Abhay has partnered with passionate founders in Consumer and Healthcare sectors focused on a on a few themes, including, creating challenger brands in large categories, supporting superior execution capabilities in massive market opportunities and building companies in new emerging categories. His investment track record and board positions include Vini Cosmetics, Indigo Paints(NSE: INDIGOPNTS), B9 Beverages, Faces Cosmetics; PI Industries (NSE: PIIND), La Renon, Koye Pharmaceuticals, Curatio Healthcare, ASG Eyecare; and Awfis, MedGenome Inc. Prior to Sequoia Capital, Abhay worked as an investment banker with DSP Merrill Lynch (2004-07) and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. (Mumbai and Johannesburg) offices (1996-2002) where he served leading clients in media, industrials and automotive verticals on a wide range of strategic and operational issues.
Abhay received his PGDM (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management Kolkata (1996) and a B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay (1993).
Abhay is passionate about supporting philanthropy and giving back to society in education. He is a Trustee at Ashoka University, and a Trustee of BECT, a charitable trust for primary and secondary education. He also serves on Executive Committee of IVCA.
James Mi is Founding Partner of Lightspeed China Partners, a leading China-focused venture capital firm with over US$2 billion under management. James' early-stage investments include listed companies Meituan (HK:3690), Pingduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD), Rong360 (NYSE:JT), Innolight (SZ:300308), Lianluo Interactive (SZ: 002280), QingCloud (SH:688316), etc. He ranks No. 21 on 2020 Forbes global Top 100 VC Midas List.
Prior to founding Lightspeed China in 2011, James was Managing Director with Lightspeed Venture Partners, a leading US venture capital firm with US$8 billion under management. Before Lightspeed, James was Director of Corporate Development for Google, responsible for the company’s strategic investments and M&A efforts in the Greater China and pan-Asian region. James served as Head of Asia Products at Google and Chief Representative of the Google China Representative Office in 2004.
James received a BS in Physics from Fudan University, a MS in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University, and received executive management training at Stanford University. He holds 14 US patents in flash memory, communications, Internet security and commerce. James also serves on Princeton University’s Graduate School Leadership Council and Advisory Council of Center for Contemporary China.
Benson Tam is the Founder and Chairman of Venturous Group.
Venturous is China’s first Citytech™ Group. Powering Smart City economies, it is an investor, business builder and operator of Smart Citytech infrastructure companies. Creating value by transforming the future of city living, Venturous leverages the latest deep Citytech, strategic partnerships and digital transformation to make cities more liveable, sustainable and productive, in China and beyond. The Group’s corporate structure allows for venture capital, private equity, pre-IPO deals, M&A, co-investments, incubation, strategic partnerships and joint ventures, and it has its own IPO on the horizon.
Benson is a “3-in-1” civil engineer, software engineer and financial engineer. He combines deep finance, technology and China insights.
He has been a private equity investor in Asia for 30 years, including being a Partner at Fidelity Growth Partners Asia. During his ten years at Fidelity, he was involved in multiple China “Super-Unicorns” such as Alibaba, AsiaInfo (software and IT services provider) and WuXi AppTec (pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device provider).
Benson started his journey into finance in 1989 as an investment banker at S.G. Warburg in London, followed by East Asia Warburg in Hong Kong. In 1992, he began his private equity career at Hellman & Friedman Asia in Hong Kong.
For the past 20 years since 2002 Benson has been based in Beijing. He holds an MSc in Computing from University of Oxford and a “double first” BSc in Civil Engineering from Imperial College London and is also a UK Chartered Accountant.
Will is an Investment Principal responsible for origination and execution and is based in the firm’s Hong Kong office.
Prior to joining Coller Capital in 2011, William was a Financial Accountant at Thames Water.
William has a BA (Hons) from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Finance from London Business School, and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a Chartered Management Accountant.
Saifulbahri Hassan has over 23 years of experience in various technology related sectors ranging from IT services to manufacturing. Saiful spent the last 18 years in Private Equity and Venture Capital investing in various stages of enterprise development and its funding needs. He is also active in the development of the domestic and international private investing eco-system from influencing policymaking to building linkages with international eco-systems.
He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from University of Missouri-Kansas City, Missouri, USA and obtained his Master’s Degree in Management from the International Islamic University, Malaysia.
Yar‐Ping leads the Primary Investment Team’s practice in Asia and actively participates in all investment decisions. She also manages relationships with several of Adams Street's GPs in the region. 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 GIC Private Equity’s investments in leveraged buyout funds, growth capital funds, and co‐investments.
Yar‐Ping is a member of the Adams Street Partners Primary Investment Committee. She has co‐authored the following whitepapers, “An Inside Look at the Private Market in Asia” and “Asia Private Equity: Identifying Opportunities in Disrupted Markets.”
Education:
University of Melbourne, Bcom, with honors
University of California at Berkeley, Walter Haas School of Business, MBA
Investment/operational experience: 24 years
Languages: Cantonese, English, Hokkien, Malay, Mandarin Chinese
Mr. Frank Su is responsible for managing CPP Investments’ private equity business in Asia, including funds, secondaries and direct private equity investments. Mr. Su leads a team of more than 30 investment professionals to pursue private equity investments across Asia Pacific region, with focus on China, Korea, Japan, India and Australia. He also serves on the boards of Nord Anglia Education and CPPIB (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Mr. Su has more than 20 years’ experience in private equity, strategic consulting and business operations in the region. Prior to CPP Investments, Mr. Su took various positions at Bain Capital, Bain & Company, Ericsson and COFCO.
Mr. Su received an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from University of International Business and Economics.