Programme - Investment Summit (Day two)
Explore our agenda and build your viewing schedule.
Private Equity Leaders' Summit | Venture Capital Summit | Limited Partners' Summit | Investment Summit (Day one) | Investment Summit (Day two)
-
Thursday, 18th November 2021
-
09:00
-
09:30Value creation: Digital and defensible
- How are data analytics and digitalization changing approaches to value creation?
- What do COVID-19 driven changes in behavior mean for business resilience?
- In what ways are GPs looking to ESG as a value generator?
- How is risk management becoming more embedded in portfolio assessment?
-
10:30
Networking break
Sponsored by:
-
11:00Track 1: Japan: Same deals, different value-add
- How are GPs honing their approaches to corporate carve-outs?
- In which areas are local managers developing more in-house capabilities?
- What makes Japan stand out in the broader Asian private equity landscape?
- Is shareholder activism becoming more of a factor in the middle market?
-
11:00Track 2: India: Opportunity amid adversity
- Which sectors have proved most resilient in the past 18 months?
- What are the most attractive investment angles arising from digitalization?
- How should Indian managers address the global SaaS opportunity?
- In what ways are approaches to value creation evolving?
-
11:45Track 1: Private credit: Global perspectives
- What has a V-shaped recovery in developed markets meant for credit strategies?
- Which part of the capital structure delivers the most favorable risk-return profile?
- How are approaches to origination and due diligence developing?
- What are the key trends in LP demand for private credit exposure?
-
11:45Track 2: Secondaries: A growing role for Asia
- Which transaction types are most prevalent among GP-led deals in Asia?
- What should investors bear in mind when assessing single-asset secondaries?
- How do managers ensure an alignment of interest within the investor base?
- Are Asian institutional investors becoming more active sellers of LP positions?
-
12:30Exits: Not just about IPOs
- To what extent has 2021 delivered on expectations?
- How much of the alpha has come from technology IPOs and how can you attract these listings to Hong Kong??
- Are SPACs a long-term solution for private equity exits?
- What are the pros and cons of continuation funds?
-
13:15
Networking lunch
-
14:15Track 1: Sector focus: The evolution of healthcare
- What does COVID-19 mean for the healthcare services opportunity in Asia?
- How is technology driving the next generation of equipment and devices?
- Where should investors look in pharmaceuticals beyond China biotech?
- What is the thought process for getting comfortable with elevated valuations?
-
14:15Track 2: The infrastructure play: Picking the winners in a changing world
- When and where are we likely to see governments increasing infrastructure spending?
- Which geographies should global investors with an appetite for risk look at over the next five years?
- How has the pool of investable companies evolved, and what opportunity does this create for private market GPs?
- What is the outlook for the energy market post-Covid?
-
15:00Private wealth: Family offices and beyond
- Has the pandemic altered family office appetites for private markets?
- How does family office size impact the nature of relationships with GPs?
- What are the pros and cons of private banks as a route to high-net-worth investors?
- Are Asia’s mass affluent a realistic target for private equity?
-
16:00
Close of summit
Confirm cancellation
Something went wrong.
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
Close
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.
Martin Laguerre is Executive Vice-President and Head of Private Equity and Capital Solutions. In this role, he is responsible for CDPQ’s private equity portfolio outside of Quebec, which targets companies in various sectors and diverse types of transactions around the world. He also manages the Capital Solutions investment bi-portfolio, which combines private equity and fixed income activities and provides companies with a more flexible source of financing.
Mr. Laguerre manages his global teams from both the Montreal and New York offices. He sits on the Executive Committee and the Invest-Risk Committee, as well as the Strategic Committee of the Equity 253 fund and other investment committees.
Prior to joining CDPQ in 2019, he was Senior Principal, Power and Renewables at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB, now CPP Investments) in New York. He previously held the position of Managing Director, Global Power and Water Division and Renewables at General Electric, as well as various positions in investment banking and investment management at global financial institutions.
Mr. Laguerre holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is a Desautels’ Global Expert at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. He has been a CFA charterholder since 2000.
Mr. Laguerre sits on the Board of Directors of Sagen MI Canada, and has served as a director for other companies.
Oliver Stratton is a Managing Director for Alvarez & Marsal's Asian practice in Hong Kong. With 25 years of experience in consulting and private equity in Asia, his primary areas of concentration are business strategy, performance improvement, operational turnarounds and M&A. Mr. Stratton has worked with clients across a range of industries including private equity, financial services, telecommunications, consumer goods and retail, industrial products and services, transportation and logistics and energy and resources.
Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Stratton spent 20 years with Bain & Company, including 10 years as a Partner. Mr. Stratton also spent two years as a Managing Director with Candover as part of its Asia leadership team.
In these roles Mr. Stratton has served many of the global, regional and major local country funds operating in Asia. Working with those clients, he has led due diligence and portfolio company performance improvement assignments across a range of industry sectors in Greater China, Korea and Southeast Asia.
Mr. Stratton earned an MA in engineering from Cambridge University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. A British national, Mr. Stratton has been based in Hong Kong since 1988.
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.
Shane is a Principal and leads the Portfolio Group in Asia for Permira, where his primary focus is on value creation and due diligence of new investment opportunities from a commercial and operational perspective. Shane has worked on a number of transactions including I-MED, Tricor, Topcast, and EF Kids & Teens. Prior to joining Permira in 2017, Shane worked for KKR Capstone for six years and previously worked with McKinsey and Company in Japan and Australia. Shane holds degrees in Computer Engineering and Japanese Language from the University of Wollongong, Australia, and has an MBA and MS from Stanford University, USA.
As portfolio manager on the Finance Team, Matt conducts fundamental analysis of global equity investments. His focus is on nonbank companies in the financial technology, payment, business service, and consumer financial subsectors. Matt supports the team’s investments in both public and private companies. He is also co-portfolio manager of a financials hedge fund. He is based in our Radnor, Pennsylvania office.
Matt earned his BS in economics, with honors, from Trinity College. He also attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Additionally, he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA institute.
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.
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.
Nozomi Oda is a partner in the Tokyo office. Her practice focuses on cross-border public and private M&A, joint ventures, strategic investments, and capital markets transactions. She has a particular emphasis on advising private equity and life sciences, clients. Nozomi serves as–head of Morrison & Foerster’s Asia Private Equity practice.
In addition to her work in private practice, Nozomi previously spent two years with Japan’s FinancialServices Agency (FSA) as a deputy director of the corporate disclosure department, where she participated in the drafting of the FSA’s regulations on disclosures regarding tender offers, private placement offerings and director compensation.
Nozomi is recommended in the 2020 edition of The Legal500 Asia Pacific for Japan: Corporate and M&A.
Nozomi is a bengoshi admitted to practice in Japan and New York, and is a member of the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Association.
Satoru Arakawa has been an investment professional at J-STAR since 2007, and has focused on small-cap buyouts in Japan. Based in Tokyo, he has been involved in nine transactions and value-added activities for portfolio companies in the industrial and healthcare sectors.
Prior to joining J-STAR, Arakawa worked for eight years in strategic consulting at Nomura Research Institute, where he engaged in strategic advisory and business improvements for a broad range of sectors, including PE-backed companies.
Mr. Tsukahara received his BA degree in Law from Waseda University and holds an MBA degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career at Fuji Bank (Current Mizuho Bank), where he worked as an account manager, loan officer and M&A advisor. He left Fuji Bank to join McKinsey & Company, where he spent 10 years in projects for strategy development, organizational design, marketing, sales force productivity, enhancement in industry sectors such as retail, consumer goods, finance, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. While serving as co-head of the Healthcare Practice and Sales and Marketing Practice at McKinsey, he also led internal training initiatives for consultants. He joined Advantage Partners in June 2007 as one of the starting members of the Portfolio Team to lead PAM (Post Acquisition Management) activities mainly in B2C sectors such as retail, e-commerce, and banking. After managing one of the portfolio companies as a CSO/COO from 2012, he changed his role to investment professional from 2016. He currently assumes a deal team leader role for portfolio companies such as speciality retailer, educational service provider, and funeral service provider.
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.
Eiji Yatagawa, based in Tokyo, joined KKR in 2006 and is a Partner on the Private Equity team. He is currently on the board of directors of Koki Holdings (formerly Hitachi Koki), SY Holdings (Seiyu), dataX (formerly From Scratch), NETSTARS, and Transphorm. Mr. Yatagawa was also previously involved with KKR’s investments in Unisteel (Singapore), Intelligence, PHC Holdings (formerly Panasonic Healthcare), AlphaTheta (formerly Pioneer DJ), Marelli Holdings (formerly Calsonic Kansei), and Kokusai Electric (formerly Hitachi Kokusai Electric). From 2010 to 2012, he worked in KKR's Hong Kong office. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Yatagawa was with Goldman Sachs & Co.'s investment banking team, based in New York and Tokyo, where he focused on the telecommunications, media, and technology sector and was involved in a number of mergers and acquisitions as well as financing projects. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. from the University of Tokyo.
Harsh Pais co-heads Trilegal's corporate practice and focuses on Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity. Harsh advises extensively on cross border acquisitions (involving public and private targets) and joint ventures.
In addition, Harsh provides strategic counsel to clients on matters involving change of control transactions, corporate governance, securities laws, troubled joint ventures and crisis management. Harsh is also experienced in providing transactional and regulatory advice to clients in highly regulated industries, including telecom and media and technology, retail, financial services and infrastructure.
Harsh was recognised among the 'Top 20 Emerging Legal Leaders in India' by RSG in its inaugural list of Emerging Legal Leaders in 2019. He is rated as a 'leading lawyer' 'highly regarded' for Corporate M&A by IFLR 1000 Guide. He is recognised by Chambers and Partners for both Corporate M&A and Private Equity - "he has excellent commercial judgement and a deep understanding of the issues that are of greatest concern to investors". RSG's India Report cites feedback that "Harsh provides clients with 'top quality advice, he is extremely 'responsive' and 'commercial' with 'knowledge of the client's sensitivities'.
Harsh holds a significant role at FICCI, the apex chamber of commerce for industry in India, as member of its National Committee on Corporate Laws.
He has past experience at a major international law firm in New York and is additionally qualified in the UK and New York. Harsh is an alumnus of Columbia Law School and the National Law School of India.
Mr. Sanjay Kukreja joined ChrysCapital in 2000 and has been a Partner at the firm since 2012. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer at ChrysCapital, overseeing all of the firm’s investment activities. Prior to his CIO role, Mr. Kukreja led the Financial Services and Business Services sectors, which together accounted for over $1.5 billion of invested capital and almost $3 billion of realizations for the ChrysCapital funds.
Over the years, Mr. Kukreja has been instrumental in leading several high-profile investments and has also worked extensively on managing exits for ChrysCapital, where ChrysCapital is an industry leader.
Mr. Kukreja currently serves on the Boards of Hero Fincorp, GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, Infogain, Intas Pharmaceuticals, and has previously also served on the boards of several other companies such as KPIT Technologies, LiquidHub, and Shriram Transport Finance Company.
Mr. Kukreja holds an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University. He has also attended the Executive Leadership Course for top management at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
Michael Liu is a Managing Director of Portfolio Advisors and serves as a voting member of the Fund’s Investment. Committee. Michael joined Portfolio Advisors in 2013 and primarily supports Portfolio Advisors’ Asian activities. Previously, he was a Vice President in the UOB Investment Management Division’s alternative investment fund-of-funds advisory business where he had worked with Portfolio Advisors since 2006 through a joint-venture. He joined UOB in July 2006 through the Management Associate program. Michael has served or is serving as an Advisory Board member of five private equity partnership. (B.S. from Nanyang Technological University)
Ranjit co-founded Gaja Capital and has been a managing partner since 2005. Ranjit has led several of the firm’s investments across clusters. Ranjit has 40 years of India based experience in multiple sectors including private equity, telecom, technology, luxury goods, financial services and consulting. He has held CXO level positions in significant Indian businesses. He has also been an entrepreneur building an asset financing company which he later took public and sold to a strategic investor. Ranjit holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is a graduate in electrical engineering from IIT Bombay.
Nakul Zaveri is a Managing Partner at Relativity Investment Management, a mid market growth private equity strategy focused around sustainable and responsible investing in India and South Asia. Relativity invests in businesses which are underpinned by technology, innovation and long term shifts, are purpose driven, impact oriented and have a growth-return focus. He has over 20 years of experience spanning entrepreneurial, operational and investing activities. He brings relevant investing experience across Sustainable and Responsible Investment strategies including investing in renewables, clean tech, industrial/ enterprise efficiency, evolving consumer priorities, and related value chains. He is also one of the early initiators and adopters of integrating sustainability, ESG analysis and insights into research and investment process across geographies. Prior to Relativity, he was with Global Environment Fund – South Asia investment team and earlier with Climate Change Capital. He received his MBA from University of Oxford.
Ron Thompson is a Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal Asia and leads Asia’s Restructuring Practice. Mr. Thompson is based in Hong Kong.
With close to 30 years of experience in China and Asia, Mr. Thompson brings expertise in finance, credit and restructuring in Asia. Mr. Thompson’s primary expertise lies in financial restructuring and has significant experience acting in the capacity as a creditor, investor and advisor related with in court restructurings and liquidations as well as out of court processes or government influenced restructurings. Mr. Thompson has extensive experience as an investor in sourcing, valuing, acquiring and managing NPL portfolios in addition to having managed the sale process of individual credits as well as non-performing loan portfolios. Mr. Thompson, in the capacity as an investor and as a board member, has participated in multiple operational turnaround situations. Mr. Thompson’s has broad industry expertise including fast moving consumer goods, power generation, metals and mining, construction, manufacturing, telecom and technology and financial institutions.
Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Thompson was at Standard Chartered where he headed the workout team in Taiwan, worked in the Mezzanine and Alternative Solutions Team for Principle Finance and most recently was the Chief Credit Officer for China. Prior to Standard Chartered, Mr. Thompson worked in corporate finance at Bear Stearns and Bank of China International and oversaw the China business for Clearwater Capital.
Mr. Thompson graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colby College, studied Chinese literature at Peking University and holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Mr. Thompson is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Ted joined BCP Credit in New York in 2017 to lead BCP Credit. Previously, Ted was President at Apollo Investment Corporation and the Chief Investment Officer of Apollo Investment Management where he was the head of its US Opportunistic Platform and also oversaw the Private Origination business, serving as a member of the Senior Management Committee. Prior to Apollo, he worked at Goldman Sachs for 13 years where he most recently ran the bank loan distressed investing desk. He was previously the head of Principal Capital Investing for the Special Situations Group.
Mr. Lyons joined Bain Capital Credit in 2006. He is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Bain Capital’s Distressed and Special Situations group as well as the Head of Bain Capital Credit Asia.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Lyons was based in Bain Capital Credit’s London office covering European Special Situations opportunities. Previously, Mr. Lyons was a consultant at Bain & Company.
Mr. Lyons received an A.B. Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University.
Mr. Magid is the President of Audax Private Debt, a leading direct lender in the U.S. middle market. He joined Audax Group in 2000 to establish and lead Audax’ Private Debt business. Audax Private Debt has provided more than $21 billion of debt capital solutions to middle market companies owned by over 230 different private equity sponsors. Mr. Magid serves on Audax Private Debt’s Investment Committee and oversees all facets of Audax’ debt business, including origination, underwriting, and portfolio management.
Prior to joining Audax Group, Mr. Magid spent 13 years as a leveraged finance professional. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Magid has raised senior debt, high yield debt, and junior debt financing for companies and private equity sponsors in a wide range of industries. Mr. Magid began his career in the mergers and acquisitions group of Drexel Burnham Lambert, and also worked at CIBC World Markets, Wasserstein Perella and Kidder Peabody. Mr. Magid received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.
Mr. Vimont is Managing Partner and Head of Strategy, Ares SSG. Additionally, Mr. Vimont serves as a member on the Ares Credit Group's European Direct Lending Investment Committee, the Ares Private Equity Group's Asia Investment Committee and the Ares SSG and Secured Lending Funds Investment Committees. Prior to joining Ares in 2007, he was a Director in the Financial Sponsor Group of Barclays, where he focused on leveraged finance, established the French business in Paris and was appointed Head of Continental Europe for middle market leveraged finance. Mr. Vimont holds a Master's Degree (M.Sc.) in Management, with distinction, from the French Grande Ecole ESCP Europe. He also holds an ACT (Association of Corporate Treasurers) qualification.
Zhengjie (JJ) Chen is a Managing Director and head of Asia in TPG’s Client and Capital Formation group based in Hong Kong, where she works with the firm’s institutional investors in the region. Prior to joining TPG in 2016, JJ was a Director at Blackstone in the Park Hill Group, where she focused on general partner and limited partner advisory. JJ received her MEng from University of Oxford.
Arjun Bawa is a Partner and Head of Asia at Fairview Capital Group. Mr. Bawa has 24 years of experience in banking and private equity across Asia, North America and Europe, of which 15 years have been dedicated to the Asia Pacific region.
Fairview is an independent advisor with global presence focused exclusively on delivering GP-led liquidity and capital solutions to private market funds. We focus on advising general partners on continuation vehicles, asset sales and related secondary market transactions. The Fairview team has a track record of consummating 40 secondary transactions representing $13 bn of worldwide deal volume, including 25 GP-led deals.
Prior to Fairview, Mr. Bawa held diverse roles in the private equity industry including as a limited partner and secondary investor. He spent 10 year with AIG and PineBridge Investments between New York and Singapore and co-led the investment activities of PineBridge Investments in Asia, focusing on primary and secondary fund investments. He sat on the internal investment committees of all primary fund investment portfolios for Asia, US, Europe, Latin America and Africa. Prior to AIG, he worked for Allianz Group in New York and Munich where he focussed on fund investing and direct venture capital investing. He also spent several years with Deutsche Bank in Singapore across various roles including mergers and acquisitions and venture capital.
Jeff Keay joined HarbourVest in 1999 and focuses on global secondary investments across a range of transaction types. Jeff is based in Boston and also worked in the Firm’s London office. Jeff is the Chair of the Firm’s Secondary InvestmentCommittee and he currently serves on a number of advisory boards. Prior to joining the Firm, Jeff spent three years at Ernst & Young LLP, where he specialized in the venture capital and financial services industries. His previous experience also includes working at the Financial Accounting StandardsBoard. Jeff received a BA (cum laude) in Economics and Accounting from the college of the Holy Cross in 1996.
Yann Robard is the managing Partner at Whitehorse Liquidity Partners and has over 20 years of private equity and investment banking experience.
Established in 2015, Whitehorse Liquidity Partners is a private equity firm focused on providing structured liquidity solutions to the alternative asset class. As of August 31, 2021, Whitehorse Liquidity Partners has raised over US$7.9 billion in commitments and has deployed approximately US$8.5 billion across 105 transactions since inception. Additionally, Whitehorse Liquidity Partners consists of98 professionals.
Prior to founding Whitehorse Liquidity Partners, Mr. Robard spent a cumulative 13 years at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”), most recently as managing director, Head of Secondaries and Co-Investments. In this capacity, Mr. Robardwas responsible for a team of 15 professionals investing in private equity secondaries and co-investments on a global basis. Mr. Robard joined CPPIBduring the inception of its private equity investment program and in 2007, was mandated to establish a principal secondary program within CPPIB, which was later expanded to include co-investments. During his tenure at CPPIB, Mr. Robard held several roles and positions, all focused on private equity, namely in its private equity funds, secondaries and co-investments activities, including roles on several investment committees of the firm.
Alex joined NewQuest in 2011 and is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing investments across the Greater China region. Alex has nearly 15 years of experience in finance, primarily focusing on investments, capital raising, M&A and corporate advisory.
Prior to joining NewQuest, he was an Associate at Credit Suisse’s Investment Bank based in Hong Kong, where he worked in corporate finance and equity capital markets. Alex received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Duke University in Durham, NC. Alex is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Will Cai is a corporate partner and the head of Cooley Asia capital markets. His practice focuses on cross-border China-related legal matters. He represents issuers and global investment banks in US and Hong Kong capital market transactions. He also advises private equity funds and multinationals in their investments in the Greater China region, as well as Chinese companies in their cross-border M&A activities.
Will has worked on 50+ successful IPOs in the US and Hong Kong capital markets in the last decade, with a focus on life sciences, technology and new economy companies. In addition, Will has represented a significant number of leading new economy companies in their M&A transactions, including a number of landmark deals.
The deals Will has worked on over the years have garnered a number of rankings and accolades including the ‘Best IPO of 2017’ by FinanceAsia Magazine, ‘Equity Deal of the Year for 2017’ at the IFLR Asia Awards in 2018, the largest technology IPO in Hong Kong in 2017, one of China Business Law Journal’s Deals of the Year in both 2016 and 2015 and one of Asian-MENA Counsel magazine’s Deals of the Year for 2015.
From 1997 to 2003, Will worked for the Supreme People’s Court of China, where he acquired extensive experience and knowledge of the Chinese judiciary.
Will received his JD from Stanford Law School and LLB from China University of Political Science and Law. He is a native Mandarin speaker and is fluent in English. He is admitted to practice in California and Hong Kong.
Ms Christina Bao, Managing Director, is currently the Co-Head of Sales & Marketing at HKEX.
Ms Bao joined HKEX in 2016 as the Chief of Staff, reporting to the CE of HKEX. She was responsible for the planning and oversight of the Group’s strategic projects.
Prior to joining HKEX, Christina held a number of senior positions at Ping An Bank (previously at Shenzhen Development Bank, which merged with Ping An Bank in 2010) since 2001. At Shenzhen Development Bank, she served as the Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO from 2005 until 2010, and was responsible for the bank’s strategic projects, Investor Relations and Public Relations. After the merger and integration of the two banks, she headed Retail e-Banking, Service & Marketing, and the Retail e-Finance Strategic Business Unit for Ping An Bank.
Ms Bao received her Master of Business Administration (Finance, General) from the Peking University of Mainland China.
Alex has headed Asia Pacific for Permira since 2011. He is a Partner and served on the firm’s Executive Committee. He first joined the firm in London in 2002 and moved to Tokyo to establish Permira’s first Asian presence in 2005, which he led until the end of 2010. Alex has worked on numerous transactions including ABS, Sushiro, Arysta LifeScience, Cortefiel, Galaxy Entertainment Group, I-MED, Grobest, John Masters Organics, Magento, New Look, Topcast and Tricor.
Prior to joining Permira, Alex spent five years at McKinsey & Company in London. He was previously at Braxton Associates and began his career at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A French national, Alex has lived in Asia for over 30 years and is a fluent Japanese speaker.
Alex majored in Political Science and East Asia Studies at Yale University and holds a Master’s degree in European Politics from the College of Europe, Belgium. He also has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Sudhir is a Managing Director & Deputy CEO with Multiples Alternate Asset Management Private Limited, a leading Indian mid-market private equity fund. He has over two decades of experience in financial services of which the last ten years has been in private equity. He has a strong investment track record and has lead investments across a range of sectors including financial services, health care, logistics and infrastructure services. Prior to private equity he has experience across investment banking, lending and structured finance.
Sudhir holds a post graduate degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT, Varanasi.
Irene is a Partner of KPMG China specializing in providing audit and ESG advisory for multinational companies and venture backed companies. She has been working in Hong Kong for over 18 years.
Professional and Industry Experience
She has extensive experience in working with emerging growth companies and leading audit, Hong Kong and US IPO engagements. The industry sectors of her current and past clients include biopharmaceutical, diagnostics, medical equipment, fintech, consumer markets, e-commerce, software, semiconductors and telecommunications.
Besides audit, Irene serves on ESG reporting and advisory projects and co-leads the cross-functional ESG team in Hong Kong to support clients on ESG reporting and assurance, climate change and decarbonization strategies, sustainable finance, and ESG impact measurement and improvement.
Given her experience in the startup ecosystem and knowledge in ESG, she is involved advisory projects and thought leadership publications that relates to entrepreneurship, technology and innovation development, and social and economic impact assessment.
Irene serves on the boards or committees of several NGOs and government/statutory bodies in Hong Kong including WWF Hong Kong, Bring Me a Book, and is a member of Innovation and Technology Venture Fund Advisory Committee and the Financial Review Panel of the Financial Reporting Council.
Meng has 18 years of investment, M&A and investment banking experience. Prior to co-founding CBC in early 2014, Meng was most recently Director/COO at Far East Horizon’s Investments Group where she was responsible for department operations, risk management, and establishing and implementing budgets. In the past 2 years, Meng has led teams on M&A and minority healthcare services investments. Prior to joining Far East Horizon, Meng was Managing Director at ARC China, where she established its China operations. While at ARC, Meng headed various investments across several sectors and also led ARC China’s government relations effort. Prior to joining ARC China, Meng was an Associate Director at Business Development Asia in Shanghai where she executed numerous JV, acquisition and divestiture transactions in the chemical, consumer, and manufacturing sectors in China and Japan. Meng started her career at UBS Investment Bank in New York, where she worked on origination and execution of M&A, IPO, Debt and Equity issuances. Meng graduated with honors from Wellesley College, majoring in Economics and Political Science.
Simone Song is the founder of ORI Capital, and the senior partner of ORI Healthcare Funds which focus on investing in early stage and innovative healthcare companies globally.
Simone is the architect of ORIzon, a big data driven AI research platform which enables ORI Capital to become a quantitative venture capital fund manager that combines quantitative analysis with fundamental research.
Simone serves on the boards of directors of various investee companies of ORI Healthcare Funds, including being the chairman of AffyImmune and being the directors of CG Oncology, Enable Injections, Pillar Biosciences and TriSalus.
Simone was the former Head of Goldman Sachs Healthcare Investment Banking for Greater China. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, she was a Managing Director of Cowen Group; a member of the advisory board of AXA Investment Managers, and an executive board advisor to AXA Asia Pacific Holdings.
Simone received a BA in Economics from Fudan University in China and a MA in Economics from Claremont Graduate School.
Mark Valadao is a Managing Director of Pagoda Capital, responsible for business development and investor relations. Mr. Valadao has over 25 years of investment industry experience, including 17 years in Asia, with a deep knowledge of investments and strategies across multiple asset classes as well as extensive experience working collaboratively with institutional investors around the world.
Prior to joining Pagoda Capital, Mr. Valadao held senior roles at private equity firms, GL Capital Group and Skymont Capital. Mark was previously Head of Portfolio Strategy at State Street Global Advisors where he was a member of the senior leadership team responsible for representing the firm’s investment solutions to institutional investors in the Asia region. Before SSGA, Mr. Valadao was an Executive Director at MSCI where he was the Asia Pacific Head of Financial Products. Prior to MSCI, Mr. Valadao was an Executive Director at Value Partners Group responsible for the overall management of its wholly owned subsidiary - Sensible Asset Management. Before Value Partners Group, Mr. Valadao was with HSBC Global Asset Management where he helped lead HSBC’s multi-manager business in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to HSBC, Mr. Valadao was Senior Portfolio Manager at Mellon Capital based in San Francisco, USA where he was the lead manager of the US$7 billion Vanguard Asset Allocation Fund.
Mr. Valadao received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Finance from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Dr. Amit Varma is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Quadria Capital, Asia’s leading healthcare private equity firm with over US$2.6 billion of assets under management.
Dr. Varma has extensive M&A, strategic and operational leadership and board level experience in healthcare organisations across the USA, Asia and Australia.
He is a renowned critical care physician, having practiced in the domain for over 21 years, including a decade in the USA before returning to Asia. He has also served in various operational and managerial roles at Manipal Hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Fortis Healthcare and Religare Healthcare.
Dr. Varma graduated from the University of Delhi with a Bachelor of Medicine, a Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) and a Doctor of Medicine (M.D). He was also a Resident at State University of New York and a Fellow in Critical Care / Neonatology at University of Pittsburgh.
Robin oversees Asia-Pacific coverage for Inframation. A 22-year news veteran, with 13 of them spent editing financial news, Robin has worked for the world's leading news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He has been a regular on live television, commenting mainly on Chinese government and central bank policy. At Inframation he is responsible for daily news coverage and analysis written by a team of journalists spread across Greater China, Japan, India, Singapore and Australia.
Anthony is Asia Chairman and Partner of H.R.L. Morrison & Co a leading alternative asset manager investing in infrastructure through both private and listed markets. Anthony has over 35 plus years of experience with both traditional and alternative investment management across different regions and asset classes. Before H.R.L. Morrison & Co Anthony had spent an extensive period with Citigroup Global Asset Management and Salomon Brothers Asset Management as regional Chief Investment Officer and a member of its global investment management committee. He had previously built and run the proprietary investment team in Asia for Alliance Trust Plc and spent early part of his career with BNZ Investment Management.
Anthony is also current Chairman of JIDA Capital Partners Limited, a China focused sustainable infrastructure investment management company. He is a Non-Executive Director of UK listed Utilico Emerging Markets Trust PLC and had served 9 years as Board Director of listed company Infratil. Anthony is current Chairman of Asia Corporate Governance Association (ACGA) and is an Advisory Board member of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. He was past Chairman and Fellow of Hong Kong Securities and Investments Institute and was a past Chairman and Fellow of New Zealand Society of Investment Analysts (now known as INFINZ).
Patryck Pimpao Merhy is a Partner and Head of Asia Pacific at Patria Investments. Mr. Pimpao Merhy is responsible for leading Patria’s franchise in the region, including managing key senior relationships, as well as delivering value creation opportunities between Patria’s broad portfolio of companies and partners in Asia. Mr. Pimpao Merhy is an active Board member at two of Patria’s key investments: Essentia Energia, one of the largest renewable energy platforms in Latin America, and Odata, a leading data center provider in Latin America. Before joining Patria in 2017, Mr. Pimpao Merhy spent over 18 years in the global financial services industry, holding senior leadership positions in Brazil, New York and Hong Kong at Bank of America Merril Lynch and more recently at Banco Santander. Mr. Pimpao Merhy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and a Masters degree in Global Finance from NYU - Leonard N. Stern School of Business and HKUST.
Andrew joined Palisade in 2016, with a focus on managing both Palisade’s pooled fund clients and direct investment mandates.
Immediately prior to joining Palisade, Andrew was Head of Direct Investments at JANA, where he was responsible for advising clients on both pooled fund and direct infrastructure opportunities across a broad range of sectors including regulated utilities, renewables, airports, seaports and toll roads. Andrew’s responsibilities included investment due diligence, financial modelling and negotiation of transaction documents.
Prior to this, Andrew spent eight years at Macquarie in both Sydney and London. During this time, Andrew worked across a number of infrastructure and private equity roles, including being part of the investment team for a Macquarie-managed special situations fund, as well as asset management for a UK regulated water utility.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University.
Stefano Ghezzi joined OTPP in 2017 and is member of the Infrastructure and Natural Resources team based in Singapore covering the infrastructure and renewable sectors across Asia Pacific. During his time at OTPP Stefano has been involved in investments globally including the recent acquisitions of Caruna Networks, SGI and IDEAL, amongst others. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Stefano worked in the infrastructure and energy group at Citigroup and in derivatives trading at Commerzbank in London.
Stefano holds a M.Sc. in Finance from Warwick Business School and a B.Sc. in Economics from Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
Mr. Belonogoff is a principal for CarVal Investors. Based in London, Mr. Belonogoff is responsible for leading the firm’s London office, as well as managing individual Corporate Securities investments globally. Prior to joining the firm in 1998, Mr. Belonogoff was business development manager for Fritz Companies CIS, a subsidiary of UPS, based in Moscow, Russia. Fluent in English and Russian, Mr. Belonogoff received his MBA with a concentration in finance from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth and a B.A. in economics and Russian studies from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, graduating magna cum laude.
CarVal Investors is a established global alternative investment fund manager focused on distressed and credit-intensive assets and market inefficiencies. Since 1987, our experienced team has navigated through ever-changing credit market cycles, opportunistically investing $124 billion in 5,490 transactions across 82 countries. Today, CarVal Investors has approximately $9 billion in assets under management in corporate securities, loan portfolios, structured credit and hard assets.
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.
Vincent joined ALPS Advisory, a multi-family office, in 2018 as Managing Director and is the Chief Investment Officer. His main focus are designing and developing investment strategies and solutions for UHNW & HNW clients, and actively managing ALPS’s multi-asset portfolios and global equity mandates. Prior to joining ALPS, Vincent was a senior portfolio manager at Asia Capital Re in Singapore, an alternative investment portfolio manager at Aerion in the UK, a multi-asset portfolio manager at MMC UK pension fund and a G7 bond fund manager at British Airways Pension. Skilled in Credit Research, Equity Research, Asset Management, Portfolio Management, Capital Markets, Mutual Funds and Hedge Funds. A holder of a master’s degree in International Trade and Finance from Lancaster University, UK. A CFA Charterholder.
Mr. Pokman Yiu is the Chief Operating Officer of Basel Capital, a multi-family office based in Hong Kong specialized in asset allocation and manager selection.
Prior with Basel, Mr. Yiu was the Co-Founder and Deputy CEO of a private family office and the Investment Director and Portfolio Manager of Gopher Asset Management. He was primarily responsible for managing the endowment strategy and discretionary portfolios. In addition he drove the firm’s investment strategy and asset management business for its parent company Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH, a Sequoia China portfolio company) in Hong Kong.
Prior to joining Gopher in 2014, Mr. Yiu held various investment banking positions in Hong Kong with Citigroup, Bank of American Merrill Lynch and UBS. He has more than nine years’ private equity and investment banking experience and executed a wide variety of corporate finance transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity financings across Asia Pacific region.
Mr. Yiu received both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is also a CFA and CAIA Charterholder.
Ms. Christine Williams has over 15 years of proven working experience in Private Banking/ Wealth Management. She has been working directly with entrepreneurs, family offices and private equity funds from Asia to Europe with the focus in Greater China.
Christine worked in top tier banks, including UBS, JP Morgan, HSBC, DBS and BNP Paribas in Zurich and Hong Kong. Recently she held various positions where she led, developed, and managed family office business. She was Managing Director of Odyssey Group, Executive Director of BNP Paribas Private Bank, and Senior Director of DBS Private Bank.
Christine started her career as a portfolio manager. She later became clients’ trusted adviser and managed their overall banking matters. Starting from 2015, Christine started to work with family offices to set up and run business in Hong Kong. Thanks to all the roles she was offered, Christine gained extensive knowledge of investments, trust, tax, legal and regulations, and accumulated valuable resources and network. With clients’ interest in mind and armed with the knowledge, experience, and resources she has, Christine has the goal to help entrepreneurs, family offices and private equity funds to connect the dots and find holistic solutions.
Christine holds a Master degree in Finance. She speaks native Chinese and English.