Teh Kok Peng
Senior Adviser
CHINA INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL CORPORATION
Dr. Teh Kok Peng was President of GIC Special Investments from April 1999 to June 2011, and remained an Adviser for two years after that. Prior to that, he was concurrently a deputy managing director of GIC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Dr. Teh obtained a first class honours economics degree at La Trobe University in Australia, a D.Phil. at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and attended the AMP course at Harvard Business School in 1989. He began his career with the World Bank in 1975 under its Young Professionals Program. Dr. Teh is Chairman of Azalea Asset Management and Lu International and is a board member of Sembcorp Industries and Fullerton Health Corporation. He chairs the East Asia Institute, National University of Singapore. He is a Senior Adviser to China International Capital Corporation, Jasper Ridge Partners and a member of the International Advisory Board of CMC Corporation. He recently joined CDPQ’s Global Economic and Financial Advisory Council. He is a member of the Trilateral Commission.
Oliver Rippel
Founding Partner, ASIA PARTNERS;
Former CEO, B2C e-commerce, NASPERS
Mr. Rippel joined Asia Partners as a Founding Partner. Previously he was the CEO of B2C e-commerce for Naspers, which included all e-tail, marketplace, and travel operations globally. Mr. Rippel led all of Naspers’ investments in Flipkart, where he served as Naspers’ appointed Director to the Board for six years. In August 2018, Flipkart’s exit to Walmart was one of the very largest exits ever in the Internet and e-commerce space, and India’s largest ever exit of a technology company. Walmart invested US$16 billion to obtain an approximate 77 percent shareholding at closing. As part of this transaction, Naspers exited fully, selling its 11.2% percent stake for $2.2 billion. The investment was a $1.6bn or 3.6x return over six years, at an estimated 29% IRR.
Mr. Rippel joined Naspers in January 2009 as head of business development in South-east Asia before managing e-commerce in Africa and Middle East shortly after. From 2011 to 2014 he oversaw e-commerce in Southeast Asia, India and Africa, after which he was managing online services segments including e-tail outside of Europe, travel, real estate, and mobile services.
Before working for Naspers, Mr. Rippel spent nine years at eBay – first in his home country Germany and then as part of the Asia-Pacific region in China, Korea, and South-east Asia. There, he mostly focused on strategy, business development, as well as category management and marketing operations. Mr. Rippel is of dual Asian and European ancestry. He studied economics in Berlin, Germany and holds the INSEAD Certificate in Corporate Governance. He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization Singapore Chapter.
Usman Akhtar
Partner
BAIN & COMPANY
Usman Akhtar is a partner based in Bain & Company's Jakarta office. He is an expert in the firm's Private Equity and Energy & Natural Resources practices.
Mr. Akhtar has more than 10 years of management consulting experience, advising leading businesses on their biggest opportunities and challenges.
His consulting engagements have included clients in a range of sectors, including oil and gas, consumer products and retail, supply chain management, automotives and technology. He specializes in the areas of growth and portfolio strategy, fund strategy, M&A advisory and due diligence, organizational effectiveness and turnarounds.
As an active member of Bain's Private Equity Group, Mr. Akhtar advises investors and their portfolio companies on strategy, commercial due diligence and portfolio company value creation.
Mr. Akhtar also leads Bain's Southeast Asia social impact practice work as the regional leader for Bain Cares, Bain's pro-bono program providing advice to nonprofit organizations.
Prior to joining Bain in 2008, Mr. Akhtar worked as an associate in investment management and a manager in trade advisory.
He holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD and a BA in Economics-Philosophy from Columbia University.
Ahmed Aljunied
Vice President, Engineering and Product
GOJEK
Ahmed Aljunied is VP of Engineering and Product at GOJEK, an Indonesia-based technology company with a mission to empower informal service sectors, especially motorcycle taxi driver and Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). GOJEK has grown to become the leading on-demand multi service platform (SuperApp) in Southeast Asia.
Among GOJEK’s many offerings, Ahmed is focused on delivering a lifestyle and retail platform consisting of 9 products, from on-demand massage to concierge services. He enjoys growing engineering and product teams to build and scale products.
With 13 years of building and scaling startups across diverse domains, Ahmed has worked on enterprise marketing SAAS while in Silicon Valley, after which he completed his Masters in Computer Science at Stanford University. He also founded two startups in hospitality and online coaching before serving as the CTO of Jualo, a C2C marketplace in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Melanie Alshab
Chief Operating Officer, Senior Advisor Board of Commissioners
NWP RETAIL
Melanie Alshab serves as COO & Senior Advisor Board of Commissioners of NWP Retail, and is responsible for asset optimization, strategy and scalability.
NWP Retail is a Warburg Pincus portfolio company, focused on developing modern shopping malls across the Indonesian archipelago, driven by the country’s significant growth potential due to rapid urbanization, emerging middle-class consumption and outsized economic expansion.
Ms. Alshab brings a diverse multi-market background to NWP, having worked in the US, Europe, China and across Southeast Asia. She is experienced in forming, leading, managing, scaling and listing real estate and proptech businesses, most recently at retail mall platforms Red Star Macalline in China and Vincom Retail in Vietnam.
Ms. Alshab also served as CIO Senior Vice President for Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), a leading owner and developer of shopping centers.
Ms. Alshab is the Founding Dean of Technology for the International Council of Shopping Centers and served on the Global Retail Council, World Green Building Association.
Amit Anand
Founding Partner
JUNGLE VENTURES
Amit Anand is the Founding Partner of Jungle Ventures, a Singapore based Venture Capital Firm that invests in and helps build tech category leaders from Asia. Jungle has a dedicated team of operating partners and functional experts to support startups as they scale across the region or globally. The firm closed its second fund at US$100M, backed by leading institutions and family offices.
Amit brings 15 years of experience in Asia having played go-to-market and corporate development roles for startups and corporations alike. He later presided as Deputy Chairman for Business Angels Network South East Asia (BANSEA). A Kauffman Fellow, Amit is passionate about creating global companies from Asia and currently works with Founders at companies such as TradeGecko (Singapore), Livspace (India). Kredivo (Indonesia) and Pomelo Fashion (Thailand) amongst others.
Rashna Bhojwani
Head of Strategic Partnerships-North Asia
UBER
Rashna leads Business Development for Uber in Japan and Korea, which are both near-term priority markets for the company. She also serves as the deal expert for taxi partnerships globally. Rashna originally joined Uber in 2017 as part of the Global Business Development team where she focused primarily on partnership deals in Southeast Asia.
Rashna started her career in New York City as a mergers & acquisitions lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, a leading international law firm and subsequently worked as an in-house lawyer for Delos, a wellness real estate and technology company in New York. In addition to her B.A. from Stanford University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with distinction, she holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School where she was a James Kent Scholar and a member of the Columbia Law Review. Rashna is also a member of the New York Bar.
Andrew Brereton
Partner
KING & SPALDING LLP
Andrew Brereton leads the Finance practice at King & Spalding in Singapore.
King & Spalding is a multinational corporate law firm that is headquartered in the US and with offices located across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. With over 1,000 lawyers in 22 offices globally, King & Spalding LLP is consistently listed as one of the leading law firms in the world.
Andrew has been based in Asia Pacific for over 20 years and specializes in financing work including acquisition finance, structured lending, special situations, mezzanine financing and fund financing. Andrew also has extensive experience of restructurings and workouts.
Andrew is consistently recognized by leading legal directories as one of the leading finance lawyers in Asia, and was named ‘Banking Lawyer of the Year’ in Singapore by Best Lawyers in 2018.
Chambers Global cites his “plentiful experience in the market, as well as his high calibre of advice” and notes client feedback that "Andrew has formidable presence and real gravitas. He is a really impressive person to have on our side.” The Legal 500 noted that Andrew “stands out for his commercial acumen”, while IFLR mentioned Andrew as “perhaps the best English-qualified banking and finance lawyer in Asia.”
Shane Chesson
Partner
OPENSPACE VENTURES
Shane Chesson is Founder and Partner of Openspace Ventures (formerly NSI Ventures), a Singapore-headquartered VC focused on Series A and B investments in Southeast Asia-based technology companies. Selected Openspace investments overseen by Mr. Chesson include Go-Jek, Chope, Tradegecko, CXA, Topica, Oway, HaloDoc, Sale Stock and Pathao. Mr. Chesson was previously Managing Director and Co-Head (Technology Investment Banking, of Citigroup Asia-Pacific.
Mr. Chesson has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD Singapore where he was a recipient of the IAA Asian Campus scholarship.
Huai Fong Chew
Regional Lead, Funds, East Asia & the Pacific
INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION
Huai Fong is the Regional Lead for the East Asia Pacific PE Funds team of the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) where she is responsible for leading investments into funds in the region.
Prior to joining IFC, Huai Fong spent five years with Deutsche Investitions-Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft MBH (“DEG”) where she had a primary coverage of Southeast Asia. She led fund investments and co-investments in the region as well as managed a portfolio of funds through her Advisory Committee positions. Before DEG, Huai Fong was with UOB Venture Management where she did direct equity investments into growth stage companies in Southeast Asia and China.
Huai Fong holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and in Economics (Honors and Dean’s list) from the Singapore Management University. She is a CFA charterholder.
Edwin Fua
Partner
NAVIS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Mr. Edwin Fua is a Partner of Navis based in Malaysia and an Investment Committee member. Mr. Fua joined Navis in 2006 and he is focused on deal origination and transactions in Malaysia, Indonesia and increasingly, in Philippines. He has been involved in evaluating investments across South East Asia including in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India and Australia. His investment experience spans across the consumer, retail, medical, manufacturing, education and the retirement sectors. He also sits on and works closely with the Board of Directors and Executive Committees of several Navis portfolio companies in Malaysia and Australia.
Prior to joining Navis, Mr. Fua was involved in investment research, financial analysis and auditing in JP Morgan and in PwC. Mr. Fua was raised in Malaysia and educated in Malaysia and Australia.
He holds Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Finance) from Monash University, is a qualified accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder from 2009 to 2013.
Jim Hildebrandt
Managing Director
BAIN CAPITAL
Jim Hildebrandt is a Managing Director of Bain Capital in Hong Kong and a founder of the Bain Capital Asia business.
Prior to joining Bain Capital, Mr. Hildebrandt was a partner at Bain & Company, helping to establish Asian offices in China, Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia. Mr. Hildebrandt served on the Global Operating and Compensation Committees, and had regional leadership responsibility for the Private Equity and Financial Services Practices.
Mr. Hildebrandt received an MBA from Stanford Business School and graduated as the Henry Ford II Scholar. He received a JD from the University of Toronto and studied Mathematics at the University of Western Ontario.
Tim Huang
Partner
LEXINGTON PARTNERS
Tim Huang is a Partner of Lexington Partners primarily engaged in the origination and evaluation of secondary purchases of non-U.S. private equity and alternative investments, and the origination of non-U.S. equity co-investments.
Prior to joining Lexington in 2011, Tim was an executive director in private equity at LGT Capital Partners and prior to that he spent his career with Investment AB Kinnevik, Merrill Lynch and Gartner Group.
Tim graduated from Cornell University with a BS in business administration and from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA.
Kanchan Jain
Managing Director
BARING PRIVATE EQUITY ASIA
Kanchan Jain has 22 years of experience across financial markets in Europe & Asia across deal origination, structuring, underwriting, portfolio & risk and fund raising. Prior to joining BPEA Ms. Jain spent 8 years focused on the mid-market corporate sector in India, most recently heading & managing Indian Private Debt Fund at Religare Credit Advisor Private Limited (RCAL), and prior to that as Chief Risk Officer & Board member for Religare Finvest Limited, a mid-market focused NBFC, responsible for managing risk across all businesses. Before joining Religare, Ms. Jain worked for 10 years in London as Managing Director at HSBC, and prior to that as Director at Barclays Capital in the Structured Credit business. Before her time in London she worked in debt capital markets covering Asia, based out of Hong Kong with Peregrine Fixed Income Limited across debt syndication, loan trading & risk function.
Ms. Jain has lived and worked in India, Hong Kong & the UK and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from VNIT and MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
Kyuh-Bom Paul Kim
Director for Financial Investments and Industry
INVEST KOREA / KOTRA
Kyuh Bom (Paul) Kim, CFA, is the director for financial investments and industry in the Service Industry Investment Promotion Team at INVEST KOREA. INVEST KOREA is the investment division of Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). He is responsible for promoting foreign financial and financial sector investments into Korea.
Prior to joining INVEST KOREA/KOTRA, Mr. Kim has worked for nearly 20 years in the investment industry, working as investment manager and analyst at various financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
He holds an MBA from Yale University and is a CFA charter holder.
T.J. Kono
Partner
UNISON CAPITAL
T.J. Kono joined Unison Capital in 2002. He has managed a number of investments in Japan since Unison’s first fund, then led Unison’s expansion to Korea as its founding member. Today, he serves as a member of both Japan and Korea Investment Committee. He has been involved in Unison’s investments in Drug Eleven (Japan), Mine-Mart (Japan), UCOM (Japan), Nexcon Technology (Korea), Gong cha (Korea)/Royal Tea Taiwan (Taiwan), and Forbes (Japan). In addition to investment role, he oversees Unison Group’s investor relations functions. Prior to Unison Capital, he worked at Merrill Lynch Japan.
Mr. Kono has a B.S/B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Geetali Kumar
Vice President, Private Equity Asia (Corporates / Funds)
DEG
Geetali Kumar is Vice President at DEG and is based in Singapore. She is responsible for sourcing, structuring and managing equity investments as well as investments in private equity funds in South East Asia. She brings over 10 years of experience in private equity investments focusing on buyouts, growth capital and impact investments across the developing economies of Asia.
Thomas Lanyi
Managing Director
CDH INVESTMENTS
Dr. Thomas Lanyi is a Managing Director at CDH Investments. Established in 2001, CDH is a leading alternative assets fund management company, managing close to US$20billion in assets for a global pool of institutional clients. The firm specializes in China-based or linked investment transactions in the consumer and healthcare sectors. Based in Singapore, Dr. Lanyi leads CDH’s Southeast Asian and global ‘Cross-border’ investment activities.
Dr. Lanyi is a senior Private Equity investment professional with 18 years of relevant experience and a strong record of achievement in the Asian emerging markets, especially China and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining CDH, Dr. Lanyi held senior roles at Mekong Capital in Vietnam and Templeton Private Equity in Singapore.
Dr. Lanyi has been an Executive Committee Member of the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) since 2015, and been its Chairman since 2017.
Blake Larson
Managing Director
LALAMOVE
Blake has spent his career leading teams and overseeing operations during periods of high growth for both Fortune 500 companies and tech start-ups across four continents. As Managing Director of Lalamove, Blake oversees Lalamove’s business outside of Mainland China including SEA and India as it transforms same day delivery.
Formerly, Blake served as the managing director of Rocket Internet’s Easy Taxi in Hong Kong and oversaw Business Development in the region from 2013 to 2014. He helped establish the business as one of the market leaders in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Singapore.
Prior to that, Blake co-founded and served as the managing director of Air Crew Club, a global marketplace for airline employees, from 2012 to 2013.
Blake also served at the Clinton Foundation in their Global Health Finance Department in 2012. His primary role was to work with local government and funding partners to drive operational improvements to lower the cost of treatment.
Before that, Blake worked at Walgreens from 2004 to 2010, in various managerial roles across Finance, Marketing, and Market Strategy. His primary duties included guiding strategic growth and investments across the various divisions.
He graduated from ESADE Business School (Spain) and NUS (Singapore) with an MBA, and University of Iowa, USA with a BBA in Finance and Marketing
Philip Latham
Senior Partner
NAVIS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Philip Latham is a Partner of Navis and a director of Navis Capital Australia. Navis is a pan -Asia/Australasia Private Equity group, focused on control buyouts and manages approximately USD5bn in portfolio assets in the region. It has raised 7 funds since 1998, with the most recent being approximately USD1.5bn. Navis employs approximately 100 executives across 6 regional offices.
At Navis, Mr. Latham sources Australian and New Zealand transactions and leads investment teams in making, monitoring and exiting investments, sits on the Navis Investment Committee and sits on the boards and executive committees of four Navis portfolio companies. Mr. Latham is also responsible for a number of matters related to the Australian operations of Navis.
Mr. Latham has lead Navis’ activities in Australia since 2008. He was responsible for Navis investments in WorldMark Pty Ltd, Retail Apparel Group Pty Ltd, Blueprint Group Pty Ltd, Guardian Early Learning Group, Modern Star, Mainland Poultry and Device Technologies, as well as more than 30 follow-on acquisitions which are now part of those businesses. In addition, Mr. Latham managed the acquisition of Cherry Valley Farms in the UK and China.
Mr. Latham has been active in private equity for 24 years, since founding Lend Lease Development Capital in 1994. He founded and grew RMB Ventures, where he managed 22 mid-market buyouts, including 13 exits between 1998 and 2008.
Mr. Latham holds an MBA from London Business School and a BSc Hons Mech Eng from Birmingham University. He is also a chartered Engineer and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mr. Latham Co-founded and chaired Yalari, an indigenous education initiative which is today responsible for managing and funding hundreds of boarding school students from remote and rural communities, and he served on the Board of the Australian Chamber Orchestra for 5 years.
Brian Lau
Managing Director
SHAWKWEI & PARTNERS
Mr. Lau is Managing Director and Partner at ShawKwei & Partners. He is involved in all aspects of deal flow & investments and leverages his operating, sales and strategy background to manage portfolio companies at the board level. He is a member of the investment committee of ShawKwei and sits on the board of portfolio company Beyonics.
Brian has more than 25 years of global strategy, sales and manufacturing experience across the electronics, supply chain and investment consulting industries including multinational corporations such as Celestica and Texas Instruments.
Brian received an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University and a BA from the University of Waterloo and holds the CPA designation (Chartered Professional Account) from Canada.
Alvin Lim
Senior Managing Director
CVC CAPITAL PARTNERS
Prior to joining CVC in June 2016, Alvin spent over 11 years with HSBC where he was Head of Investment Banking for Southeast Asia. Prior to that, he worked for the investment banking division of Citigroup / Schroders for over 7 years in Singapore and the UK working on transactions across Asia and Europe. He started his career with the corporate finance division of Coopers & Lybrand. Alvin graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc (Economics) degree specializing in accounting & finance and he is also a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst.
Michael Liu
Senior Vice President
PORTFOLIO ADVISORS
Michael Liu is a Senior Vice President and serves as voting member of one or more of the firm’s Investment Committees. 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.
Anno Lo
Investment Director
SOFTBANK INVESTMENT ADVISERS
Anna Lo joined SoftBank in 2006 after spending four years in tech banking at Deutsche Bank based in Hong Kong and Tokyo. She has since been involved in international VC and portfolio management projects across Asia and North America, including as part of the founding team of SoftBank China & India Fund, SoftBank Group International, and today, as part of SoftBank Investment Advisers, manager of the SoftBank Vision Fund. In April, Anna relocated from Vision Fund’s Bay Area office to establish the Fund’s Singapore office to cover Southeast Asia.
Anna received a BA in East Asian Studies and BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Patrick Loofbourrow
Partner
COOLEY LLP
Patrick's practice focuses on the representation of high-growth emerging technology and life sciences companies as well as venture capital and other firms that invest in those companies. As a specialist in corporate and securities law, he has counseled company clients and investors in a wide variety of projects, including company formations, spin-offs, private and public financings, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and other strategic transactions, employee equity incentives, corporate governance matters and SEC reporting and compliance. Patrick counsels companies in a variety of industries, including the wireless, hardware, Internet, software, telecommunications and biotechnology, healthcare and medical device industries.
Patrick received his JD, summa cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1999, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as Lead Editor of the San Diego Law Review. He completed joint Bachelor's degrees in International Relations and Anthropology, with an emphasis in Latin America, at Stanford University in 1988. Patrick is bilingual in Spanish and English and has lived in Ecuador.
Sunil Mishra
Partner
ADAMS STREET PARTNERS
Sunil Mishra specializes in the sourcing and execution of Asian investments ex-China, specifically in India, Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Korea.
Prior to joining Adams Street, Sunil worked for Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore performing financial and business analyses of local and regional companies. Previously, Sunil worked in India as an Investment and Strategy Associate in Tacogroup, the automotive technology and engineering investment arm of the Tata Group of India, where he worked on business planning, feasibility studies, and localization plans for new ventures.
Sunil manages relationships with several of Adams Street’s managers and sits on advisory boards of more than a dozen private equity firms within the Adams Street Partners portfolio.
Sunil is a member of Adams Street’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee.
Joyce Ng
Partner
IGLOBE PARTNERS
Ms. Joyce Ng is a Partner at iGlobe Partners. She has over 20 years of experience in venture capital, fund management, insurance and financial services. She is responsible for fund raising, deal sourcing, investment management, exit management, and building partnerships with investors, corporate and government agencies.
Joyce held several board seats of iGlobe’s investee companies in Singapore and US. In Singapore, she is currently a board member of Ministry of Movement Pte. Ltd. (SWAT) and has been instrumental in helping and syndicating the Company’s Series A fund raising round. Other board seats include SYW Pte Ltd and The Great Room (Alternate Director).
In the United States, she is actively involved in overseeing iGlobe’s investment in Unity Software Inc, a Unicorn Company. She has helped Unity to set up its corporate headquarters in Singapore in 2013. She is a Board Observer of Nerdwallet Inc (Fintech company) where she was primarily involved in the investment of this portfolio. Other portfolios under her charge include Matterport Inc (3D computer vision company) and Hippo Analytics (data-driven online home insurance). She was a board observer of Starmaker Interactive Inc (acquired by a Chinese Entertainment Company in 2016).
She is a member of the Investment Committee and Divestment Committee of iGlobe Platinum Fund I and concurrently a member of the Investment Committee of Platinum Fund II.
Joyce worked from 1996 to 2003 with Vertex Management Pte Ltd. In 1996, she joined as an analyst responsible for portfolio monitoring of Vertex European investment. She was later promoted to Assistant Manager in charge of the Fund of Fund investments.
Joyce came with diversified experience. She was previously a team leader & trainer at ACE Insurance (acquired by Chubb) responsible for all the training needs of the Call Centre staff. She started her career in the Credit Admin Department of Bank Indosuez.
Joyce is a Mentor with CRIB as well Ulu Pandan Stars (a non-profit organisation providing tuition to children from low-income families).
Yoshi Okubo
VP Investment
EV GROWTH
Prior to Yahoo! Japan Capital and EV Growth, Yoshi Okubo started a $50mil FinTech business in Singapore and SEA at Sumitomo Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate. He then oversaw FinTech startup investments in the SEA, and was seconded to a remittance startup for new business initiatives and IPO preparation. As a Star Scholarship recipient, Mr. Okubo received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Carleton College in the US with Magna Cum Laude. Mr. Okubo started his first startup whilst in school and sold it to an angel.
Steven R. Okun
CEO, APAC Advisors & ASEAN Representative
EMPEA
The Founder and CEO of APAC Advisors, Steven Okun is a leader in the private equity industry on ESG, sustainability and stakeholder engagement in Asia Pacific, having lived and worked in the region since 2003.
In September 2017, EMPEA appointed Mr. Okun as its ASEAN Representative, where he works with the members to increase private capital deployment and fundraising across Southeast Asia. In addition, he serves as a member of EMPEA’s global ESG and SDG Community.
EMPEA is the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. An independent, non-profit organization, the association’s membership comprises 300+ firms representing institutional investors, fund managers and industry advisors who together manage more than US$5 trillion in assets across 130 countries.
As global investment firm KKR’s first Director of Asia Public Affairs from 2011-2017, his responsibilities encompassed government affairs, communications, stakeholder engagement, ESG and impact investing and supporting such efforts for its portfolio companies.
His work on ESG initiatives spans due diligence through the investment phase. His expertise includes developing ESG policies, determining critical considerations for specific deals taking into consideration market, sector and level of investment, engaging directly in due diligence, and working with investment teams to document the findings of due diligence and develop reports for a fund’s investors.
Previously, Mr. Okun led UPS Asia’s public affairs practice, and served in the Clinton Administration as Deputy General Counsel at the US Department of Transportation.
Often representing and advocating the views of the business community, Mr. Okun often guest hosts on CNBC and frequently appears on the BBC and Channel NewsAsia.
He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Dayu Dara Permata
Senior Vice President, GO-JEK;
Co-Founder, Go-LIFE
Dayu Dara Permata is currently VP at PT. GO-JEK Indonesia, previously a consultant with McKinsey & Company. At GO-JEK, Dayu cofounded & spearheads Go-LIFE, a non-transportation business line of GO-JEK. As a consultant, has served various clients rom public and private sectors focusing around ASEAN & emerging markets on topics of innovation, change management, investment and infrastructure financing, corporate transformation and strategy, banking and financial sector, and technology implementation.
Roderick Purwana
Partner
EV GROWTH
Roderick Purwana is Managing Partner of SMDV, an Indonesia based venture capital firm focusing on growth stage companies in South East Asia. SMDV provides venture investments, strategic network and mentorship to entrepreneurs building exceptional technology companies in Indonesia and the region.
Roderick has a diverse background with experiences in management, operations, investment and portfolio management through his work in multiple industries in Silicon Valley and in Southeast Asia. His exposure in Silicon Valley was primarily around technology and life science industry. Originally from Indonesia, He returned home in 2009 where he joined Quvat/Principia Management Group. Quvat is a private equity firm, specializing in early-stage and growth-stage investments into mid-market companies in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. During his time there, Roderick managed and led several strategic initiatives of one of the portfolio company, including strategy, M&A and IPO. Since returning to Indonesia, he has also served in various management capacities for companies in aviation infrastructure, food & beverage, and chemicals distribution sectors. Roderick is also a co-founder of Bobobobo.com, a lifestyle e-commerce company.
Roderick received his M.S from Stanford University and his B.S from Cornell University.
Mohit Ralhan
Managing Partner & CIO
TIW PRIVATE EQUITY
Mr. Mohit Ralhan is the Managing Partner & CIO of TIW Private Equity. Mr. Ralhan specializes in Buyouts, Margin Expansion & Turnaround situations. Prior to TIW, he was an Investment & Operating Professional at Baring Private Equity Partners India Fund II and Fund III. He has served on advisory board of companies in the interest-rate sensitive sectors, FMCG, Technology, Education, Consumption, Media, Digital Businesses, Real Estate & Manufacturing Consumption. He is a thought leader in buyout investments and has been a regular speaker in various industry forums such as AVCJ Japan, AVCJ USA, AVCJ Singapore, Super Investor Asia, GTech Leader’s Meet & Pension Fund Investment Summit to name a few.
James Riney
Founding Partner & CEO
CORAL CAPITAL
Prior to launching Coral Capital, James Riney was a co-founder and head of 500 Startups Japan. With about $100m under management, he’s been a seed investor in over 40 companies. He is also a Board Director at SmartHR, where he was an early investor and led their ~$14m Series B. Prior to 500 Startups, Mr. Riney covered early stage investments for DeNA’s venture arm, focusing on Silicon Valley and Asia. He was listed on the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list for Finance & Venture Capital in 2016.
Before investing, he was the founding CEO of ResuPress (now Coincheck, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan), and the creator of STORYS.JP, the “Medium.com of Japan.” In another life, he worked at J.P. Morgan in New York and Tokyo. He grew up in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese.
Greg Rivera
Investment Principal
SIERRA MADRE
Greg Rivera is an Investment Principal at Sierra Madre Advisers, Inc., a Philippines-focused private equity firm. Greg has 9 years' experience in private equity investments in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia. He has had deep involvement in deal origination and structuring, due diligence, portfolio management / value creation, and exit management. He also has years of experience as an ESG officer. He has 3 years' experience in M&A / transaction advisory and assurance services. He is a Certified Public Accountant and graduated from De La Salle University-Manila with bachelor of science degrees in Applied Economics and Accountancy.
Sam Robinson
Managing Partner
NORTH-EAST PRIVATE EQUITY ASIA
Sam Robinson is Managing Partner of North-East Private Equity Asia, which focuses on Asia private equity funds. Mr. Robinson is based in Singapore and has worked in private equity since 1998, initially joining Schroder Ventures in the UK. In 2001, he was one of the founder members of SVG Advisers, a fund of funds business, where he managed the global investment team. SVG Advisers was acquired by Aberdeen Asset Management in 2013, whereupon Mr. Robinson became Head of Asia Private Equity Fund Investment until his departure in 2015.
Ranjit Shah
Managing Partner and Co-Founder
GAJA CAPITAL
Mr Shah is a managing partner and co-founder of Gaja Capital and is based in Mumbai. Prior to co-founding Gaja Capital in 2005, Mr Shah had over 24 years of operating experience as an entrepreneur and manager.
Over 13 years at Gaja Capital, Mr Shah has led investments in the consumer and financial services sectors. He currently serves on the board of three of Gaja Capital’s active portfolio companies.
Prior to co-founding Gaja Capital in 2005, Mr Shah has held CXO roles in the telecom, technology and luxury sectors and also worked with leading investment banking and management consulting firms in India. As an entrepreneur, Mr Shah co-founded an asset finance company which he took public. He had been an active public markets investor and has also made personal private equity and corporate venture capital investments.
Mr Shah has an MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT Bombay. He is a member of the CII – PE/VC National Committee and is closely involved with the Ross School’s activities in India.
Terence Sim
Associate Director
VICKERS VENTURE PARTNERS
Mr. Terence Sim joined Vickers in 2009 and is based in Singapore. His responsibilities include working closely with the investment committee with regard to deal sourcing, execution and monitoring. He also provides business strategy, fundraising and exit support and advice to current portfolio companies.
Having previously worked as an analyst in a hedge fund, Terence is also responsible for monitoring the stock markets in the region for the purposes of managing the treasury positions of the Group and the sale of shares of portfolio companies upon IPO listings.
Prior to joining Vickers, Terence worked in the Singapore Department of Statistics in 2009 where he conducted in-depth statistical analysis for various government boards such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Economic Development Board. From 2006 to 2007, he was an Assistant Director of Research in the Singapore Management University E.y.E Investment Club, an organization that promotes financial literacy through the sharing of financial knowledge between tertiary students in Singapore and investment professionals.
Terence is a Chartered Financial Analyst and graduated from the Singapore Management University magna cum laude with degrees in Business Management (majoring in Finance) and Economics. He is fluent in English and Mandarin.
Yar-Ping Soo
Partner
ADAMS STREET PARTNERS
Yar-Ping specializes in Asian pan-regional leveraged buyouts as well as country-focused funds, specifically in Greater China, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. She leads the Primary Investment Team’s Asian practice, and actively participates in all fund investment decisions and manages relationships with several of Adams Street's managers.
Prior to joining Adams Street, Yar-Ping was a Senior Vice President of GIC Special Investments (GICSI), which is the private equity arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. She spent more than a decade at GIC and worked in their New York, Redwood City, and Singapore offices. Yar-Ping was the Head of Asia/Emerging Markets based out of Singapore, leading GICSI’s investments in leveraged buyout funds, growth capital funds, and co-investments.
Yar-Ping is a member of the Adams Street Primary Investments Committee.
Jeanne Stampe
Head of Asia Sustainable Finance
WWF
Jeanne Stampe is the Head of Asia Sustainable Finance for WWF and part of its Global Finance Practice Leadership Team. She is the founder of the Asia Sustainable Finance Initiative. Jeanne works with banks, investors, stock exchanges, and regulators in Asia to drive the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance issues in the finance sector so as to create a meaningful shift in financial flows towards positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes. She has 22 years of experience in mainstream and sustainable finance, having worked in investment banking and private equity with Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Apax partners in New York, London, Singapore, and Stockholm for 14 years prior to joining WWF. She has co-authored 9 sustainable finance publications, including Resilient and Sustainable Portfolios: A Framework for Responsible Investment (2019), Keep Palm (CLSA 2018), Sustainable Banking in ASEAN (2018, 2017), Green Bonds Must Keep the Green Promise (2016), and WWF Asian Fast Moving Consumer Goods Sustainability Guide (2016).She graduated with an MA in Economics from Cambridge University.
Hendrik Susanto
Chief Investment Officer
TRAVELOKA
Hendrik Susanto is Chief Investment Officer at Traveloka, where he leads all external inorganic growth strategy for the group, including minority investments, acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships. He also leads business development and corporate development efforts for the financial services vertical of Traveloka.
Prior to joining Traveloka, Hendrik built an extensive track record in venture capital and private equity investing in the U.S. and Asia. Most recently, Hendrik was CEO and managing director of Ancora Capital, a private equity firm focused on the consumer-facing and natural resources sectors in Indonesia. He also has experience investing in technology companies in the U.S. at IDG Ventures in San Francisco. Hendrik started his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York and Singapore.
A graduate of Princeton University with a BSE in Electrical Engineering and a certificate in Engineering Mangement Systems, Hendrik also holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lee Taylor
Partner, Head of M&A/Private Equity, Asia Pacific
KING & SPALDING LLP
Lee Taylor is the Head of M&A/Private Equity, Asia-Pacific, at King & Spalding LLP, and is based in Singapore.
King & Spalding LLP is a multinational corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. With over 1,000 lawyers in 20 offices globally, King & Spalding LLP is consistently listed as one of the most prestigious law firms in the world.
Mr. Taylor specializes in domestic and cross-border M&A and private equity transactions. With over 20 years of M&A experience in London and South-East Asia, Mr. Taylor’s clients include many of the leading corporates, private equity houses, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds. Mr. Taylor’s work in Indonesia goes back to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and the restructuring of many Indonesian companies which were taken over by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
Mr. Taylor is consistently recognized by leading legal directories as one of the leading M&A and private equity lawyers in Asia. Chambers Global describes him as “an expert on private equity transactions who is praised by clients for his very strong credentials in the region and the commitment he shows on transactions”. Chambers Asia Pacific commends Mr. Taylor for being “a highly valued lawyer” with a “keen eye for important details”.
Prior to joining King & Spalding LLP in January 2018, Mr. Taylor spent over 20 years at UK “Magic Circle” law firm Clifford Chance LLP where he was based in Singapore and led the Private Equity practice in South-East Asia.
Mr. Taylor holds a Euro. LLB (Hons) from the Bristol University, U.K. and Poitiers University, France.
Emmett Thomas
Senior Partner, Head of Asia
ADVANTAGE PARTNERS
Emmett Thomas joined Advantage Partners in 2007 to lead the firm's activities in Asia ex-Japan. Advantage Partners is one of the leading Private Equity firms in North Asia, having invested over US$ 3.0 billion in more than 70 companies over the last 20 years. Emmett has led investments for Advantage Partners in a variety of industries including media, telecom, retail and business services.
He currently serves as the Managing Partner of Advantage Partners Asia Fund. He is on the Boards of several Advantage Partners portfolio companies. In addition, he oversees Advantage Partner’s portfolio company activities in Asia ex-Japan. Emmett started his career in Tokyo at TSE-listed SMC Corporation, the factory automation manufacturer. Subsequently he spent 18 years at the Monitor Group, the global strategy consulting firm, the last 10 of which he was President of Asia. Currently, he is a Director of the Harvard Business School Association of Hong Kong, and serves on the MBA Advisory Board of Hong Kong University. He graduated from Duke University with a B.A in Economics, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has resided in Asia for more than 25 years.
Andrew Thompson
Head of Private Equity Asia Pacific, Head of Deal Advisory
KPMG
Andrew Thompson has over 24 years of experience with KPMG principally focused on major Corporate and Private Equity transaction due diligence and deal advisory. In late 2013 he relocated from Sydney, where he led KPMGs Australian Private Equity team, to Singapore to lead KPMGs Private Equity team across Asia-Pacific encompassing M&A deal origination, deal execution services and portfolio value creation activities. Andrew has directly led the transaction execution support work on more than 300 significant transactions with an aggregate deal value of more than $200 billion with the majority being Private Equity sponsored.
His major location experience include: London (5 Years), Sydney (13 Years) and New York (2 Years) and Singapore. In addition he has led deal teams across most SE Asia locations, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan. Andrew has acted for most leading Private Equity sponsors including: KKR, CVC, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Texas Pacific Group, Macquarie, CHAMP Private Equity, Goldman Sachs PIA, CSFB / DLJ, AMP Capital Investors, Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, TA Associates, Ripplewood, Veronis Suhler, and Morgan Stanley. He has also assisted major Sovereign Wealth and pension funds in analysing direct and co-investment opportunities with Private Equity sponsors.
Yasushi Ujioka
Partner & Head of Climate Change Investments
JUPITER IMPACT PARTNERS
Yasushi Ujioka has dedicated two decades of his career to sustainable development across water and energy sector spanning Asia and Europe, in various capacity from engineering and operation management to principal and private equity investment. Most recently, Mr. Ujioka was a Partner and a member of the Investment Committee at Armstrong Asset Management, manager of the Armstrong S.E. Asia Clean Energy Fund, a USD 162 m private equity fund that has been investing in more than 300 MW utility scale renewable energy IPP projects across SE Asia. Through Armstrong’s investments, Mr. Ujioka has gained a significant hands-on experience in capacity building for local SMEs in the renewable sector including ESG and Corporate Governance practice. Prior to that, Mr. Ujioka spent years in energy efficiency space in Asia, first as Business Development Director of Veolia Energy in Asia, then as Investment Director of China District Energy Fund, closing more than USD 200 million investments. Before coming back to Asia in 2003, Mr. Ujioka spent 8 years as engineer with Degrémont, a world leading water treatment EPC arm of Suez Group, based in Paris and London, becoming Deputy Technical Director in its world HQ in Paris in 2001 providing technical support for the company’s world-wide EPC operations. Mr. Ujioka holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Engineering from the University of Tokyo and MBA from Insead. Mr. Ujioka is fluent in French, English and Japanese, and have good command of other regional languages including Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia.
Steven Wang
Managing Partner
HIGHLIGHT CAPITAL
Mr. Steven Wang is managing partner of HLC and a visting professor of Tsinghua University. He is former senior partner and investment committee member of CDH. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the medical industry and healthcare investment and focuses exclusively on healthcare services, medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. Prior to CDH, Mr. Wang served at Avenue Capital, Lehman Brothers (London) and Becton Dickinson Group. Over the last ten years, Mr. Wang was responsible for transactions totaling more than 1.5 billion dollars, including mergers & acquisitions, restructuring of publicly listed companies, growth and early stage investments.
Some of Mr. Wang's representative deals include Mindray, Phamaron, WuXi AppTec, Kanghong Pharm, KangNing Hospital, New Century Hospital, Yuwell, New Eyes, Linwha, STA, Poly, Angel’s Women and Children Hospital, Kintor Pharmaceutical, Malo Clinic, Dr. Cuiyutao etc.
Rebekah Woo
Managing Director, Maternal Infant & Family
FOSUN
With degrees from LSE, Yale and CFA, CAIA professional designations, Rebekah Woo has 20 years of investing experience. Ms. Woo started her career with the the government of Singapore, in Singapore and New York. She then spent more than 6 years with a multi-billion single family office in New York, investing across asset classes. Ms. Woo then joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management, followed by Canada’s 2nd largest pension plan where she became the 1st local employee when it opened its Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore. After a stint at Lufax, a leading fintech company by Ping An Group, Ms. Woo is now with Fosun, responsible for covering investments in the Maternal Infant & Family sector.
Roger Zhang
Vice President, Private Debt Asia
PARTNERS GROUP
Roger Zhang is part of the Asian Private Debt business unit, based in Singapore. He has been with Partners Group since 2010 and has 15 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at Ashland Partners and Ernst & Young. He holds an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business. He is also a CFA charterholder.
Johnny Zong
Partner
CCV
Johnny Zong joined China Creation Ventures as Partner in 2018 and focuses on consumer internet investments.
Prior to CCV, Johnny was the VP of DotC United Group in charge of finance, HR, legal and administration since January 2014. As a key management team member, Johnny was instrumental in the group’s operation, equity financing, investment and incubation, merger and acquisition. He had been deeply involved in the group’s development from an Ad-tech company with tens of employees emerging into a leading internet company focusing on China-to-Global strategy with hundreds of employees in China, Europe, North / South America, and Southeast Asia when Johnny left.
Before joining DotC as an entrepreneur, Johnny worked with KPCB China for around 6 years, working closely with the current CCV founding members. He was deeply involved and instrumental in the investments including Chukouyi, Limei mobile ads (NEEQ: 838556), Miaozhen Systems, Tradehero, Manzuo.com (acquired by SuNing), ULUCU (NEEQ: 837110), SINOEV, Scinor Water (acquired by TRCE: 300332), KJY Water (NEEQ: 835159), UPYun.
Johnny started his career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers as an auditor and then he joined Oliver Wyman, formerly known as Mercer Management Consulting, to serve clients (mostly multinational companies and investment funds) with their market entry, expansion and/or investment strategies in China and Mideast.
Johnny got his Bachelor in Computer Science from Fudan University. He is a CFA Charter holder.