Programme
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08:50
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09:00
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09:30
Networking break
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09:45Vietnam private equity: Capturing the opportunity
As private equity deal flow begins to pick up again, Vietnam promises to maintain its place as a hotspot for investment. An early and effective response to COVID-19 meant that most businesses were able to get back on track after only a short hiatus, contributing to Vietnam’s resilient growth numbers amidst the global slowdown. The country will also continue to benefit from the shift in supply chain, trade agreements, and regional partnerships, as well as a new five-year plan to accelerate the ongoing privatisation of state-owned enterprises. Our opening panel discuss:
- What is the outlook for deal flow, execution, and exits?
- How does Vietnam compare with its Southeast Asian peers?
- How will Vietnam’s trade deals with the UK and EU affect deal flow?
- When will the pace of the privatisation process pick up, and what opportunities will it present for investors?
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10:30
Networking break
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10:45Cross-border: An ideal destination
Vietnam has become one of the most attractive destinations for investment in Southeast Asia in recent years, and the Vietnamese government is keen to see this trend continue. In January 2021, the revised Law on Investment came into effect, and while foreign ownership thresholds and some administrative obstacles remain, the general sentiment is positive and should promote foreign direct investment, especially in sectors such as advanced technology, microfinance, healthcare, and education, given the incentive scheme for investments in these areas. Our panel of investors and consultants share their views on cross-border investing and prospects in Vietnam.
- What are the main drivers behind cross-border activity in Vietnam?
- To what extent will the revised Law on Investment attract more foreign investors?
- How are cross-border investors utilising on-the-ground resources and partners to evaluate targets in the current climate?
- What legal challenges do cross-border investors often face, and how can they be overcome?
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11:30
Networking break
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11:45Operational value-add: Shifting dynamics
For years, private equity firms have mostly depended on macroeconomic growth in Vietnam to achieve returns on their investments. However, given the gloomy world outlook and an increasingly crowded market, private equity firms will need to play a more proactive role in guiding portfolio companies through challenging times and strengthening their competitiveness to fuel growth. In this session, leading industry professionals will share their updated playbook for value creation.
- What are some of last year’s lessons in terms of crisis management?
- How do private equity firms and portfolio companies view control, and how can both sides develop a trusting relationship?
- What protocols can private equity firms put in place to ensure proper corporate governance?
- How can investors leverage technology to enhance value creation in portfolio companies?
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12:30
Intermission
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14:00Consumer: A growing attraction
Vietnam’s consumer sector has garnered significant attention from private equity firms in recent years due to an emerging middle-class. While traditional services, such as international schools and private hospitals, remain in demand, the sector has also welcomed a wave of digital players, especially in the retail space. Our panel of private equity and corporate leaders discuss their outlook and growth strategies as competition heats up within the consumer space
- .What is the outlook for Vietnam’s consumer sector, and is there a fear of overcrowding?
- Which sub-sectors are most appealing to investors, and why?
- What are some of the challenges to generating returns from this sector, and how can companies overcome this?
- How will innovative business models challenge traditional players?
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14:45
Networking break
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15:00Venture capital: Driving digitisation
While some of the larger deals were put on hold in 2020, Vietnam saw a healthy volume of them in the venture space. Driven by the government’s desire to prioritise digitisation and its target to have ten Vietnamese unicorns by 2030, the industry has welcomed an increasing number of players, ranging from the venture arms of top Vietnamese companies from the past decade to incubator and accelerator programmes led by government or private organisations. As a result, startup funding has increased significantly and eclipsed Singapore for the first time last year. Our panel examines what the future holds for Vietnam’s increasingly vibrant venture capital and startup scene.
- What role does private equity and venture capital play in driving Vietnam’s digital economy?
- How has increasing regional and international interest impacted the venture capital scene in Vietnam?
- What impact is technology having across industries, and which sectors are experiencing the most disruption?
- Will more Vietnamese startups take the next step and begin competing regionally?
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15:45
Networking break
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16:00The LP view on Vietnam
Vietnam’s rapid growth has not gone unnoticed by institutional investors. With an increasing number of allocations having been made to the country in the past several years, Vietnam has continued to attract interest from
new overseas investors due to its swift return to normality. Our panel of experienced LPs discuss how Vietnam has fared over the years, and why it is becoming an increasingly important market for them.- How should new investors tap into the Vietnamese market?
- Do LPs prefer partnering with local or regional GPs when considering Vietnam?
- Would LPs be put off by regulatory complexity and reporting opacity in Vietnam?
- How have GPs in the region responded to ESG standards required by LPs, and what are the next steps?
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16:45
End of conference
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Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.
Christina is a Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners and in charge of global capital markets activities. She works closely with limited partners relating to capital raising and new product developments. Gaw Capital is a real estate private equity firm and has raised six commingled funds targeting the Greater China and APAC since 2005. The firm also manages value-add/opportunistic funds in Vietnam and the US, a Pan-Asia hospitality fund, a European hospitality fund and also provides services for separate account direct investments globally. The firm has over USD$ 27 billion in AUM as of Q3 2020. She also serves as Executive Director of Pioneer Global Group (0224.HK) and Independent Non-executive Director and Member of the Finance and General Committee and the Sustainability Committee of CLP Holdings Limited (0002.HK).
Prior to joining Gaw Capital, Christina had an investment banking career with Goldman Sachs and UBS as Managing Director for over 15 years, with responsibilities as Head of Asia Equities Distribution and as Head of APAC Capital Introduction team within Prime Brokerage. She has deep experience in covering some of the largest institutional investors globally.
Christina is also active in community and educational sector capacity work in Hong Kong. She is currently a board member of InspiringHK Sports Foundation and advisor of Teach for Hong Kong, finance committee member and board member of Hong Kong International School, board member of Stellart International School of Arts, executive committee vice chairwoman of St. Paul’s Co-educational College Alumni Association, corporate member of the Cheltenham Ladies College UK, school supervisor for TWGHs S. C. Gaw Memorial College and the council member of Lingnan University, Hong Kong. She has also served as the board member of The Women’s Foundation for over 10 years from 2009 to 2019 and the board treasurer of The Hong Kong Ballet Group from 2010 to 2017.
Christina received her B.S in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco, California.
Dorothea Koo is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Hong Kong office. Dorothea leads the China/Hong Kong Private Equity Practice and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Firm's Asia Pacific Private Equity Practice Group. Dorothea's practice focuses on M&A transactions in Hong Kong and China (including takeovers and other public M&As) and private equity investments. She also advises private equity houses and other financial investors across Asia on a wide range of domestic and international private equity transactions, including buyouts, joint ventures, minority investments and exits.
Dorothea is ranked as a leading private equity lawyer for buyouts by Chambers Asia, IFLR 1000 and PLC Which lawyer?. She is also ranked as a leading mergers and acquisitions lawyer by IFLR 1000. Dorothea graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Economics, University of London with an LL.B. and the University of Hong Kong with the P.C.LL. She is admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and England and Wales.
Warrick is the Managing Partner of Deals, Tax and Legal, and Chairman and CEO of KPMG in Vietnam and Cambodia. He has been a Tax advisor in Vietnam for over 20 years, and is recognised as one of Vietnam’s leading tax professionals. He began his tax advisory career upon graduation in 1992 and moved to Vietnam 1998. He has extensive knowledge and experience in Vietnam of taxation advisory and compliance, tax dispute resolution, corporate governance and structuring issues, and has advised on numerous corporate transactions in Vietnam and Cambodia.
His clients include major international corporations operating in Vietnam from Europe, Asia and the United States, in the financial services, manufacturing, natural resources, technology and consumer goods industries.
Warrick is well known and respected by the corporate community in Vietnam, and has extensive experience working with the authorities at all levels of the Government. He is a frequent commentator in the Vietnamese media on tax and business issues.
He served as KPMG Asia Pacific Head of Tax from 2010 to 2016, and as the Global Leader of High Growth Markets for Tax thereafter. He has been a member of KPMG’s International Tax Steering Group since 2010 and is also a member of KPMG’s Asia Pacific Board and Global Council.
KPMG has been recognised for its contribution to the financial sector by Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, and has been named the Vietnam Tax Firm of the Year, most recently for 2020, by the widely respected and independent International Tax Review.
Outside of KPMG, Mr Cleine is Chairman of the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, Chairman of British Corporate Advocacy Council in Vietnam, and Adjunct Industry Professor in the School of Business & Management, RMIT Vietnam University.
Ms. Leow joined BPEA in 2011. Ms. Leow has led and participated in key deals in Asia, North America, and Europe, and is actively involved in investments within Education, Technology and Tech-enabled Business Services, Financial Services, and Consumer & Retail industries globally. Prior to joining BPEA, Ms. Leow was a Senior Associate Consultant with Bain & Company, where she executed multiple due diligences for private equity funds and drove strategy development and turnaround projects for leading corporations in Asia and in North America.
Leon manages investor relations and products for VinaCapital’s private equity investor base, within the investment team responsible for managing the $1 billion VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund. He has successfully raised capital for VinaCapital’s private equity offering and was previously Head of Product Development for VinaCapital Asset Management.
Leon has advised fund managers for 15 years on private fundraising matters. He was formerly the COO for a multi-family office in Singapore and General Counsel of Prosperity Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar Russia focused fund manager. Leon previously held roles at Kirkland & Ellis, SJ Berwin and Mourant, during which he advised fund sponsors of private equity, venture capital, real estate and infrastructure funds.
Mr. Edward F. Sippel is a Managing Director at TA Associates. At the firm, he is Co-Head of Asia and manages the Hong Kong office which he helped open in 2011. Mr. Sippel focuses on minority equity investments, recapitalizations, and management buyouts of growth companies in the Asia Pacific region. He has over 20 years of experience in deal sourcing, due diligence, structuring, portfolio management and exits across numerous Asian markets. On behalf of TA Associates, Mr. Sippel currently serves on the Board of Directors of YeePay in China, Fisher Funds in New Zealand, InCorp in Singapore, Betashares and Yarra Capital Management (formerly Goldman Sachs Asset Management Australia) in Australia, MISA in Vietnam and was formerly on the Board of Directors of TA Companies: Speedcast Limited in Hong Kong (listed on the ASX), Nintex in Australia and US, and Forgame Tech in China (listed on the HKSE). At previous firms, Mr. Sippel led deal teams for private equity investments across Asia and served on the Board of Directors of various public and private companies.
Previously, Mr. Sippel was a Partner at Quadrangle Capital Partners, a global private equity firm. He opened the Hong Kong office for Quadrangle in 2007 and headed the firm’s Asian operations. Prior to joining Quadrangle, Mr. Sippel was a Managing Director and Partner at TVG Capital Partners (“TVG”), a private equity firm based in Hong Kong focused on investments throughout Asia. Prior to TVG, Mr. Sippel was with The Asian Infrastructure Fund (“AIF”), a private equity firm based in Hong Kong. Prior to AIF, Mr. Sippel worked at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Mr. Sippel has lived and worked in Asia since 1997. Mr. Sippel received a BA degree from Georgetown University.
Thuy Dropsey is an Executive Director in the Southeast Asia team for Affirma Capital (formerly known as Standard Chartered Private Equity) since 2016. Prior to Affirma Capital, Thuy was a Vice President at Lombard Investments, establishing the fund’s office in Ho Chi Minh City and overseeing investment strategy, deal sourcing and portfolio management in Vietnam. Prior to joining Lombard in 2011, Thuy was at Mekong Capital, a Vietnam-based private equity fund manager. Earlier in her career, Thuy was at Bain Capital Credit. Thuy began her professional career at Ernst & Young in its Asset Management group in Boston.
Dr. Ai holds a Ph.D degree in International Business from the University of Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Dr. Ai started working for KPMG in 1998 in Slovak Republic, and was transferred to Vietnam in 2001. He has been the Senior Partner leading the Strategy Group at KPMG Vietnam. His areas of expertise include growth strategy, enterprise-wide transformation, market entry advisory, M&A advisory, market research, and commercial due diligence. Working from Ho Chi Minh City, Dr Ai has led and participated in many projects which include wider teams of consultants from KPMG offices in US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Thailand, etc. His client portfolio includes large multinational corporations in various industries such as manufacturing, banking and finance, retail, healthcare, food and beverages, energy and infrastructure, as well as many leading Vietnamese corporations.
Gabriel Ho Ji-Min is a Managing Director and member of the Investment Committee of Dymon Asia Private Equity (DAPE), where he oversees investments in Southeast Asia. DAPE manages approximately SG$1 billion of committed capital, and is the private equity arm of Dymon Asia Capital, which manages approximately US$4.5 billion in total AUM.
Prior to joining DAPE, Gabriel worked at Baring Private Equity Asia, Morgan Stanley, and the Singapore Government. He has 15 years of private equity and investment banking experience, and has completed investments and divestments totaling c.US$900 million for 10 companies across Asia. At DAPE, he has led investments and divestments in healthcare, education, consumer and business services, and these portfolio companies have operations and presence across Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Taiwan.
Gabriel currently serves as Chairman of Asia Medical Enviro Services and as Director of Select Group, Rudi’s Fine Food, and Continental Deli. Other directorships include positions previously held on the boards of UEMS, Asia Integrated Facility Solutions, Asia Facility Solutions, and Lutheran Care Community Services.
Gabriel received his M.A. from Harvard University in 2006, and a B.A. in Economics (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Chicago. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Mr. Kim is a Managing Director on the Growth Capital team at STIC Investments. He is responsible for the firm’s investments in Southeast Asia, mainly in Vietnam.
At STIC Investments, Mr. Kim has reviewed more than 30 potential deals in the region and has invested in 6 companies. Examples of these investments include delivery tech, B2B grocery logistics platform, micro mobility, and big data advertising.
Prior to joining STIC, Mr. Kim was an investment manager at Green Egg Investment and Hanwha Life Insurance. Before that, he worked as a consultant at KPMG and PwC in Seoul.
At Green Egg Investment and Hanwha Life Insurance, Mr. Kim invested in various promising sectors in Vietnam, including technology, renewable energy, financials services, and consumer goods.
At KPMG and PwC, Mr. Kim advised Korean conglomerates and financial groups on their M&A activities in Southeast Asia, including post-merger integration and growth strategy for their overseas subsidiaries.
Mr. Kim received a BA in Business Administration from Seoul National University.
Bert Kwan is the Managing Partner of BDA Capital Partners. He has 20 years of private equity investment experience. Prior to establishing BDA Capital Partners, Bert Kwan was a Managing Director at Northstar Group, where he led the firm’s investments in Tiki.vn, Topica, and UpGen.
He also spent six years as the Managing Director & Head of ASEAN at Standard Chartered Private Equity, where he spearheaded the firm’s entry into Vietnam by leading investments in Golden Gate Group, M-Service, NKid and Loc Troi Group. In addition, he also led a number of private equity transactions in Southeast Asia and China, including in New China Life, Infastech, Phoon Huat and Interplex.
Earlier in his career, Bert spent a decade with Lehman Brothers Private Equity in New York, Silicon Valley and Hong Kong, where he originated and executed investments across Asia and the United States.
Bert graduated with a JD from Yale Law School and an AB in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.
As the APAC head of global development at RBI (brand owner of Burger King®, Popeyes® chicken and Tim Hortons® coffee backed by 3G Capital), Ryan Wei leads new market expansion efforts for the firm through partnerships with QSR operators and F&B investors.
A former founder and serial entrepreneur, Ryan spent 2020 building up one of Indonesia’s largest FMCG B2B eCommerce platforms as the Chief Strategy Officer and CFO. Prior to tech start-ups, he was the UK Managing Director / Head of China at a cross-border PE fund and M&A boutique DealGlobe Capital. Previously he was with London-based Actis PE and Swiss-headquartered Partners Group, focusing on growth equity and buyouts, plus LP fund investments first in Europe then Asia.
During early career days in Canada, he worked in Big Tech, central bank fund management and derivatives trading. Ryan graduated from London Business School and the University of Toronto with high distinction.
Joseph Khoo is a Member of Management in the Private Equity Direct Investments team within Partners Group, focusing on the origination and execution of investment opportunities within Southeast Asia. He has more than 13 years of investment and corporate finance experience focusing on leveraged buyout transactions across Asia-Pacific.
Mr. Dzung is the Deputy CEO of SSIAM. He has over 12 years of experience in sales, finance and investment. He worked with InterCall, CBOT, ABN AMRO in Chicago, USA before joining SSIAM in 2007. Mr. Dzung oversees SSIAM’s overall investment activities and leads its private equity function. He is the Portfolio Manager for all SSIAM's co-managed private equity funds with Daiwa Securities Group (Japan).
Mr.Dzung has been on Board of Directors of various leading companies such as Transimex Corporation (a top local logistics company), OPC Pharmaceutical (a leading herbal medicines company in Vietnam) and Dohaco (top kraft paper manufacturing company) and Concung (leading Mom & baby retailer).
Mr. Dzung is graduated from Knox College, Illinois, USA with a Bachelor of Art in Economics. He also received a Master degree in Business Administration, with focus in Finance, from Loyola University Chicago, Illinois, USA where he is member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honorary society.
Mr. Ireland is a Senior Partner of Navis based in Thailand and an Investment Committee member. Mr. Ireland joined Navis in 2001 where he currently focuses on investments in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar and has been involved in numerous transactions across South East Asia and Australia.
Prior to joining Navis, he spent five years in Vietnam working for the Vietnam Fund, as an investment professional. David is a qualified lawyer and practiced for a large firm in the US from 1990-1993.
Mr. Ireland serves as a Director or Executive Committee Member at a number of portfolio companies including, Institute of Global Citizenship (IGC), Sri Thai Daily Foods, Saitex, DZ Cards, Christian Liaigre, Hanoi French Hospital and Nitipon Clinics.
Mr. Ireland has been resident as an adult in Asia since 1993 and spent significant portions of his childhood in Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam. He has a JD from the College of William & Mary and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of Virginia. He has lived and worked in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia for the past 25 years.
JEF PEETERS is a seasoned, international executive in ‘the business of healthcare’ with substantial experience in transformational leadership for healthcare providers including hospitals and care homes. He has held various executive CEO, CFO and COO functions, overseeing strategic, financial turn-around, digital transformation and post-merger integration, as well as held advisory roles for healthcare IT, health care services companies and healthcare investors. Focus areas of his work have been growth & profitability, client-focused service delivery, IT and digital transformation, operational excellence & post-accreditation quality improvement, and best-practice (medical) co-governance.
Today, Jef is CEO of Hanoi French Hospital, North Viet Nam’s leading premium hospital. Next to that, he sits as an independent director on the Board of Dentius, a rapidly expanding dental chain in Western Europe and on the Investment Committee of the Caring Entrepreneur Fund for healthcare start-up with the King Baldwin Foundation of Belgium, where he previously also acted as a start-up coach. He is also a senior life science & healthcare industry expert with Deloitte Financial Advisory in Brussels.
Jef hold an MBA from INSEAD and a MSc in Applied Psychology from the University of Ghent, Belgium. He is a Belgian national, living and working currently in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Mr. Yee Chung Seck is a senior partner based in Ho Chi Minh City and head of the firm’s M&A, TMT and Healthcare practices. Chung's primary practice focus encompasses foreign investment, M&A, private equity, venture capital, TMT, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and is recognised as a leading lawyer for corporate/M&A and TMT in Vietnam. This includes his extensive experience in areas of foreign direct investment, market access and licensing, private and public M&A, commercial contracts, competition and anti-corruption compliance, data use and privacy, over a diverse range of industries, including e-commerce, digital services, consumer products, food & beverage, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, property, and aviation.
Chung also serves as Vice-President of the Singapore Business Group in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City Chapter); co-Head of the Vietnam Business Forum Investment & Trade Working Group; and Vice-Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Economy Committee, He graduated from the Law School of the National University of Singapore (1996) and was admitted to the Singapore Bar (1997).
Danny Gold Hwang is the Founder and CEO of NPX Point Avenue, an education technology firm headquartered in Singapore. Founded in 2018, NPX Point Avenue has raised US$12 million in its series A funding round, which was led by Hong Kong-based private equity firm Gaw Capital. NPX Point Avenue aims to offer students in Vietnam, Thailand, and across Southeast Asia international-level education at cost-effective rates. Catering to the K-12 private bilingual school and after-school training markets, the company specializes in English learning courses, test preparation, admissions consulting, debate coaching, life coaching, leadership camps, and soft skills training.
Prior to NPX Point Avenue, Danny co-founded New Pathway Education and Technology Group with his older brother, Samuel, in Shanghai, China as an O2O test preparation company mentoring students in China looking to apply to overseas universities, and sold that company to CVC Capital Partners as part of the bolt-on acquisition growth strategy with EIC Education, one of the top providers of English learning and study abroad services in China.
Danny received his BS in Sociology and Environmental Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Dr. Lanyi is a senior Private Equity professional with 19 years of experience. Based in Singapore, he currently serves as a Managing Director at CDH Investments, where he co-leads CDH's Southeast Asian and global 'Cross-border' investment activities.
Established in 2001, CDH is one of the most well-established alternative assets fund management companies in China, managing close to US$20billion in client assets across different strategies and funds. The firm specializes in investment opportunities in the consumer and healthcare sectors.
Prior to joining CDH, Dr. Lanyi held senior roles at Mekong Capital and Templeton Private Equity. Dr. Lanyi lived in Vietnam between 2007-2012 and continues to manage CDH's office in HCMC.
Dr. Lanyi is the Chairman of the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA).
Mr.Trung Anh Nguyen is the CEO of Phoenix Holdings, a family office in Vietnam.
He currently leads Phoenix Holdings’ Investment team in sourcing new investments in fintech and financial services as well as directly overseeing and managing companies in various sectors of financial services, fintech, renewable energy, retail, media, and sports entertainment.
Trung Anh is on the board of directors of Vietcredit (consumer finance), VCAM (asset management), Timo (digital bank), Moca (payment), Interloan (p2p lending), XLE (sports services), and PCP (solar energy). Recently, Trung Anh became a board member of Viet Capital Securities (VCSC), the number one investment banking firm in Vietnam.
Prior to becoming CEO of Phoenix, Trung Anh was part of the investment team at IDG Ventures Vietnam; the first venture capital fund in Vietnam with an initial investment of 100 million US dollars. During his 8 years with IDGVV, Trung Anh successfully managed the fund’s investment portfolios including Topica and VCCorp.
Trung Anh has more than 10 years of experience in venture capital and private equity and boasts an influential network of investors and entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia. He has a distinguished track record for fundraising for fintech, retail, education, and online companies.
Trung Anh is on the list of 30Under30, awarded & honored by Forbes Vietnam for his contribution to the sports and entertainment industry.
Manisha is the CFO of momo, Vietnam’s leading e-wallet company. As part of the senior management team, her responsibilities include the finance, human resources, capital raising and investor relations. Over the last 20 years she has worked in corporates or advised clients in over 25 countries across the telecom, media, technology, financial services and auto sectors. She has worked at JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, TVS & Sons, Vodafone, and the World Bank. Manisha was born in Pittsburgh, USA and grew up in Mumbai, India. She completed her undergraduate studies at Colgate University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a dual major in Economics and Asian Studies and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Shuyin is a Partner at Patamar Capital, a leading impact investing firm in Southeast Asia, and also the co-founder and CEO of the Beacon Fund, a boundary-breaking fund for female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia's emerging markets. She has led investments into education, FinTech, employee benefits and healthcare companies and serves as a Board Director / Observer at a number of portfolio companies including Kim An Group, Topica, Supahands and Canal Circle. She spearheads Patamar’s gender lens investing efforts, including managing one of the first gender lens investing funds in Southeast Asia, the Investing in Women Fund.
She has experience spanning strategy consulting (Bain & Company), development consulting (TechnoServe) and impact investing (Patamar Capital, LGT Venture Philanthropy), across Australia, India and Southeast Asia. She has also worked in U.S. Congress and the Australian public service, as well as at The Lowy Institute for International Policy and UNICEF.
Shuyin was named one of Australia's "100 Women of Influence" by the Australian Financial Review in 2015, an Asia 21 Young Leader by the Asia Society in 2016, and one of the “40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians” in 2020. She currently serves on the Investment Advisory Council of the Equality Fund and from 2018 to 2020 she served on the Southeast Asia Advisory Council of Women’s World Banking, a global NGO promoting women’s financial inclusion. She graduated summa cum laude from the Australian National University where she was also awarded the University Medal.
Giang Pham, Co-founder and Customer Experience Officer of Genetica, a proprietary gene decoding technology company, which headquarters in the US and has its operation in Singapore and Vietnam.
Genetica provides its low-cost gene test solutions to provide its users in-depth personalized reports on optimal plans for fitness and diet; children development and critical illness prevention (cancers, diabetes; strokes…). Its proprietary technology is the achievement of marrying Machine Learning competency and Molecular Biology deep expertise, plus years of research partnership with leading institutes including UCSF, Harvard Medical School, Stanford University, Cornell University; Illumina and Thermo Fisher.
Giang also serves on the founding Board of Directors of Endeavor Vietnam, a part of Endeavor Global, a non-profit global movement that empowers high-impact entrepreneurs. Giang also co-founds and serves on the advisory board of the Vietnam Innovation General Education Foundation (VIGEF); a social impact initiative which supports and nurtures scaling-up of local and specific teaching and learning initiatives among 5,000 public schools across Vietnam.
Before co-founding Genetica, Giang was an Investment Partner at Mekong Capital, a private equity firm based in Vietnam which backed iconic deals such as Mobile World; Vietnam Australian School; Phu Nhuan Jewelries Joint Stock Company...
Trung Hoang is a Partner at VinaCapital Ventures. He has more than 25 years of experience in business consultancy, corporate operations, and venture capital across region in SEA and Silicon Valley. During his career, he has served on multiple boards to technology start-ups that have successfully expanded across the region and that have achieved successful local IPOs (> 100x multiple). Additionally, he was the former Head of Business and Management Consulting at PwC Indochina covering Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Trung holds an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management in Holland.
Kien is a co-founder and Vietnam Country Partner of Asia Partners, growth equity firm focusing on investments in technology and technology-enabled companies in Southeast Asia. Kien has been operating in Vietnam since 2008 where he co-founded a boutique investment advisory firm based in HCMC, focusing on advising local and foreign institutions in M&A, corporate finance and capital raising activities in Vietnam. He has been active in the education sector in Vietnam where he was the Vietnam Chairman for Cognita and subsequently A-Star Education. Kien is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization, Vietnam Chapter.
He served as an independent member and then Head of Supervisory Board at Vinamilk for 9 years and is a current Board member at Phong Phu International,Vietnam’s leading denim garment manufacturer from 2013.
Prior to Vietnam, Kien worked with Credit Suisse First Boston (Singapore), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (New York), OCBC Bank and Temasek Holdings in his international career.
Kien graduated from Macquarie University, Sydney, with Bachelor of Applied Finance and Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours) and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago - Booth School of Business.
Xiaying is a Head of Singapore at Hamilton Lane's Business Development Group, based in the firm's Singapore office where she is responsible for leading business development activities in South East Asia.
Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2016, Xiaying was an Associate Director with BNP Paribas' Global Markets Institutional Solutions Sales team. Xiaying began her career as an analyst at BNP Paribas' Equity and Commodities Structuring Group.
Xiaying received an M.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Finance from San Diego State University. She is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker and fluent in Spanish.
Huai Fong is the Regional Lead for the East Asia & the 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 has also passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst program.
Thomas is Vice President within DEG’s Equity & Funds Asia Team, with a particular focus on the Indochina sub-region and healthcare investments across Asia. Thomas is a member to multiple PE Fund Advisory Committees in the region and sits on the Board of Directors of a leading insurance company in Cambodia. Prior joining DEG in 2012, he was responsible for AXA Group’s Corporate Finance activities in the CEE region and started his career as a transaction consultant at Ernst & Young. Thomas studied at the Universities of Würzburg, Germany and Umeå, Sweden and holds a Masters Degree in Finance and Monetary Policy.
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.
Yee Hean Teo joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as an Investment Specialist in 2015. As part of the Private Sector Operations Department, he is responsible for sourcing and executing private equity (PE) fund investments for ADB. Additionally, Mr. Teo is also responsible for monitoring ADB’s existing portfolio of PE fund investments, as well as evaluating potential coinvestment opportunities.
Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Teo spent 10 years at GIC Private Limited and Temasek International Private Limited, where he evaluated private equity, real estate and infrastructure deals as part of the risk management team. His responsibilities included the strategic review of the PE strategies, advising on portfolio construction issues, assessing large and/or complex deals sourced globally, and quantifying the value-creation opportunities of underlying portfolio companies. As a national of Singapore, Mr. Teo has also spent 2.5 years in the Singapore Armed Forces.
Mr. Teo graduated summa cum laude from the Singapore Management University with a double degree in Bachelor of Business Management and Bachelor of Science (Economics). He has also completed an executive program at the Stanford University. Mr. Teo is an advisory committee member on a number of ADB’s fund investments.