Alice Au
Consultant
SPENCER STUART
Alice Au is a member of Spencer Stuart’s global board of directors and leads Spencer Stuart’s global Financial Services Practice out of Hong Kong. She also leads the Firm’s Board Practice in Asia Pacific and ran its Private Equity Practice in Asia Pacific for eight years. A global citizen with deep relationships across industries, she brings more than 20 years of executive search and leadership counsel experience to her clients. She helps multinationals, principal investors, Asian and Chinese businesses, as well as family businesses, strengthen their governance practices and succession planning, and build and renew their boards and leadership to meet their strategic goals.
Deep insight into Asia business
» Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Alice was a senior partner with another leading international executive search firm. She led the firm’s CEO and board services practice, as well as the private equity practice in Asia Pacific; guided the rebuilding and expansion of the Hong Kong office; and helped numerous Asian and multinational companies and private equity firms meet their senior leadership needs across Asia.
» Alice began her career as a semiconductor engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation in the U.S. She then joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant in New York, where she advised Fortune 100 clients on strategic, organizational and technology issues. She later joined International Paper Company as an executive in corporate development, leading cross-functional teams in negotiating acquisitions in North America, Europe and Asia.
» Alice returned to Hong Kong in 1993 to establish a China fund and advise midsize international companies on their China entry strategies, then joined the executive search industry in 1995. She took a one-year leave from the business in 1999 to lead strategic planning and e-commerce at AsiaContent.com, which successfully listed on NASDAQ in 2000.
Carman Chan
Founder & Managing Partner
CLICK VENTURES
As one of the top 5 Women to watch in Asia Tech ( Nikkei Asian Review ), Carman Chan is a veteran in the technology industry with decades of experience as an entrepreneur with multiple exits, a tech columnist and a globally recognized venture capitalist.
Carman began her entrepreneurship journey when she was at university. In order to pursue her passion for the newly emerging Internet, she passed up a fully sponsored Ph.D. from Imperial College to become a serial internet entrepreneur. Carman’s first company, English Street was acquired by HKET(0423.HK), a Hong Kong listed newspaper group. Her second company was merged with Hiiir in Taiwan and later acquired by FarEasTone (4904.TW).
Carman is also a best-selling book author for several accelerated learning books. Spending eight years as a tech columnist for IT magazines, she wrote about internet business models and internet marketing.
After several successful exits Carman started Click Ventures, her angel fund. With a focus on providing seed to series A financing to technology startups, Click Ventures is differentiated by offering mentorship from entrepreneurs with over twenty years of first-hand experience.
Click Ventures has grown into a leading investment manager, and named as the Most Consistently Top Performing Venture Capital Fund Managers by Preqin in 2019 with all three funds in the top quartile!
Click’s current portfolio includes 50+ investments including Spotify.com, Docusign, Palantir.com, Memebox.com, Youappi.com...etc. Due to her deep experience, Carman is frequently invited to speak or serve as a panel member for prestigious events around the world.
Scarlett Chen
Managing Director
PRUDENTIAL CORPORATION ASIA
Scarlett Chen is responsible for strategic investments and partnerships. In this capacity, she looks for innovative technologies, products and services which are relevant for Prudential’s long-term growth. Her focus sectors are healthtech, insurtech and fintech. Before joining Prudential in 2016, Ms. Chen headed up FIG (Financial Institutions Group) for Anbang Capital. Before this, Ms. Chen was an investment banker for over a decade, having worked at Merrill Lynch and Barclays, in New York and HK, focused on capital markets and advisory transactions.
Jennifer Cheng
Co-Founder & Director
NEWCHIC CAPITAL
Jennifer Cheng is the Director of NewChic Capital, Venture & Private Equity Arm or her Family Office, advising and investing in venture projects and startups. Ms. Cheng is also the Founder, Chief Glam Girl AKA CEO and Creator of Glam-It! by JennGlamCo, a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle tech brand. In the future Ms. Cheng will be collaborating on a mentorship platform connecting top industry mentors to mentees. As an Angel Investor and Startup Advisor, Ms. Cheng is also actively developing her growing portfolio at NewChic Capital, one of which includes Votee. Ms. Cheng is the CMO of Votee, a mobile app tech company spearheading market research and community polling. Ms. Cheng is also the Director of Business Development for The Otto Hotel.
Born in the US and raised in Brookline MA, Ms. Cheng was a piano prodigy who completed the pre-college program at New Conservatory of Music while studying at Boston University Academy and BU School for the Arts. Ms. Cheng graduated from Brown University with a BA in International Relations and received an MBA from Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, following a career as an actress and model in New York City. Post MBA, Ms. Cheng became known in Asia as a millennial serial entrepreneur holding senior positions in several technology and eCommerce companies with exits and IPOs, including Director of Business Development for Darizi, Director of Business Development APAC for Rackspace (NSYE: RAX), Vice President of uBuyiBuy (acquired by Groupon in 2010) and Queen Bee AKA Vice President of BEECRAZY (acquired then listed as Ensogo Group, ASX: EN88). She also co-founded and was the President of Glamabox (GlamaClub) launching the subscription commerce beauty box business to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and China.
Utilizing a “clicks to bricks strategy” Ms. Cheng first launched Glam-It! eCommerce in late 2013 with Glamit.com, then built a distribution network of online and physical partnerships, including launching her products to Harvey Nichols and Luxola (acquired by LVMH), before establishing the Glam-it! flagship physical retail store in Hong Kong. Since then the brand has grown into a global business with distribution in 59 countries via omni-retail partnerships. GlamIt.com is the company’s primary channel and one of the brand’s several global digital social commerce sites. The patent-pending GlamPact is the company’s patent hero product. GlamPact is the 1st all-in-one refillable and completely customizable makeup compact with skincare ingredients and rechargeable LED mirror.
Ms. Cheng has been recognized with numerous awards, including Mediazone’s “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” (2015); Ernst & Young Global Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2014) (Finalist) "Female Entrepreneur of the Year, Woman of Influence" AmCham (2014); SuperAchiever Woman Award, CMO Asia (2013); Most Promising Entrepreneur Award, APEA; (2012)
Ms. Cheng contributes to the startup ecosystem as a mentor for Startup Weekend, Cocoon Accelerator, and vice-chair of NexGen. With philanthropy she has been involved as an advisor to HER Fund, as well as sponsor and speaker for The Women’s Foundation. Jenn is an active angel investor and equity advisor in high growth startups in US, Greater China, and SEA. Ms. Cheng has a regular column as a business writer for the South China Morning Post. Jenn & Glam-it! were featured on BBC, CNBC, TEDx, SCMP, Elle, Cosmo, and others. Glam-it! was named "Top 20 Hottest Startups" by HK Business Magazine.” Ms. Cheng is active on the speaking circuit including TEDX, Think Young Entrepreneurship School (Google), Google Women’s forums, Google Entrepreneurship Panels, InnovFest Unbound, General Assembly, Retail World Asia, Shanghai Technology University, and Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.
Ms. Cheng lives in HK, but travels often splits her time between NYC, SF, LA, HK, SH, TW, SG.
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.
Shannon Chow
Principal
HAMILTON LANE
Shannon has over 18 years’ experience in financial industry. She is currently a Principal in Hamilton Lane’s Relationship Management Department, based in the firm’s Hong Kong office, where she is responsible for all aspects of client relations in the Asia ex-Japan & Korea region. In this capacity, she works closely with institutional clients such as sovereign wealth funds, insurance company and public pensions and the investment team in portfolio construction and development.
Prior to joining Hamilton Lane, Shannon was a Vice President, Sales in BMO Global Asset Management where she was responsible for the distribution of investment products including ETFs and private equity funds. Previously, she was a Vice President, Lead Relationship Manager in Northern Trust for institutional clients including central bank, pension funds and university endowment funds.
Shannon also worked in HSBC and Invesco Asset Management where she was a Business Development Manager for alternative funds services and Relationship Manager for institutional pension clients respectively in the Asia Pacific region.
Shannon received a Bachelor degree from The University of Hong Kong. She also obtained a qualification of Certified Financial Planner and is a member of the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong.
Doug Coulter
Partner
LGT CAPITAL PARTNERS
Doug Coulter joined LGT Capital Partners in 2007 to lead its Asian private equity investment activities. Prior to LGT, Doug was a Senior Investment Officer for the IFC, responsible for direct investments in the TMT, retail & consumer and healthcare sectors. He previously worked at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong and as a lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Toronto. He holds an MBA from INSEAD in France, a M.Sc. from the LSE, a law degree from the University of Western Ontario and a B.A. from Queen’s University in Canada.
LGT Capital Partners is a leading alternative investment specialist with over USD 60 billion in assets under management and over 150 private equity professionals worldwide. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland, the firm has offices in New York, Dublin, London, Paris, Vaduz, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. LGT Capital Partners was selected as Alternatives Manager of the Year in Asia in 2016 and 2017 and Alternatives Fund House of the Year in 2018 by AsianInvestor and was recently named Fund of funds of the year in Asia for 2018 by Private Equity International.
Juan Delgado-Moreira
Vice Chairman
HAMILTON LANE
Juan is a Vice Chairman and Head of International at Hamilton Lane, based in the firm’s Hong Kong office, where he oversees the firm’s Asian and European investment activities and client relationships.
Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2005, Juan was an Investment Manager at Baring Private Equity Partners Ltd. in London, where he focused on mid-market private equity in Europe. Previously, Juan held senior research positions at UK institutions such as the University of Essex and was a lecturer and Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University. Juan began his career as an analyst in Madrid at the SEPI (formerly known as lnstituto Nacional de Industria).
Juan received a Ph.D. in Research Methods/statistics and a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the CFA Institute and the Securities Institute.
Sherry Ding
Consultant
SPENCER STUART
Sherry Ding is a core member of the firm‘s Consumer and Private Equity Practices, and leads Financial Officer Practice in China. She provides senior executive search and leadership advisory services to multinational companies in Asia, as well as local Chinese enterprises. For more than 10 years with the firm, Sherry has served a large number of clients in consumer goods, retail, hospitality, education, industrial, investment and professional services sectors.
Strategic expertise across a range of industries
- Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Sherry was a Principal at A.T. Kearney, where she led the Strategy and Organization Practice and co-led the Consumer Goods and Retail Practice of the firm's Greater China office. She also worked for The Boston Consulting Group and Bank of Communications.
- Throughout her career, Sherry has served a wide range of clients, including multinational and local companies, as well as government bodies in areas including strategy formulation, organization design and leadership assessment & development.
- As an expert in strategy, organization and human resources topics, Sherry has been quoted in leading media such as The Wall Street Journal Asia, BBC news, CNBC and China Daily. She also has published articles in leading magazines including Harvard Business Review (Chinese), Sino-Foreign Management and China Entrepreneur.
Born in China, Sherry also had lived and worked in the United States and Singapore. She holds a Bachelor of Economics from Fudan University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She is a ICF certified executive coach, and speaks Mandarin Chinese and English.
Georgina Ewels
Director, Fundraising & Investor Relations
GAJA CAPITAL
Georgina Ewels has over 20 years of experience in investor relations and fundraising. She joined the firm in 2019. At Gaja Capital, she is responsible for Fundraising and Investor Relations. She is based in London, UK. Prior to Gaja Capital, Georgina was Head of Investor Relations & Fundraising at ESO Capital, a boutique private credit investor in London. Prior to this, she spent many years raising third party capital for private markets funds at Eaton Partners in London, and Helix Associates/Jefferies, in London and New York. Georgina holds a BA Honours in French from Nottingham University.
Pamela Fung
Executive Director
MORGAN STANLEY ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT PARTNERS
Pamela Fung is an Executive Director for Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners Private Equity Fund of Funds group, and leads AIP's Asian investment activities. She has 15 years of industry experience. Prior to AIP, Pamela was a consultant with McKinsey's corporate finance practice in Hong Kong; she has also worked for Monitor Group and Lehman Brothers. Pamela has Business and Law degrees (first class honors) from the University of Hong Kong and an M.B.A. with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Oliver Gottschalg
Professor
HEC SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, PARIS
Professor Oliver Gottschalg is part of the Strategy Department at HEC School of Management, Paris. He serves as Academic Dean for the TRIUM Global Executive MBA Program, directs the HEC PE Observatory and teaches courses private equity, management buyouts, business strategy and entrepreneurship. He acted as one of the academic directors of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and designed a joint program between HEC Paris and Tsinghua University to educate female entrepreneurs in China. He holds a Wirtschaftsingenieur Diploma from the University of Karlsruhe, an MBA from Georgia State University and a M.Sc. and PhD degree from INSEAD. His current research focuses on the strategic logic and the performance determinants of private equity investments. His work has been published in leading academic journals and in various publications for practitioners and was featured over 100 times in the business media (press, radio, TV and online) in the past 2 years. His book on ‘Private Equity Mathematics’ is one of the bestselling books with PEI Media. He regularly presents his research at academic conferences and private equity symposia and serves as an advisor to leading investors in the private equity industry. He repeatedly served as an advisor to policy makers at the national and European level in the context of the ongoing debate about a possible need for regulation of the Private Equity industry. His company PERACS is the leading provider of standardized independent PE Track record analytics and validation services, currently advising approx. 20% of the market of fundraising PE Fund Manager worldwide.
J. C. Ho
Associate
MVISION PRIVATE EQUITY ADVISERS
J. C. joined MVision Private Equity Advisers in 2016 and plays a key role in the origination, planning and execution of the firm’s capital raising mandates in the Asia Pacific region. MVision is widely recognized as one of the leading private equity capital raising firms with a long-standing reputation for working with current and future market leaders across the globe, in both the developed and emerging markets.
Prior to joining MVision, J. C. was an Analyst at Yuan Asset Management (now CM Asset Management) where she was involved in the hedge fund business of the firm.
J. C. graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Vicky Hu
Director
HQ CAPITAL ASIA
Vicky Hu is a Director in the Investment Team at HQ Capital Asia. Ms. Hu has more than 10 years of investing experiences in both public and private equities in Asia. Before joining HQ Capital, she was a Vice President at Siguler Guff based in Shanghai, where she focused on Chinese PE/VC fund investing and co-investments. Prior to that, Ms. Hu was an investment professional at Eton Park Asia, Morgan Stanley Special Situation Desk and Lunar Capital. Ms. Hu received her B.A. with first-class honors in Economics from the University of Cambridge and her MBA from Harvard Business School. She is native in Mandarin Chinese and fluent in English.
Shannon Kalayanamitr
Venture Partner
GOBI PARTNERS
Shannon is Venture Partner at GOBI PARTNERS is a Southeast Asian/ Chinese Focused Fund, managing over 1.1 Billion USD across 11 funds in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and now Thailand. We focus on multi-stage investments – IT, Tech, digital media and consumer-facing startups and SMEs.
In 2013 – 2017 - Shannon Co-Founded Orami, and was the former Chief Marketing Officer of [formerly MOXY] - the largest e-commerce destination for women in Southeast Asia, with 3 M&As under its belt, and global investors such as Eduardo Saverin [Facebook], and Gobi Partners [Alibaba Fund Manager, HK, China], and was one of the first Thai companies to roll out a regional play.
An Entrepreneur and a passionate Equality Advocate. She is a mover and a shaker, dedicated to building businesses and deeply connected in sectors of Technology, Business, Entertainment & Media, and Social Development for Equal Rights and Education in Thailand and in Asia.
Shannon is deeply involved in the Start up, Technology and Business sectors and devotes time to Mentorship, Programs and Projects. She is currently a Mentor at the MOX China Accelerator, UNDP
Regional Hub’s Youth Co:Lab, Mentor for DTAC Accelerate Batch 5, 6, 7 [2017 - 2019], frequently invited Speaker and Judge at various Conferences, Venture, Start Up, Case Competitions through out the region, such as Tech in Asia, Unbound Innovfest, e27’s Echelon, WPP Stream, Siam Commercial Bank’s Digital Venture, Thammasat University Case Competitions, to name a few. In 2016, Shannon was chosen to represent Asia at the FORTUNE’s Most Powerful Women Summit, nominated in the "40 under 40" to watch by Campaign Asia and honored to be Thailand's Founder of the Year at the Start-Up Awards.
Shannon is a Women's and Equality Advocate and remains active in the non-profit sector, a board member at Pratthanadee Foundation, a foundation that helps disadvantaged women and girls in Thailand, and frequently speaking at the UNDP and UNESCO and other United Nations events and forums. She has helped to raise awareness and funds via celebrities and socialites with good causes, such as mentorship and scholarship programs and aiding the fishing rehabilitation projects during the Andaman Tsunami Disaster in 2005. In 2017, Shannon joined the UN Women's HeForShe campaign to be a voice for Gender Equality.
Junko Katayanagi
Partner
UNISON CAPITAL
Junko Katayanagi joined Unison Capital in 2006. Prior to Unison Capital, she worked at the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley Japan, where she was involved in corporate finance and M&A advisory.
Carol Kim
Senior Managing Director and Head of the Investor Relations & Business Development Group, Asia
BLACKSTONE
Carol Kim is a Senior Managing Director and Head of the Investor Relations & Business Development Group in Asia and is based in Hong Kong. She is also APAC Chair of the Blackstone Women’s Network. Since joining Blackstone, Ms. Kim has led investor relations and new business development in Asia. Before joining Blackstone in 2008, Ms. Kim was based in New York as a Vice President in the Absolute Return Strategies Group at Lehman Brothers, where she was responsible for client communications and reporting to its hedge fund and fund of hedge funds clients. Prior to joining Lehman, she was Director of Marketing at Continuity Capital, LLC and a Marketing Associate at P. Schoenfeld Asset Management. Ms. Kim began her career in investor relations at LG Electronics in Korea and Allied Properties in Toronto. Ms. Kim received a BA in Urban and Economic Studies from the University of Toronto. She is a Co-Founder Emeritus of 100 Women in Finance.
Judith Li
Partner
LILLY ASIA VENTURES
Judith Li, is a Partner at Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), based in Hong Kong / Shanghai and focused on early and growth stage investments across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics both domestically and cross-border. Judith holds board appointments at a variety of LAV’s portfolio companies, including Nextcure, Just Biotherapeutics, Gritstone Oncology, and Tmunity. Her prior experience includes McKinsey’s New York office, hospital administration at Partners Healthcare, and co-founding an interventional nephrology medical device venture. Judith holds a B.A. in Neurobiology from Harvard and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and currently resides in Hong Kong, splitting her time between Hong Kong, Shanghai, and the Bay Area.
Haide Lui
Head of Investor Relations
ASCENDENT CAPITAL PARTNERS
Haide Lui is the Head of Investor Relations at Ascendent Capital Partners. Prior to Ascendent, Ms. Lui spent close to 11 years at HarbourVest Partners based in Hong Kong focused on private equity fund investments across Asia. During that time, she served on the limited partner advisory committees of a number of private equity partnerships, including a range of venture, growth, and buyout funds in China, as well as several Asian funds of global private equity firms. Before that, Ms. Lui was with Morgan Stanley in the Global Capital Markets group in Hong Kong, focused on the origination and execution of equity financings, advising Asian and Chinese companies. Ms. Lui graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA Honours in Natural Sciences.
Hemal Mirani
Managing Director
HARBOURVEST PARTNERS (ASIA)
Hemal Mirani rejoined HarbourVest's senior management team in Asia in 2015 to focus on investments and investor relations across the Asia Pacific region.
Ms. Mirani first joined HarbourVest in 1997 and spent eleven years developing relationships with leading Asian private equity managers and working with our investors and consultants across the region to advance and optimize their private market investment programs. She rejoined HarbourVest after six years with CVC Capital Partners in Hong Kong, where she was head of investor relations in Asia and Chief Administrative Officer.
Ms. Mirani received a BA in Commerce from Sydenham College (Bombay) in 1989, an MA in International Studies with a Japanese language concentration from the Joseph H. Lauder Institute, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School in 1997. The latter two were part of a joint degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. Hemal speaks fluent Japanese.
Ellen Ng
Managing Director
WARBURG PINCUS
Ellen Ng is based in Hong Kong. She joined Warburg Pincus in 2005 and is responsible for entity-level, programmatic joint venture and project-level investments across residential, commercial, industrial and other specialized real estate sectors (data centers, hotels, asset management, urban renewal) in China and across Asia. Ms. Ng is a director of D&J Industrial Real Estate Investment Limited, Kailong Holdings Limited, ARA Asset Management Holdings, Princeton Digital Group and CREATER Group. Ms. Ng received a B.Sc. in economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA Charterholder.
Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Ms. Ng worked at Merrill Lynch in the Investment Banking Division focusing on corporate finance transactions in China and other parts of Asia.
Melissa Obegi
Asia General Counsel
BAIN CAPITAL PRIVATE EQUITY
Melissa Obegi is Asia General Counsel for Bain Capital, based in Hong Kong. Her work covers transactional, portfolio, and operational legal matters and risk management for Bain Capital’s private equity and credit investment strategies in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Bain Capital in 2012, Melissa was a Managing Director with Oaktree Capital’s Asia Principal Opportunities group and also served as Asia Regional Counsel in Hong Kong. She started with Oaktree Capital as Associate General Counsel in 2002 at its Los Angeles headquarters. Prior to that, she held various positions with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. government agency that supports investment in global emerging markets with private equity investment funds, project finance, and political risk insurance. She began her career with Coudert Brothers in New York as an associate in the International Banking group. Melissa received a J.D. and Order of the Coif honors from the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Foreign Service School at Georgetown University.
Swee Ting Pan
Managing Director, Co-Head of China
JAFCO ASIA
Swee Ting Pan currently manages the JAFCO Asia investment activities in China. She has over seventeen years of investment and operating experience in the technology sector. In JAFCO, she focus in technology-enabled sector including but not limited to Internet, Fintech and other technology services. Her investments include Aixuetang, Blackfish, Lucid, Palfish, R&B Technology, SheIn and Skyroam and etc. Exited Investments include: Tudou, Sungy Mobile, Medical System (SSE: 603990), Madhouse. Prior to JAFCO Asia, Ms. Pan was the core member for the SINA USA operation. Her other operating experience includes product management at Yahoo! Inc. and consulting at Sapient Corporation. Ms. Pan earned her Bachelor Degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her MBA degree from Harvard Business School.
Virginia Tan
Founding Partner
TEJA VENTURES
Virginia Tan is the founding partner of Teja Ventures, Asia's first gender lens venture capital fund, which targets early stage companies relating to the She Economy. She co-founded She Loves Tech, a global initiative focusing on technology by women and technology for women, which also houses the world's largest competition for women and technology startups, held across more than 20 international locations. Virginia Tan is also the co-founder and president of Lean In China, one of China’s leading nonprofit platforms with over 100,000 members across more than 25 cities and 100 universities in China, which supports the goals and aspirations of Chinese women.
Virginia's background is in law and finance, where she was an experienced finance lawyer for more than 8 years specializing on energy, resources and infrastructure sectors in emerging markets, and has worked in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America for 2 magic circle firms. She moved to Beijing in 2013 to work on strategic investments related to the "One Belt One Road" initiative on behalf of Chinese state-owned companies and financial institutions. In 2014, she was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper.
Her work has been covered by Forbes, the Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, BBC, Global Times, People’s Daily, China Daily, CCTV, etc. She has spoken at some leading institutions such as Alibaba, Baidu, Bloomberg, Dell, Disney, DSM, General Electric, P&G, HP, Medtronic, Peking University, Tsinghua University, UNICEF, UN Women, etc.
Virginia has been selected by the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper in 2014 and was named by Fast Company as one of China’s 100 most innovative people in business in 2019.
Anna Wong
Co-founder and CEO
FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS WORLDWIDE
Anna Wong is the Co-founder and CEO of Female Entrepreneurs Worldwide (FEW). She is described as a dreamer, goal-getter and master thinker. Ms. Wong leads the business blueprint, market entry and growth strategies and branding in FEW. Ms. Wong is a speaker at regional conferences, universities, publications and TEDx. She also acts as a PR advisor to the founders or senior management of various tech startups and well-established companies. She previously worked for Hong Kong’s third wealthiest businessman Lui Che Woo, and later joined the world’s leading communication agencies Ogilvy & Mather and Edelman.
Cindy Yan
Principal
ADVANTAGE PARTNERS
Ms. Yan is based in Hong Kong. She joined Advantage Partners in 2008 and is responsible for private equity investments across Asia, and particularly in Greater China. Historical investment and portfolio experience including Leverage Buy-outs, Control, Growth Capital transactions across technology, telecom, advanced manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and services. Ms. Yan worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group and general manager at a subsidiary of 999 Group. Ms. Yan received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Betty Yap
Managing Partner
PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
Betty Yap is the Managing Partner of Paul, Weiss’ China Practice and is a member of the firm’s Corporate Department, based in Hong Kong. Betty’s practice focuses on cross-border M&A, strategic investments, private equity and special situations transactions, joint ventures and foreign direct investments involving Greater China and globally. Her clients include private equity firms, multinational corporations, financial institutions, and mainland Chinese companies across a multitude of industries including financial services, energy and resources, food and beverage, retail, TMT, automotive, and real estate.
Betty is recognized by Chambers Asia Pacific as a “Band 1” individual for private equity/buyouts & venture capital investment in China among international firms describing her as a "great lawyer with a great reputation”. The Legal 500 ranks Betty as a “Leading Individual” for Private Equity in Hong Kong, recognizing her as a ‘superstar’ for China-related transactions, with clients describing her as “terrific – technically excellent, very responsive and a pleasure to deal with”. IFLR1000 ranks Betty as a “highly regarded” lawyer for M&A and Private Equity in Hong Kong, and describes her as a lawyer who “gives real value add in transactions and is able to navigate difficult parties to come to resolution.” She is also recognized by Chambers Asia-Pacific, and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific as a leading M&A lawyer in Hong Kong. Betty is fluent in English and Chinese and she is admitted to practice law in Hong Kong and Victoria, Australia.
Rachel Zhao
Senior Principal, Private Equity
CPPIB
Rachel Zhao is a Senior Principal in the Private Equity Asia team of CPP Investment Board (CPPIB) based in Hong Kong.
Before CPPIB, Ms. Zhao worked at MBK Partners in both Shanghai and Hong Kong offices for 13 years, and was closely involved in the investments and portfolio management in Greater China. Prior to joining MBK Partners, Ms. Zhao worked in the investment banking divisions of Citigroup in Hong Kong, and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) in Beijing. Ms. Zhao received a BA from the London School of Economics.
Stella Zhou
Partner
QIMING VENTURE PARTNERS
Ms. Stella Zhou is a Partner at Qiming Venture Partners, focusing on the TMT sector.
Stella has over ten years' of experiences in the investment and financial service industry.
Stella joined Qiming Venture Partners in 2010. Stella took part in the investments in Mogujie (#1 women e-commerce platform), Mafengwo (#1 social networking site in online travel), Wacai (mobile personal wealth management platform), Lagou (vertical approach online recruiting platform), Tuhu (#1 automobile after-sale e-commerce platform), Musical.ly (teenage social media platform for short videos), Luotianyi (Virtual celebrity family in ACG), Miaoshou Doctor (Prescription online and distribution network), Chuman (online comic platform for teenagers in China).
Stella also did seed investments in Veer (video aggregator platform on VR devices), Qkuts (kids lifestyle offline chain), Kaola Reading (children K12 Chinese reading), etc.
Prior to joing Qiming, Stella worked in GE Capital Risk Management team in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Stella also participated in GE Global Financial Management Training Program.
Stella was named by CVCRI as one of the top VC investors in China in 2019, by Cyzone as one of the "Top 40 under 40" early-stage investors in China in 2016, and by 36Kr as "Top 36 under 36" investors in 2017.
Stella earned a B.S. degree in Economical Sociology from Shanghai University of Finance & Economics, and an MBA degree with honor from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Wendy Zhu
Managing Director
ALPINVEST PARTNERS
Wendy is a Managing Director of AlpInvest Partners focusing on the Asian market. She is also a member of the Operational Committee. She joined AlpInvest Partners in 2007 from Macquarie Funds Management, where she was Senior Vice President of Asia-Pacific regional private equity fund investments and co-investments. Previously, Wendy was a Director with Deutsche Bank Asset Management and an Associate Director at MetLife. Wendy received a BS in Business Administration and an MS in Accounting from the University of Southern California and is a CFA charterholder. She represents AlpInvest Partners on various Advisory Boards.