AVCJ Private Equity Forum 2024
Asia's premier private equity & venture event for the last 37 years
Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong & Online
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Mr. Arougheti is a Co-Founder of Ares and the Chief Executive Officer and President, as well as a Director of Ares Management Corporation. He is a member of the Ares Executive Management Committee, the Ares Enterprise Risk Committee and is on the Board of Directors of the Ares Charitable Foundation. He additionally serves as Co-Chairman of Ares Capital Corporation ("ARCC"), Co-Chairman of Ares Acquisition Corporation ("AAC") and as a director of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation ("ACRE"). Mr. Arougheti also is a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending and Pathfinder Investment Committees, the Ares Equity Income Opportunity Strategy Portfolio Review Committee and the Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment Investment Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2004, Mr. Arougheti was employed by Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") from 2001 to 2004, where he was a Managing Partner of the Principal Finance Group of RBC Capital Partners and a member of the firm's Mezzanine Investment Committee. Mr. Arougheti oversaw an investment team that originated, managed and monitored a diverse portfolio of middle-market leveraged loans, senior and junior subordinated debt, preferred equity and common stock and warrants on behalf of RBC and other third-party institutional investors. Mr. Arougheti joined RBC in October 2001 from Indosuez Capital, where he was a Principal and an Investment Committee member, responsible for originating, structuring and executing leveraged transactions across a broad range of products and asset classes. Prior to joining Indosuez in 1994, Mr. Arougheti worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he was a member of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Mr. Arougheti also serves on the board of directors of Operation HOPE, a not-for-profit organization focused on expanding economic opportunity in underserved communities through education and empowerment. Additionally, Mr. Arougheti is a member of the PATH Organization Leadership Council. Mr. Arougheti received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics, cum laude, from Yale University.
Mr Darryl Chan was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive from 1 November 2022, and is responsible for overseeing the work of External, Monetary Management and Research departments. Mr Chan joined the HKMA as Executive Director (Corporate Services) in February 2013 and took up the post of Executive Director (External) in August 2019. Before joining the HKMA, Mr Chan was an Administrative Officer in the Hong Kong SAR Government and had worked in different policy bureaux and departments on policy formulation and administration.
Dr. Mark Konyn is the Group Chief Investment Officer responsible for providing oversight of the management of the investment portfolios of the Group as well as supervising and supporting the many investment professionals throughout the Group. He is a director of various companies within the Group, including Chairman of AIA Investment Management Private Limited and AIA Investment Management HK Limited. He joined the Group in September 2015.
Dr. Konyn joined AIA from Cathay Conning Asset Management, where he was Chief Executive Officer responsible for the company’s investment business and strategic expansion in the region. He had held senior positions at Allianz Global Investors (where he was Asia-Pacific CEO for RCM Global Investors), Fidelity Investments and Prudential UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and holds a Diploma from the London Business School in Investment Management, having previously completed his Ph.D. in Operational Research sponsored by the UK Government.
Jean Eric Salata is the Head of BPEA EQT and Chairperson of EQT Asia. Jean started the regional Asian private equity investment program for UK-based Baring Private Equity Partners Ltd in 1997 and later led the management buyout of this program in 2000 to establish BPEA as an independent Firm. He has since been responsible for the investment activity of BPEA until 2022, when the company joined forces with EQT and was renamed BPEA EQT.
Prior to BPEA, Jean was a Director of Hong Kong-based AIG Global Investment Corporation (Asia) Ltd., the Asian private equity investment arm of AIG. Prior to that, Jean was the Executive Vice President of Finance of Shiu Wing Steel, a Hong Kong-based industrial concern, and prior to that a management consultant with Bain & Company based in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Boston.
Jean holds a B.S. (Hons) in Finance and Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Christian Sinding joined EQT Partners in 1998 from AEA Investors Inc., a leading U.S.-based private equity firm, and is CEO and Managing Partner.
Christian holds a Bachelor of Science (in Commerce) degree from the University of Virginia, which he received with Distinction in 1994.
Prior to joining AEA, Christian was employed as a financial analyst with Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. investment bankers in the U.S.
Christian has worked in the Stockholm-, Munich- and Copenhagen- offices of EQT Partners and opened the Oslo office in 2007. He has been involved in a number of investments including Plantasjen, Symrise, Gambro, Vaasan&Vaasan, Findus, ISS, XXL, and InFiber. Christian was appointed Head of EQT Equity in January 2011. As from January 1, 2019, Christian is CEO.
Christian is Chairman of the Executive Committee and member of the Equity Partners Investment Committee.
Torsten Slok is Partner and Chief Economist at Apollo. Prior to joining in 2020, Torsten worked for 15 years on the sell-side, where his team was top-ranked by Institutional Investor in fixed income and equities for ten years. Previously, he worked at the OECD in Paris in the Money and Finance Division and the Structural Policy Analysis Division. Before joining the OECD, Torsten was with the IMF in the division responsible for writing the World Economic Outlook, and the division responsible for China, Hong Kong, and Mongolia.
Torsten studied at University of Copenhagen and Princeton University. He frequently appears in the media and has published numerous journal articles and reviews on economics and policy analysis, including in the Journal of International Economics, Journal of International Money and Finance, and The Econometric Journal.
Gaurav Ahuja is a Managing Director with ChrysCapital and has been with the firm since 2004. He is responsible for the LP Relations and Fund Raising functions at ChrysCapital. Mr. Ahuja is a member of the Investment Committee and sits on the board of Infogain, ChrysCapital’s IT Services portfolio company. Prior to joining ChrysCapital, he was in the M&A group at Lazard Freres in San Francisco and Merrill Lynch in New York.
Mr. Ahuja received an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and Economics from the University of Virginia.
Shohei Akiyama is a member of NSSK’s four-person Management Committee and is Chief Administrative Officer (“CAO”) at NSSK and is responsible for all the operation functions in NSSK’s Business Support Team (including accounting, tax, legal and compliance functions). Prior to assuming his role as CAO, Shohei was a Director on the Investment Team and has been with NSSK since its founding. Before joining NSSK, Shohei was at JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd. in their Investment Banking Division. At J.P. Morgan, he was responsible for a number of major transactions for Japanese companies including cross-border M&A and global IPOs. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo (B.A.).
Troy is responsible for all aspects of the secondary business, includingstrategy, investments, fundraising and portfolio construction. In addition toleading North American opportunities, he also spends significant timedeveloping Adams Street’s secondary efforts in Asia and for our energy andnatural resource practice.
Prior to joining Adams Street Partners in 2004, Troy was a Senior Associate atNIMCO, a division of Northwestern Mutual Life, where he was responsible fordirect private equity and mezzanine investments. Troy also worked with WilliamBlair & Company as an equity research analyst.
Troy is a member of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital ofChicago Foundation. He is also a member of the CFA Institute and the CFASociety of Chicago.
Troy serves on the Advisory Board of several funds within Adams Street’sportfolio, and is a member of the Adams Street Partners Secondary InvestmentCommittee.
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.
Pablo has spent the last 28 years dedicated to private equity in developed and emerging markets.
He is a founding partner of Fairview Capital Group, Inc, a specialist advisory firm focused on secondary liquidity solutions, including GP-leds and LP-led transactions as well as private capital financings with offices in Asia, Europe, US and Latin America.
Prior to forming Fairview, he was the Head of International Secondaries for Park Hill, covering Europe and Asia. Pablo led over $15bn in secondary deal volume at Blackstone and PJT Partners.
Prior to Park Hill, Pablo was the head of Europe and co-managed two secondary funds with over $1.5bn of AUM for PineBridge Investments, a global asset manager. In his role, he joined the Advisory Board of over a dozen private equity funds and had oversight for a portfolio of over 500 limited partnership stakes across managers of buyout and venture capital sponsors.
Besides transactional experience, Pablo brings perspective from a limited partner's viewpoint. When addressing conflicts of interest, Pablo takes the perspective of what is acceptable to all participants and runs a wide range of alternative scenarios with the sponsor prior to presenting options to investors. He also provides insight on buyer demand, pricing expectations, and structuring options in order to serve all constituents.
Pablo holds a BS in Agricultural Engineering from UDELAR and an MBA from Yale University.
Dr. Caristo is one of Australia’s most experienced healthcare investors. He is a founding Partner at Australia’s only healthcare-focused private equity firm, Genesis Capital, and over the past two decades, has invested in over 50 businesses. At Genesis, Dr. Caristo’s portfolio includes investments in clinical trials, GP clinics, dental clinics, and behavioural health.
Prior to co-founding Genesis Capital in 2017, he was a senior investment professional at Crescent Capital Partners. During his time at Crescent, he served as the interim CEO of Australia’s largest skin cancer clinic network and presided as Non-Exec Director over several of Crescent’s healthcare businesses, spanning medical & travel insurance, surgical implants, and medical deputising.
Dr. Caristo began his career at Bain & Co. and is a qualified medical doctor, holding a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (Honours) from the University of New South Wales. He is also a published contributor to the field of stem-cell research.
Edwin Chan joined iCapital in 2021 as Head of Client Solutions in Asia. He has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, including a strong track record in private markets in the Asia Pacific region. Before joining iCapital, Edwin successfully founded and spent a decade building the Probitas Partners business in Asia. He has worked with many private market firms across different alternative investment strategies as well as with institutional and family office investors in the Asia Pacific region. Previously, Edwin worked with AIG Global Investments, Citi, and HSBC based out of Hong Kong in various regional roles covering clients across the broad Asian geography. He holds a MBA and a BA from the University of South Australia and is a Certified Practicing Accountant of CPA Australia.
Michael Chen is a managing director and member of Investment Committee at Centurium Capital. Mr. Chen also serves as a Director of Luckin Coffee (OTC: LKNCY) and Co-chairman of the company’s Sustainable Development Committee, and Co-chairman of ANE Inc. (HKSE: 9956) and Chairman of the company’s ESG Committee. Mr. Chen is an experienced private equity investor in China with a proven track record of successful investments. Prior to joining Centurium, he led Warburg Pincus’ consumer and services investments in China. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus in 2011, Mr. Chen was a vice president in Crescent Point, a Pan-Asia growth capital fund. Before Crescent, Mr. Chen was an associate in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong and a consultant with Accenture in China. He received a B.A. of economics from Fudan University and an M.B.A. from INSEAD.
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 at 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 in Toronto. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, 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 80 billion in assets under management and over 230 private equity professionals worldwide. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland, the firm has offices in New York, Dublin, London, Paris, Frankurt, 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, was named Alternatives House of the Year in 2020 and 2021 by Asia Asset Management and was named Fund of funds of the year in Asia in 2018 and 2019 by Private Equity International.
Michael Dennis, Managing Director, is Head of Alternatives Strategy & Capital Markets in Asia-Pacific. Mr. Dennis is responsible for leading BlackRock Alternatives and leading BlackRock Capital Markets (BCM) in the region. Mr. Dennis is a member of the BlackRock Alternatives Executive Committee and a member of the APAC Executive Committee.
Mr. Dennis is responsible for BlackRock's alternatives business in the region including across Infrastructure, Credit, Real Estate, Hedge Funds and Private Equity. He is responsible for setting direction in the region and partnering with clients to drive a holistic view of alternatives.
BlackRock Capital Markets (BCM) operates across the entirety of the firm's investment platform to provide our investors the ability to access primary issuance markets, source across the capital structure and unlock greater alpha opportunities for the benefit of our clients. Covering the full spectrum of public and private markets, BCM offers a centralized function for sourcing and syndication, financing, co-investment and corporate solutions activities.
Having been part of the team launching Capital Markets in EMEA and Asia-Pacific, Mr. Dennis works to build deep relationships with leading clients, corporates, investments banks and financial sponsors in the APAC region. Previously Mr. Dennis, worked in BlackRock's London office as part of Capital Markets, up until May 2013 when he moved to Hong Kong.
Prior to joining BlackRock in 2012, Mr. Dennis was a long/short equity portfolio manager at Marshall Wace LLP in London. Mr. Dennis earned a BA degree in Economics and Politics from the University of Birmingham.
Brian Dillard joined KKR in 2006 and is a Partner and Head of Asia Credit. Prior to moving to Asia in 2018, Mr. Dillard was a portfolio manager for KKR's Special Situations funds and portfolios in New York. Before joining the Special Situations team, Mr. Dillard was a member of KKR's Private Equity Team and has been involved with several investments, including KKR's investment in Oriental Brewery. In 2008 and 2009, Mr. Dillard worked in Hong Kong assisting in the development of KKR's Asian operations. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Dillard was at Morgan Stanley & Co. in its mergers and acquisitions investment banking group, where he was involved in a number of merger, acquisition, and financing transactions. Mr. Dillard graduated from Harvard College and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Jim Dubow is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, splitting his time between Hong Kong and San Francisco. He leads A&M North Asia, one of the firm’s most dynamic and rapidly growing areas.
Mr. Dubow and the Asia team bring A&M’s hands-on and action-oriented approach to private equity, banking and corporate clients in all our disciplines, including pre-acquisition due diligence, performance improvement, restructuring, fraud investigations and data analytics.
Mr. Dubow assists companies and their stakeholders to grow revenue, increase profits and enhance cash return on assets. When control is important to driving change, he has taken Chairman, CEO, CFO, CRO, CTO and Director roles at private equity-owned local companies, multinationals and a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE). He has handled operating transformations and assisted companies in raising capital, restructuring debt, navigating regulatory and compliance issues, and completing trade sales. His industry experience spans retail, commodity trading, energy, healthcare and financial services.
Mr. Dubow’s key Asian engagements includes serving as Executive Chairman of a commodity trader following a major debt restructuring; serving as China CEO of a multinational retailer undergoing a comprehensive transformation of product and operations; as CEO of a distressed forestry and wood products company, leading to a sale to a strategic investor; as CFO of an Asia energy company, where he grew the company and guided it to a trade sale to a large SOE, which asked him to lead the post-merger integration; and as CTO of one of the largest Chinese luxury auto dealership groups, where he transformed operations and trade financing.
Prior to joining A&M Asia to establish its China operations, Mr. Dubow was with A&M’s U.S. corporate restructuring practice. There he helped companies improve performance while preparing to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection or sell their assets under court protection, often taking officer positions during the process. Mr. Dubow started his career assisting multinationals in negotiating joint ventures and establish operations in China.
Mr. Dubow earned a bachelor's degree in history (China emphasis), from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA (finance concentration), from the NYU Stern School of Business. He studied at Beijing University during his undergraduate program and is fluent in written and spoken Mandarin.
Patrik Edsparr has over 30 years of direct finance and investment management experience. As Chief Investment Officer, Patrik is responsible for portfolio construction, risk management and chairs the Investment Committee. Prior to TOR, he spent most of his professional career at JP Morgan Chase & Co., building and managing the Proprietary Positioning and Principal Investing Division. At JP Morgan, his responsibilities included the distressed, mezzanine and special-situations investments across North America, Europe, and Asia. Patrik was a long-serving member of the Executive Committee and the Investment Bank’s Management Committee. In addition, he served on the Capital and Risk Committees. Previous roles at JP Morgan included Co-head of North American Markets (2004–2006) and Global Co-head of Fixed Income (2006–2008). In 2008 Patrik joined Citadel Investment Group as the Global Head of Fixed Income and CEO of Citadel Europe. From 2010-2011, he spent a year as Visiting Fellow at the Bank of England, providing advice on a variety of market-structure and capital issues.
Patrik holds a PhD in Financial Economics from MIT, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He received an MSc in Applied Mathematics from the Royal Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics, and a BA from Uppsala University. He was a lieutenant in the Swedish Army, where he served at the Swedish Defence Language School. Patrik has also served as a Non-Executive Director of MTS S.p.A. and Nomura International (and chaired its Board Risk Committee).
Luke Edwards is the Head of Australia in the Renewable Power & Transition Group. In this role, Mr. Edwards is responsible for the overall growth and management of renewable power and transition investments, operations and development activities in Australia.
Mr. Edwards began his career at Brookfield in 2021 as a Vice President in Brookfield’s Infrastructure group, where he focused on investment origination, analysis and execution. Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr. Edwards held various roles across engineering, commercial and investments sectors including a Director position at Citi. He has also held roles at Goldman Sachs, in its power, utilities and infrastructure investment banking teams and has experience as a field engineer for Schlumberger in Brazil and Alaska.
Mr. Edwards holds Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees, both from the University of Sydney.
Markus Egloff (Singapore) joined KKR in 2021 as Managing Director in the Client and Partner Group where he leads the Global Wealth Solutions business for EMEA & Asia Pacific. Mr. Egloff and his team work with private banks, wealth management platforms and family offices to understand and meet their investment needs and deliver KKR private market investment solutions. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Egloff spent 25 years with UBS Asset Management and Wealth Management and held various leadership and sales positions across Europe and Asia. In his last role with UBS, he served as Chairman and Head of UBS Asset Management, Hong Kong and led their wealth distribution business across Asia Pacific.
Richard Folsom founded Advantage Partners in Tokyo in 1992 with Taisuke Sasanuma. His previous experience was in management consulting with Bain & Company, primarily in their Tokyo office, where he accumulated eight years of experience in developing and implementing strategies for both foreign and domestic corporations in the Japanese market. He received his undergraduate degree in Japanese and Economics from Brigham Young University, and an MBA degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1997, Richard and Taisuke established Japan’s first buyout fund, and Richard has since focused his time on the development of this private equity investment practice. In addition to the 1997 fund, subsequent funds were raised in 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2013, and most recently in 2017. Through the funds and portfolio companies, Advantage has made more than 80 investments, of which they have successfully exited more than 50. Recent investments in Japan include the acquisitions of Dental Holding Corp. (Sale of dental materials, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and other medical-related products) and Fujitsu Interconnect Technologies Ltd (Manufacture of Printed Circuit Boards). The firm’s investment activities have also expanded to Greater China and Southeast Asia with the raising of an Asia Fund in 2017, where recent acquisitions include Plastic Center Group, Malaysia-based contract manufacturer and Elise Fashion Limited, Vietnam-based women's apparel company.
Mathieu is currently Global Head and Asia Pacific Head of Alternatives in our Global Private Banking and Wealth Division, based in Hong Kong. In this capacity, he oversees the offering of hedge funds, private equity funds, Real Estate funds and other private investment opportunities to HSBC’s private banking and wealth customers.
Prior to joining HSBC, Mathieu set-up the private markets offering of Antarctica Asset Management, a global platform allowing wealth managers to offer their clients access to a curated offering of hedge funds and private market funds.
Before that, Mathieu set up and grew the Asia operations of Moonfare, an online platform allowing private individuals to invest in Private equity funds.
In the earlier part of his career, Mathieu held various leadership roles at UBS, including leadership of the Wealth Management Private Markets Distribution team and the Institutional Investments group for APAC. Mathieu also held equity capital markets, structuring and derivatives positions in the investment banking divisions of UBS, Merrill Lynch and Calyon in London and Paris.
Mathieu holds a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics for Finance from Ecole Centrale Paris.
Robin oversees global editorial and research coverage for Infralogic. A 24-year news veteran, with 16 of them spent editing financial news, Robin has worked for some of the world's leading news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Bloomberg. He has been a regular on live television, commenting mainly on Chinese government and central bank policy. At Infralogic, he is responsible for daily news coverage and analysis written by a team of journalists spread across the globe, including the Americas, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region.
Currently, Priscilla is the head of PE business in KPMG China
Priscilla has worked in the KPMG China Transaction Services team since 2003 and previously worked in KPMG China Audit function since 1998. During the period of 2001 to 2003, she studied in the United States for her master of business administration degree
Priscilla is a local Chinese partner with over 20 years working experience to serve international and domestic private equity fund investing in Great China. She brings a combination of international perspective and China specific issues focused knowledge to assist in your transaction process
Priscilla has extensive experience in healthcare sector, including pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech, hospital & clinic etc.
Priscilla's major global private equity clients include KKR, TPG, Bain Capital, Carlyle, Goldman Sachs PIA, Morgan Stanley PE. Major ASPAC and China private equity clients include Primavera Capital, FountainvestCapital, BoyuCapital, DCP, PAG, Temasek, CBC, GIC, etc.
Charles-A. Janssen is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of HealthQuad. He is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of HealthQuad. He has over 25 years of experience in healthcare, private equity and corporate finance advisory. He is currently a board member of UCB S.A, Tubize S.A, Medikabazaar, Qure.ai, Wysa, Regency Healthcare, OVUM, Lilac Insights, THB, Neurosynaptic Communications. He has earlier served as a board member of OPPI, IBLCCI and FOPI. In 2010, Charles cofounded KOIS S.A. with François de Borchgrave, a global impact investing firm (blended finance structuring and investment management) active in healthcare, education/skilling and living environments. Previously, he has worked at Merrill Lynch, Web Lab, and UCB S.A. He graduated from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels with a bachelor’s in law, completed the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School and the International Directors Program with Certificate in Corporate Governance from INSEAD.
Manish Kejriwal is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kedaara Capital. Kedaara is a private equity firm pursuing control and minority investment opportunities in India. It currently manages over ~US$ 3.6 billion through investments in several market-leading businesses across a variety of sectors, including consumer, financial services, pharma/healthcare, technology / business services and industrials. Kedaara’s operating partner model comprising former CEOs with proven track records of building market leading businesses.
Since its inception, Kedaara has remained singularly dedicated to its stated strategy of focusing on investments built through trust-based relationships with best-in-class entrepreneurs and management teams across secular fast growing end markets. Kedaara combines the strengths of a well-networked, highly experienced local investing and operating team with the experience of their strategic partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a global private equity firm.
In early 2004, Manish founded the India office of Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., where he headed all its investments and other activities till September 2011. During this time, Temasek invested over US$ 4 billion in India. He was a Senior Managing Director and also held multiple responsibilities in Temasek, Singapore.
He was a core member of its senior leadership team and a key member of Temasek Holding’s Senior Management Committee (SMC), and its Senior Investment & Divestment Committee (SIDC). He was also tasked to lead the firm’s global investments in the FIG sector and its investments in Africa, Middle-East and Russia. Manish brings over 30 years of experience in investing, encompassing the full cycle of experiences in private equity across a variety of industries and sectors in private and public companies and consulting.
Prior to Temasek, Manish was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, Inc. and was part of their New York, Cleveland and Mumbai offices. He helped found “The Private Equity Practice” during his years in New York and was instrumental in conceiving and co-authoring the widely followed “NASSCOM McKinsey reports”.
Prior to McKinsey, Manish had worked at the World Bank in Washington D.C. and with Goldman Sachs (Principal Investment/Corporate Finance) in HK.
Manish received an AB from Dartmouth College, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Major in Economics and Engineering Sciences and where he received the Dean’s Plate. He holds an MBA from Harvard University, where he graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar.
Manish is currently the lead independent director at Bharti Airtel, on the boards of Bajaj Finserv Limited and Bajaj Holdings Investment Limited and various Kedaara investee companies. He is also a Member of the Governing Board at K Raheja Corp. Over the years, he has been on the boards of various portfolio companies: Temasek Holdings Advisors India, Parksons Packaging, ICICI Onesource, Punj Lloyd, Bharti Infratel, Fullerton Financial Holdings and Fullerton India Credit Company. He is passionate about driving a few select education initiatives, reflected by his ongoing involvement in the United World College movement as a founder trustee at Ashoka University and a former member of the Harvard Alumni Board.
Manish is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and was named a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum. Manish is the Co-chair of the CII National Committee on Private Equity and Venture Capital and was also a member of the Alternative Investments Policy Advisory Committee, constituted by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI). He has authored various articles on PE in India and has been profiled in various newspapers and periodicals. He is a sought-after speaker at numerous conferences in India, Asia and North America. He was profiled as one of the “25 hottest young executives in India” by Business Today.
Steve Ko is a Founding Partner of BayPine. Mr. Ko has more than 25 years of private equity industry experience and has been involved with numerous transactions at several of the world’s most prominent investment firms. Most recently, he was a Managing Director and head of KKR’s Consumer and Retail investment team in the Asia-Pacific region. Previously he was a member of KKR’s North American private equity platform and also held roles at Blackstone, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Ko has executed multiple transactions in the consumer, healthcare, industrial, business services, energy and technology sectors, across an extensive range of company situations, transaction and financing structures, and geographies.
Mr. Ko has significant public and private board experience and currently serves on the boards of QualDerm Partners and New Frontier Materials. Mr. Ko holds an AB from Harvard College, an M.Phil from Cambridge University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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.
Jeffrey is a Partner and CIO of Credit Investments at Primavera Capital Group, and chairs the firm’s Credit Investment Committee. Prior to joining Primavera, Jeffrey led and managed private investments in partnership with leading sovereign wealth funds, corporates and family offices. He was an investor and director of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group between 2012 and 2017. Previously, Jeffrey worked at Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, The Blackstone Group and Morgan Stanley. Jeffrey earned his AB in Social Studies from Harvard University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude and as a John Harvard Scholar. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Joe joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as Managing Director in the underwriting and portfolio management group. He has over a decade of private equity and leveraged finance investment experience and was previously a Vice President in Structured Finance Investing and Lending at Goldman Sachs, focused on principal investments across corporate credit and structured products. Before Goldman Sachs, he worked at Antares Capital, where he structured and executed middle market leveraged buyout transactions. Prior to that, Joe was on the originations team at Mubadala GE Capital, focused on sourcing global debt investment opportunities, and he was also an investment professional for GE Equity, the global private equity arm of GE Capital. Joe began his career at GE Capital, where he graduated from the Financial Management Program.
Joe earned his B.S. in Accounting from Boston College, Carroll School of Management.
Chris Lerner is an Operating Partner for Bonaccord Capital in Asia and the CEO of its strategic partner in the region, Asia Heritage Management. Mr. Lerner also serves as the Executive Chairman the private markets investment holding company that owns and Thrive Alternatives.
Prior to launching his current group, Mr. Lerner served as a managing partner at MSA Capital where his role was to oversee the firm’s fundraising and institutional operations. Prior to MSA, Chris was a global partner and head of Asia for Eaton Partners where he turned around a dormant business into one of the region’s leading private market practices in fund placement, secondary advisory and strategy consulting. Under Chris’ decade long leadership, Eaton won numerous industry awards in Asia including Private Equity International’s fund placement firm of the year for four consecutive years, and two-time secondary advisor of the year. Mr. Lerner began his career with Citigroup and its predecessor firms, Salomon Brothers and Smith Barney. He was the firm’s first investment banking expatriate based in Mainland China and helped
establish and build the Asia Pacific Financial Institutions Group.
Chris received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Tufts University. He is an active member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and a Kauffman Fellow.
Abrar Mir is a co-founder and the Managing Partner of Quadria Capital, the largest healthcare-focused private equity firm in Asia, with assets under management of US$3.4 billion.
He plays an active role in the firm’s management and sits on the Investment Committee. Currently, he serves on the boards of prominent healthcare businesses such as FV Hospitals, Royal Healthcare, Hermina Hospitals, Straits Orthopedics, HealthQuad, Con Cung, and Encube Ethicals.
Quadria Capital, under Abrar’s leadership, has invested in more than 30 leading healthcare companies in South and Southeast Asia, consistently delivering top-quartile returns and returning over US$1.5 billion to investors.
The firm’s core mission is to invest in the future’s leading healthcare companies, with a dedicated focus on providing high-quality, affordable healthcare to all.
Abrar’s graduated with a degree in Law from the University of Cambridge and speaks five languages.
Mr. Shantanu Mukerji recently joined Gulf Capital as Managing Director based out of Singapore. Mr. Mukerji will lead the firm’s activities in Asia, looking at private equity investments and portfolio growth opportunities. Mr. Mukerji brings more than 20 years experience covering the Asia region, with leadership roles in private equity with a focus on consumer and luxury industries.
Prior to joining Gulf Capital, Mr. Mukerji spent 9 years at L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity group, where he worked on origination, transaction execution, financing, syndication, consortium formation, post-investment value creation, restructuring and divestment of private equity investments. He was also involved in the establishment of a number of SPACs in the US and Singapore. His operational experience includes senior leadership roles in the consumer industry at prestigious brands such as LVMH, Ermenegildo Zegna, and Nike.
Mr. Mukerji received a B.Tech degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management.
Mr. Shankar Narayanan, formerly the Managing Director, Partner & Co-Head of Carlyle Asia Growth Partners (Carlyle mid-market business in Asia), is the founder of Sanaka Group.
Mr. Shankar Narayanan was associated with Carlyle for over 13 years and has been in private equity since 1993. Mr. Narayanan has unique distinction of having run some of the investee companies as a CEO with a very practical perspective of growth and challenges across industries.
While in Carlyle, he has led and advised investments such as Claris Lifesciences, Elitecore Technologies, Repco Home Finance, Tirumala Milk Products, Edelweiss Financial Services, South Indian Bank, Cyient. He has also successfully delivered exits from some of these investments.
Prior to joining Carlyle in 2004, among others, he was with Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, based in Hong Kong, as a director covering South Asia and India. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Narayanan was Managing Director and CEO of Hathway Investments in India. In his private equity career, he was involved in a number of prominent private equity investments such as Johnson Tiles, Exide Industries, Prism Cement, Hathway Cable, Asianet Satellite Communications, Pushpa Polymers, Tata Infomedia and AFL Limited and served on the Board of Directors of all these Companies.
Over his career, Mr. Shankar Narayanan has served on the board of various investee companies across multiple sectors such as - Repco Home Finance (Financial Services), Claris Lifesciences (Healthcare & Pharma), Elitecore (Technology), Tirumala Milk Products (Consumer), FSS (FinTech), Cyient (Technology), QuEST Global (Technology), Exide Industries (Manufacturing), Hathway Cable (Media and Broadband), Prism Cement (Manufacturing), Financial Software & Systems (FinTech).
In the past, Mr. Shankar Narayanan has spotted winners and been involved with investments in mid-market companies that have eventually gone on to become multi-billion-dollar businesses, such as QuEST Global, Exide Industries, Hathway Cable, Prism Cement, Financial Software & Systems and in the process delivered multi bagger returns for investors.
Mr. Shankar Narayanan is very well-networked and has built deep relationships with intermediaries, which can be leveraged to benefit from substantial inbound deal flow. In addition, he is also extensively connected to entrepreneurs themselves, giving him the ability to proactively approach potential target companies to create proprietary deals.
Mr. Shankar Narayanan started his career with Citibank in Mumbai. He is MBA from XLRI, having distinction of being a Gold Medallist & standing first in the area of Finance, and B. Tech from IIT Delhi.
The Sanaka Group manages about US$ 200 Million of Fund commitments (including co-investment) out of Mauritius.
Nozomi Oda is a partner in the Tokyo office. Her practice focuses on cross-border public and private M&A, joint ventures, strategic investments, and capital markets transactions. She has a particular emphasis on advising private equity and life sciences, clients. Nozomi serves as–head of Morrison & Foerster’s Asia Private Equity practice.
In addition to her work in private practice, Nozomi previously spent two years with Japan’s FinancialServices Agency (FSA) as a deputy director of the corporate disclosure department, where she participated in the drafting of the FSA’s regulations on disclosures regarding tender offers, private placement offerings and director compensation.
Nozomi is recommended in the 2020 edition of The Legal500 Asia Pacific for Japan: Corporate and M&A.
Nozomi is a bengoshi admitted to practice in Japan and New York, and is a member of the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Association.
Ms. Ramnath is the Founder, Managing Director and CEO of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity manager and advisor to funds of ~ USD 1.5 bn. She has over 30 years of experience in the Indian financial sector across private equity, investment banking and structured finance. For close to three decades in financial services, Renuka successfully built several businesses in the ICICI Group including Investment Banking, e-commerce and private equity. As the MD & CEO of ICICI Venture for close to a decade, she led that firm to become one of the largest private equity funds in India.
She is a Board member of EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. She is also the chairperson of the Executive Committee of Indian Venture Capital Association 2020-2022. Renuka has been featured in many prestigious listings, including the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business (Business Today, India); India's most Powerful CEO's (Economic Times), the Top 25 Non Bank Women in Finance (US Banker's global list), Asia's Women in the Mix: The Year's Top 50 for Achievement in Business (Forbes), Top 25 women in Asian asset management (Asian Investor) and most recently has been awarded the AVCJ Special Achievement Award, 2019.
Joined J-STAR in May 2015. He is responsible for J-STAR’s Investor Relations (fundraising, communications with investors and media) and Operations (human resources, investment execution support, fund administration, management of subsidiaries, and planning and management of fund operations).
He is engaed in communication with the investors to raise funds for J-STAR No.3 Fund Series, J-STAR No.4 Fund Series and J-STAR No.5 Fund Series.
As an investor relations representative with experience in the investment team, he provides investors with first-hand information about the market and each portfolio company. In the fundraising process, he was responsible for the overall design of the process, preparation of disclosure materials, communication with each advisor, and handling questions from investors.
In addition he made 5 investments (6 investments including additional acquisitions) in N Holdings (IT service), paiza (IT education), JC Holdings (Sale of subculture fashion), Alpha Corporation (staffing of a private teachers), Esco (electrical equipment sales and construction) and executed 1 successful exit.
He provides management support to the portfolio companies as an outside director during the investment period. As a consultant to management teams, he engages in management accounting implementation, KPI design, sales improvement, overseas expansion, and management personnel recruitment. He also provides expert advice in the corporate finance area, leveraging his experience at financial institutions.
Before joining J-STAR, he was responsible for more than 50 SMEs as an Relationship Manager at MUFG Bank and was mainly responsible for subscription finance credit for funds at MUFG Union Bank.
He graduated from BA in Economics and Minor in Mathematics from University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a Class-1 Sales Representative and Internal Administrator of the Japan Securities Dealers Association.
Toshitaka (Taka) Shimizu is a Partner in the Asia fund of L Catterton, leading buyout and growth investments in Japan since opening its Tokyo office in 2018. He has around 15 years of private equity experience. Prior to joining L Catterton in 2017, Mr. Shimizu worked at CLSA Capital Partners Sunrise Capital and Rising Japan Equity, focusing on consumer-oriented investments. He holds the Chartered Accountant qualification and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Commerce dual degree from the University of Queensland.
Alex joined NewQuest in 2011 and is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing investments across the Greater China region. Alex has nearly 15 years of experience in finance, primarily focusing on investments, capital raising, M&A and corporate advisory.
Prior to joining NewQuest, he was an Associate at Credit Suisse’s Investment Bank based in Hong Kong, where he worked in corporate finance and equity capital markets. Alex received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Duke University in Durham, NC. Alex is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
As a global industry analyst on the Wellington Management Global Health Care Team, Sue conducts fundamental research on healthcare companies in emerging markets. Prior to joining Wellington Management, Sue worked as a research associate at Sanford C. Bernstein, where she followed a number of pharmaceutical firms and health care service providers in the Asia region. Before her transition into the financial services industry, she spent three years at McKinsey & Company as an analyst on the Health Care Team in the Greater China region. Before that, she worked as a resident physician in Huashan Hospital in Shanghai as part of her medical training program. Sue earned her bachelor of science in clinical medicine & international economics and trade from Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
Yiqing Wang is the Managing Editor for M&A and ECM, APAC, at Mergermarket. Ms. Wang is leading a team of dedicated journalists across APAC regions to cover PE/VC fundraising, M&A transactions, PE buyouts and exits,etc.
She has been an investigative M&A reporter and researcher since 2009, writing industry news ranging from healthcare, new energy and financial service, etc.
Ms. Wang achieved her master's degree of multilingual multicultural studies from New York University.
Ken Wong joined EQT Partners in October 2018 and is the Head of Asia Pacific, Infrastructure.
Prior to joining EQT, Ken worked at Affinity Equity Partners focusing on private equity investments in the technology, media, telecommunications and consumer sectors. Prior to Affinity, Ken worked at Macquarie Capital, based in Melbourne.
Ken holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from The University of Melbourne.
Yi focuses on investment opportunities across all sectors. He has worked on a number of transactions, including English First Kids & Teens and Full Truck Alliance.
Prior to joining Permira, Yi worked as a VP of Transformation for Platinum Equity’s portfolio companies in Asia, leading the development and execution of value creation initiatives with both growth and cost efficiency levers.
Qualifications
Yi holds a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston and has an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin with honours.
Yi possesses multiple professional certifications including PMI Project Management Professional (PMP), APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM), SME Lean Bronze Certification, and is a Prosci certified professional in change management.
Kiki Yang is the regional co-head of our APAC Private Equity practice, as well as an expert in our global Advanced Manufacturing & Services practice, based in Hong Kong.
She has more than 10 years of consulting and investment banking experience, working extensively with multinational and local clients to address their most pressing strategic issues.
Kiki holds deep expertise in due diligence, strategy and operational and organizational improvement. She has led numerous diligence efforts for global, regional and local private equity funds in industries including telecommunications, media, technology, industrial goods and services, consumer products and retail.
Kiki has led a number of major fund strategy projects with leading private equity funds in Greater China focusing on fund positioning, differentiation, fundraising, organization and governance issues. She has also led a number of cases with private equity portfolio companies focusing on topics such as operational improvement, regional growth opportunities and overall corporate growth strategies.
She holds an MBA with honors from Wharton School of Business and a BA from Hamilton College. She speaks fluent Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
Brooke Zhou is Partner of LGT Capital Partners, and leads the firm’s overall China business, as well as secondary investment activities in Asia.
LGT Capital Partners is a leading institutional alternative asset and fund of funds manager, currently managing over USD 60 billion AuM on a global basis. The firm is headquartered in Pfäffikon, Switzerland (near Zurich) and has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, New York, Dublin, London, Paris and Dubai.
Prior to joining LGT Capital Partners in 2010, Ms. Zhou was with CDH Investments, a leading Chinese private equity manager, based in Beijing. Prior to CDH Investments, Ms. Zhou spent her career at Bain & Company in Shanghai, as well as Oracle Corporation in Redwood Shores, California.
Ms. Zhou earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ms. Zhou grew up in Shanghai and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.