13
May
Asian private markets: Diversification or growth play
Global LPs acknowledge Asia as a diverse and complex investment destination, historically allocating through a significant market imbalance. With global dislocation and an increased demand for geographic diversification, Asian private markets days as a high-risk, high-reward destination seems to be over but they expertise present in the market and macro fundamentals can still be compelling. Our panel of leading investors discuss whether they see the region as a diversification or a growth play and what the future might look like in the region.
- What makes Asia compelling for investors amid global dislocation?
- Does the increased penetration of control deals make the region more appealing?
- Where are fund managers spending most of their time – deal sourcing or value creation?
- How are private markets in Asia evolving and what will it look like in 5 years?
- What the new macroeconomic reality means for Asian private markets?
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SpeakersChris Lerner Group Chairman/Operating Partner THRIVE ALTERNATIVES/BONNACORD CAPITAL PARTNERS
Ankur Meattle Head of Asia Private Equity Funds & Co-Investments GIC
Ashish Kotecha Partner BAIN CAPITAL
Aravind Krishnan Managing Director, Head of Southeast Asia BLACKSTONE
Prashant Kumar Partner & Head of Southeast Asia KKR
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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.
Ankur Meattle is Head of Asia Private Equity Funds & Co-Investments at GIC. As part of this role, Ankur oversees our Asian private equity funds programme, as well as co-investment deals alongside GPs. In addition, Ankur co-chairs the ASEAN Business Group (ABG), which helps coordinate overall ASEAN investment strategy across GIC.
Ankur joined GIC in 2004 and has been part of various teams within the GIC Asia Private Equity organisation. Before joining GIC, he was a Manager with Arthur D Little, a strategy consulting firm, in Singapore. He has also worked with PwC and KPMG in India.
Ankur is an Advisor to the Investment Committee of the Singapore Management University (SMU).
Ankur holds a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.
Ashish Kotecha is a Partner at Bain Capital Private Equity, having joined the Firm in 2010. He leads their consumer and retail investments in India and Southeast Asia.
Ashish is a member of Bain Capital Asia’s investment committee and Asia Operating committee which oversees larger operating decisions for the fund. Ashish also leads Bain Capital’s Portfolio Group in Asia – a group, responsible for Bain’s value creation efforts within portfolio companies. As part of this, he actively works with many consumer companies across the region including India, Australia, China and Korea on strategy, operations and performance transformation topics.
Over the last 13 years, he has been personally actively involved in 12 of Bain Capital’s investments across Asia including Axis Bank, L&T Finance Holdings Limited and Hero Motocorp in India. Camp Australia, Only About Children in Australia. Hugel in Korea. Gymboree China, Rise Education and APMG in China.
He was also a Board Member of Axis Bank – India’s 3rd largest private bank. Prior to joining Bain Capital, Mr. Kotecha was the acting Chief Operating Officer at Tourneau, in New York – then the world’s 2nd largest luxury watch retailer and a Leonard Green & Partners portfolio company. He replaced the CEO of the business and successfully led a turnaround of the business through the global financial crisis in 2009. Earlier, he was an Associate Principal with McKinsey & Company, in San Francisco, where he led engagements in Retail, Consumer and Private Equity. He also co-founded their Retail Private Equity Service Line and spent time with McKinsey’s economic think tank (MGI), where he was part of a team that analyzed the impact of FDI in emerging economies, including India. Some of his work at McKinsey has been published in the McKinsey Quarterly and quoted in several external publications, including the Economist. Prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs and the Kotecha Group.
He received an MBA with Honors, from The Anderson School at UCLA, a Master of Commerce (Banking and Finance) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Financial Accounting and Auditing) from Sydenham College, University of Mumbai.
Aravind leads Blackstone’s Private Equity Business in Southeast Asia and is based out of Singapore.
Since initially joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Krishnan has been involved in the execution of the firm’s investments in TaskUs, Aakash Education, Simplilearn, Xpressbees, Blue Yonder, and International Tractors. He currently serves on the boards of Simplilearn, Aakash Education, and Aakash Edutech.
Before joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Krishnan worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Krishnan received a Bachelor and Masters in Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras and an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar.
Prashant Kumar, based in Singapore, joined KKR in 2018 and is a Partner and the Head of the Southeast Asia Private Equity. Mr. Kumar has led a number of the firm’s investments, including Max Healthcare, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Vini Cosmetics, and Advanta India. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Kumar was a director and member of the investment committee at ChrysCapital, a leading India-focused private equity fund. Previously, he was with Warburg Pincus where led investments in various sectors. Prior to that, Mr. Kumar worked at Karsch Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund, and SUN Capital, an emerging markets focused private equity firm. He began his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Kumar holds a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management Kolkata, and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.