AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum - Taiwan 2022
The premier private equity & venture capital forum in Taiwan
Virtual Event
Agenda
Opening remarks
Networking break
Navigating the private markets of today and beyond
Private equity deal activity has continued to move from strength to strength during the pandemic with 2021 activity hitting an all-time high with over $1 trillion of deals recorded by Dealogic. While largely driven by the American deal activity, Asia continues to perform well despite dealing with continued geopolitical and regulatory issues, new COVID variants, increasing competition and the pressure to adopt world-class ESG principles. How will fund managers navigate the future? Our panel of private market leaders weigh in on the outlook for Taiwan, the rest of Asia and across the globe.
- How will macroeconomics affect private market investments?
- What lessons have GPs learned in digitalizing their portfolios and how can it be improved in the future?
- How has ESG implementation and focus on diversity evolved in the past two years?
- Which sectors and geographies will see the most activity in the coming year and how do investors best tap these opportunities?
Networking break
Fireside chat: Dealmaking in Taiwan: Full steam ahead
Despite the numerous challenges, the market sentiment for investments into Taiwan has remained positive and dealmakers are building on the momentum. With the shifting of global supply chains, the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China and other key drivers, Taiwan’s superior technology prowess stands out and continues to attract interest from all both PE and VCs across Asia. Moreover, SPACs have entered the fray and view Taiwanese companies as strong potential targets that will get attractive valuations after the de-SPAC. Our panel of investors and dealmakers assess the landscape for dealmaking in Taiwan.
- How have geopolitical tensions affected deal flow within Taiwan and how to circumvent it?
- SPACs vs private equity vs traditional financing: which model works best in Taiwan?
- What are the issues with implementing ESG, automation and digitalization with Taiwanese companies?
Networking break
Cross-border investing: Opportunities beyond the usual
Taiwan plus one, a strategy adopted by private equity managers to focus on Taiwan and one other geography, has been around for decades. The traditional destinations of Mainland China and Japan are being joined by increasing activity into Southeast Asia and other new destinations. This expansion has created more opportunities for partnerships with between local and regional GPs, especially those with Taiwanese experience and can add value beyond capital overseas. This panel of local and overseas experts will examine the opportunities abroad for Taiwanese investors, as well as share their experience on the keys to success.
- Which geographies have emerged as the investment hotspots for Taiwanese investors and where should they be looking at next?
- How can Taiwanese investors create value for their overseas targets? And vice versa?
- What have investors done to alleviate geopolitical concerns and avoid potential conflicts?
Networking lunch
Renewables: Taiwan still the hotspot?
While Taiwan has been a favoured destination in recent years for renewable energy investors, the rest of the Asia-Pacific region is picking up pace. Our diversified panel of experts discusses the outlook for green investments in Taiwan, looking at whether its favorable locations and regulatory incentives for offshore wind - as illustrated by the announcement of the Zonal Development Round - will solidify its position as a regional hub. Other opportunities include a strong drive into electric Vehicles and continued commitments by local companies to go green.
- What makes Taiwan a compelling destination for renewables? And how does it compare with other geographies?
- What are the challenges of operating in Taiwan, and how does one overcome them?
- What do recent regulatory shifts mean for investors?
- What are the latest trends and opportunities that investors need to pay attention to?
Networking break
Harnessing opportunities from digital advancement
The landscape for technology investments is rapidly evolving. From the rise of the metaverse to soaring use (and value) of cryptocurrencies, and the widespread adoption of digitalization and automation of the work process, this new wave of technological advancement is set to play a significant role in the future of dealmaking. Taiwan, with its skilled workforce, its ability to source and manufacture components, will be a core player in providing the digital infrastructure for this opportunity. Our panelists share their thoughts on Taiwan’s role in the next stage of global advancement in technology.
- How is the Taiwan technology landscape evolving, and which sub-sectors will see the most growth in the coming years?
- How have small to mid-size companies reacted to the increasing adoption of technology?
- Will recent government initiatives effectively further the development of Taiwan’s venture capital ecosystem?
Networking break
2022 and beyond: LP perspectives on private markets
Despite the uncertain global outlook, Taiwanese LPs and their global peers have taken not only a keen interest but have also increased allocations into alternative investments, as they seek strategies to generate alpha. Historically, Taiwanese institutional investors have been restricted to an alternatives cap; however, the latest regulatory changes may mean more opportunities to invest in private markets. Our panel of LPs discuss their approaches towards alternatives.
- Will Taiwanese and other Asian LPs take a leading role in promoting ESG and diversity as their counterparts in the west have?
- Besides the larger regional and global GPs, what geographies and sectors are Taiwanese LPs looking for?
- How do LPs view the domestic private equity market and will they invest in its potential?
End of conference
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Alicia García Herrero is the Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. She also serves as Senior Fellow at European think-tank BRUEGEL and non-resident Research Fellow at Madridbased political think tank Real Instituto Elcano. She is currently Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and member of the advisory board of Berlin-based China think-tank MERICS. Finally, Alicia is advisor to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s research arm (HKIMR) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as a member of the board of the Hong Kong Forum and co-founder of Bright Hong Kong.
In previous years, Alicia held the following positions: Chief Economist for Emerging Markets at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Member of the Asian Research Program at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Head of the International Economy Division of the Bank of Spain, Member of the Counsel to the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, Head of Emerging Economies at the Research Department at Banco Santander, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. In addition, Alicia has always combines her professional career with academia, having served as visiting Professor for John Hopkins University, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai and Carlos III University in Madrid.
Alicia holds a PhD in Economics from George Washington University and has published extensively in refereed journals and books (see her publications in ResearchGate or Google Scholar. Alicia is also very active in international media (Bloomberg and CNBC among others) as well as social media (Twitter, LinkedIn and Weibo). As recognition of her leadership thoughts, Alicia has recently been nominated TOP Voices in Economy and Finance by LinkedIn.
Maggie is Mergermarket’s APAC Associate Editor and Australia/New Zealand Bureau Chief. She joined Mergermarket Australia in 2017 and has since been covering corporate strategy, M&A, and private equity activities as a journalist and an editor. She manages the Australian bureau, supports Mergermarket’s APAC editorial team, and facilitates cross-platform collaboration under ION Analytics between Mergermarket and sister publications including Debtwire and Infralogic. She previously worked at The Australian and Reuters, starting her Australian journalism career at the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery in Canberra. Maggie has been based in Sydney since 2013.
Mr. Lau is Managing Director and Partner at ShawKwei & Partners. He is involved in all aspects of deal flow & investments and leverages his operating, sales and strategy background to manage portfolio companies at the board level. He is a member of the investment committee of ShawKwei and sits on the board of portfolio company Beyonics.
Brian has more than 25 years of global strategy, sales and manufacturing experience across the electronics, supply chain and investment consulting industries including multinational corporations such as Celestica and Texas Instruments.
Brian received an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University and a BA from the University of Waterloo and holds the CPA designation (Chartered Professional Account) from Canada.
Ling Jen supports the Primary Investment Team in all aspects of the investment decision-making process.
Prior to joining Adams Street, she was an Analyst at Capital Advisors Partners Asia in Singapore—an Infrastructure private equity fund—supporting fundraising, deal execution, and industry research. Prior to this role, Ling Jen was at CIMB Investment Bank.
ACADEMIC
Singapore Management University, BS
After joining CDF, Mr. Chang helped raise several private equity/ venture capital funds, including RMB CDIB Private Equity (Fujian) Fund, RMB CDIB Yida Private Equity (Kunshan) Fund, and NTD CDIB Capital Healthcare Venture II, and assisted in CDF’s acquisition of KGI Securities in 2012, Cosmos Bank in 2014 and a 25% stake in China Life in 2017. He managed CDF’s Investor Relations activities and successfully increased its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor Holdings from 11.8% at end-2008 to 30% at end-2018. Before joining CDF, Mr. Chang was Regional Head of Research at KGI Securities. Under his tenure there, KGI Securities’ ranking in terms of Asian equity research among securities houses surveyed by Asiamoney advanced from 25 to 15, the fastest advancement among the top 20 best research teams in Asia. In addition, KGI Securities was awarded “Best Local Brokerage For Equity Research in Taiwan” under his leadership for three straight years (2004 to 2006).
Achievements
Long time veteran in Asian buyout and private equity, Alex heads up CDIB Capital International’s Buyout Group and oversees all strategic initiatives, deal origination, execution, portfolio monitoring, divestments as well as investor relations pertaining to the platform.
Career Highlights
Founder and Managing Partner, Rivendell Partners
Managing Director, Carlyle Group
Associate, CIBC Oppenheimer
Analyst, Colony Capital
Education & Honors
MBA at Anderson School of Management, University of California
Master in Real Estate Development, University of Southern California
Key Experiences
Expertise in Buyout and Private Equity Transactions in APAC
Formerly a 20-year veteran at the Carlyle Group focusing on buyout opportunities in Greater China and Southeast Asia. During his tenure at Carlyle Asia, Alex deployed ~US$2.0 billion equity capital in a wide range of industries spanning from media & telecom to financial services, business services, and specialty manufacturing.
Subsequent to Carlyle and prior to joining CDIB Capital International, Alex was the Founder and Managing Partner of Rivendell Partners, a mid-market buyout firm in Greater China.
Chairman and Board Member for an Extensive Portfolio of Investee Companies
Alex sits on the Board for all of the buyouts he completed at CDIB Capital International, and formerly at Carlyle, building up significant experience in managerial oversight and in leading the transformation of investee companies, while driving financial performance across the businesses he oversees.
Perris Lee is the Asia ECM Editorial and Insights Director for ION Analytics. He looks after potential and live IPO, follow-on, and equity-linked bond deals, as well as producing the data-driven, forward-looking column “ECM Explorer APAC.”
Perris joined ION Analytics/Acuris in 2011 as the Taiwan correspondent for Dealreporter, covering both ECM and M&A matters. Soon after becoming a well-versed Taiwan-subject expert catering primarily to global hedge funds and proprietary desks, Perris expanded his mandate to include Asia convertible bonds in 2014 and further to Asia ECM in 2015. He was promoted to his current role in 2021.
Prior to joining ION Analytics, Perris spent nine years covering the Asian financial markets for Dow Jones Newswires and Bloomberg.
Vivian Joined Advantage Partners in July 2015 as one of the founding members of the Asia buyout fund.
Responsible for investments including ESG, Shih An Farm, Greenlight Education and Asia Gourmet Holding. After joining Advantage Partners, Vivian has spearheaded AP’s Greater China operations, including the establishment of our Shanghai office in October 2016. She has also built out the firm’s local investment and management teams, expanded AP’s network and coverage in GC, and strengthened the AP brand name in the Chinese market. At Advantage Partners’ Greater China portfolio companies, Vivian leads our team’s efforts to form growth strategies, develop new products and services, enhance management control systems, and achieve inorganic growth through add-on acquisitions. Vivian helped established AP’s presence in the Taiwanese buyout market by leading the investment in Shih An farm where she recruited a talented professional management team to transform the founder-led rural farming business into an institutional world class operation. Under her leadership, the company rebuilt its IT infrastructure and financial systems and further enhanced its world class ESG standards, helping to make the company one of the leaders in the egg industry in the region.
Prior to joining Advantage Partners, Vivian was the China head at AIG Investments. Before that she spent more than 12 years in the management consulting industry as Senior partner of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and a Principal from the Boston Consulting Group. MBA from University of Texas at Austin and B.S. from Beijing Normal University.
Current positions：
President, FCC Partners (2010~)
CEO, Tunghai Industry Smart-Transformation Center(2018~)
Co-Founder, NTPC-AWS Joint Innovation Center (2018~)
Founding Chairman, Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council (2009~)
Executive Director, Asia Pacific M&A Council (2016~)
Founder, SmartGate (2020~)
Experiences：
Over 30 years of experience in investment banking, led numerous transactions in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, including IPO, secondary offering, private placement and M&A.
Chairman, Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council (MAPECT) (2009-2013)
Polaris Financial Group – Vice Chairman & CEO of Greater China Investment Banking (2001-2010)
GC Capital (Asia) – CEO (2000 - 2001)
WI Harper Group – Vice Chairman and President (1998- 2000)
Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) – President of Greater China Investment Banking (1994 -98)
Jardine Fleming (Taiwan) Securities – Head of Taiwan Investment Banking (1988 -94)
JP Morgan (New York) – Fixed-Income Division (1987-88)
MBA, Stanford University (1987)
Awards：
China M&A Association, Deal of the Year 2008
Award of Excellent Leadership, Taiwan Securities and Futures Industry Association (2007)
Mr. Lee joined BPEA in 2007. Mr. Lee leads buyout investments as part of the Greater China Investment Team. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Lee was an Associate with private equity firm Tullis-Dickerson based in Greenwich, Connecticut. He began his career in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Lee graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Economics and East Asian Studies from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is fluent in English, Mandarin and Taiwanese.
Kok Leong Toh is part of Partners Group's Asian Private Infrastructure business unit, based in Singapore. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the firm's portfolio company Green Island Renewable Power. He has been with partners Group since 2011 and has 13 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at CIMB Bank where he is part of the Investment Banking large corporate coverage team based in Singapore. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Singapore Management University and an executive master in finance from Insead, France.
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.
Charlie Reid, Managing Director, joined BlackRock in 2011 and is a founding member of BlackRock Climate Infrastructure. Charlie led the establishment of the team, firstly in London and subsequently in Asia Pacific. Charlie currently leads investment activities in the Asia Pacific region for BlackRock Climate Infrastructure and is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing climate investments across the APAC region from Sydney, as well as setting strategy for the business. Charlie has played a leading role in building BlackRock Climate Infrastructure into a c.$9bn global platform and has invested in over 100 climate infrastructure assets across a range of markets.
Background:
- Director of G&I Advisory Services, KPMG Advisory Services Co., Ltd.
- Manager of KPMG Corporate Finance Co., Ltd.
- Project Manager of Archbank PPP Project Management & Financing Corp. (Taipei, Taiwan)
- Business Planning Specialist of PICK International Asset Management Co., Ltd. (Taipei, Taiwan)
- Special Assistant for Financial Director of Mamcol Taiwan Co., Ltd.
- Office Administrative Specialist of Chung Kuo Insurance Co. Ltd. (Taipei, Taiwan)
Professional Service Experience:
- M&A
- PPP /PFI /BOT Advisory
- Enterprise Valuation
- Financial Modeling
- Project Financing
- Due Diligence
- Real Estate and Hospitality
- Tender Strategy
Representative Clients & Projects:
- PMO & Auction advisory services for Taiwan Offshore Wind farms selection to CIP
- Taiwan offshore wind energy investment strategy study for Taipower
- Financial and tax due diligence services to Global Power Synergy Company Public Limited (GPSC) for acquiring solar projects in Taiwan
- Financial model review services to DBS, CTBC and BNP for the floating solar projects in Taiwan
- Financial model review services to DBS and ANZ BGL for the solar project in Taiwan (Project Mingus)
- Taiwan energy and solid waste market research service to Keppel
- Renewable energy certification policy and market study in Taiwan for NPI
- Financial model review services to Soleq for 2 solar power projects in Taiwan.
- Development roadmap of implementing autonomous vehicle in next generation transportation system
- Palau solar energy project bidding strategy advisory service to Foxwell Energy
- Amman Street Lighting Project-PPP advisory service to Greater Amman Municipality and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- Financial, Tax and Investment Structure Advisor on solar power investment total 160MW in the Philippines and
Thailand to Sino-American Silicon Products, Titan Solar, Giga Solar…etc.; business partnership in the Philippines
to a regional air cargo company - Financial advisor of Radium Life Tech Co., Ltd. on Taoyuan area sewage BOT project
Tina Cheng is the Managing Partner at Cherubic Ventures, an early-stage VC fund with over 150 investments in Greater China and the US. Some of the fund’s notable investments include Flexport, Calm, Hims, 91APP (Taiwan), and Pinkoi (Taiwan). At Cherubic, Tina is in charge of investments and global operations. Prior to joining Cherubic Ventures, Tina worked at Yahoo! and Cisco, and later moved back to Asia to cofound an education startup that helps provide Asian students better access to higher education. Tina holds an MBA degree from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Yinglan Tan founded Insignia Venture Partners in 2017, an early stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia and has partnered with regional champions like Carro Payfazz, Cohive, Janio and Logivan amongst others. Prior to founding Insignia Venture Partners, Mr. Tan was Sequoia Capital’s first hire and Venture Partner in Southeast Asia. He sourced multiple investment opportunities for Sequoia including Tokopedia, Go-jek, Traveloka, Carousell and Appier (where he represented Sequoia on the board). He had also been a member of the elite Singapore Administrative Service, where he served in a variety of positions in the Prime Minister’s Office (where he was part of a team that managed a S$360 million fund for innovation and enterprise), Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Defence. He was also the founding Director of 3i Venturelab China, a jointventure between private equity firm 3i (LSE:III) and INSEAD.
Mr. Tan has been named as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2012 – 2017), a WEF Technology Pioneer Selection Committee Panel (2015-2017), Eisenhower Fellow - Innovation Program (2018), Top “40 leaders under 40” by Prestige Magazine (2015), Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle (2016), one of 100 Leaders of Tomorrow by the St Gallen Symposium (2010), 100 Global Thinkers (2011) by think-tank Lo Spazio della Politica, a World Cities Summit Young Leader (2014), a WEF Global Agenda Council member on Fostering Entrepreneurship (2011-2013) and a Kauffman Fellow. He also serves on the
Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and the Committee on the Future Economy's Sub-Committee on Future Corporate Capabilities and Innovation. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. He is also a Strategic Research Innovation Fund Investment Committee Member at Nanyang Technology University, advisory board member at Duke University CE, author of 3 books - The Way Of the VC (Wiley, 2009), Chinnovation (Wiley 2010) and textbook New Venture Creation - An Asian Perspective (Mcgraw Hill 2011). He was educated at Harvard, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon.
Kee Lock, Chua is CEO of Vertex Holdings (“VH”), a Singapore-headquartered venture capital investment holding company. Vertex Group is a global venture capital network comprising 4 early stage technology-focused funds (Vertex Ventures China, Vertex Ventures Israel, Vertex Ventures USA, Vertex Ventures SEA & India), an early stage healthcare-focused fund (Vertex Ventures HC) and a growth stage fund (Vertex Growth). Each of these funds is managed by independent and separate General Partnerships and investment teams, with VH providing anchor funding alongside significant 3rd party capital commitments. Mr Chua is concurrently Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India as well as Chairman of Vertex Growth Fund. Prior to this, he held senior positions in Biosensors International Group, Ltd., a developer / manufacturer of medical devices; Walden International, a US-headquartered venture capital firm; NatSteel Ltd., a Singapore industrial products company, and Intraco Ltd., a Singapore-listed trading/distribution company. Mr. Chua co-founded MediaRing, provider of voiceover-internet, which later listed on Singapore’s stock exchange. He currently serves on the boards of several companies, including Yongmao, a Singapore public-listed company.
Mr. Chua graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin and an M.Sc. degree from Stanford University.
Pang Lee is based in Cooley’s Hong Kong office, his practice includes all areas of partnership, corporate and securities law with a concentration on the organization and investment in private funds and strategic investments in the tech industry. Pang has worked closely with members of the Hong Kong start-up community cultivating its emerging companies ecosystem, with a particular focus in healthcare and emerging technology companies. Pang regularly advises private fund managers and institutional investors on United States and Hong Kong regulatory and compliance matters.
Pang brings a global perspective in his work, having worked in New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Shanghai in over two decades of legal practice. Pang regularly speaks at regional industry conferences in China and Southeast Asia, including serving as a moderator at the AVCJ for well over a decade. He is a member of the firm’s pro bono committee.
He is ranked as a leading investment funds lawyer by Chambers Greater China, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and IFLR1000 Asia Pacific.
Pang received his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is admitted to practice in New York and is a solicitor of Hong Kong.
Achievements
Mr. Kuo has been acting president participating in the establishment of CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator Fund since 2015. He founded MosArt Semiconductor Corp. in Taiwan, and led the R&D team developing several leading global wireless communication chips as president there. Mr. Kuo has over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience in the high-tech industry.
Career Highlights
Senior IC design engineer, Epson
President and founder, MosArt Semiconductor Corp.
Education & Honors
BS in Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University
Key Experiences
President of CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator Fund
Has participated in the establishment of CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator fund since 2015.
Fund manager of Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund I.
Mentor for Hi-tech Startups
Official mentor in Taiwan for Epoch foundation’s Garage+ startup accelerator.
Review committee member of Taiwan’s governmental startup program.
Acting director at Taiwanese tech companies including PChome Online, Kneron, XREX, TapPay, Viscovery, Koodata, FunNow, Aisayo, KKday, Hawooo and 21st Century Digital.
Andy Tsai is Partner at StepStone Group, a global private markets specialist that currently over US$120 billion of private capital allocations, including over US$232 billion of assets under management. StepStone provides customized investment, portfolio monitoring, and advisory solutions to some of the most sophisticated investors in the world. We cover the spectrum of opportunities in private markets and focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service.
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Tsai was Head of Alternative Investment of Cathay Life Insurance Company and responsible for managing portfolio across private equity and hedge funds globally, and evaluated direct investment and venture capital funds in Taiwan.
Mr. Tsai holds a BA from the National Taiwan University and an MS from the National Taipei University.
Speaker bio coming soon
Edwin Chan joined iCapital in 2021 as Head of Asia and Head of Client Solutions APAC. 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.