AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum - Taiwan
The premier private equity & venture capital forum in Taiwan
Virtual Event
Keynote Speaker
Senior Industry Professionals

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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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Robin oversees Asia-Pacific coverage for Inframation. A 22-year news veteran, with 13 of them spent editing financial news, Robin has worked for the world's leading news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He has been a regular on live television, commenting mainly on Chinese government and central bank policy. At Inframation he is responsible for daily news coverage and analysis written by a team of journalists spread across Greater China, Japan, India, Singapore and Australia.

Saiful joined KWAP in 2012 and currently leads the organisation’s Private Equity and Infrastructure activities. Prior to joining KWAP, Saiful worked for the Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (MAVCAP) as the Vice President of Investments.
Saiful holds a Master’s Degree in Management from the International Islamic University, Malaysia and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA.

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)

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.

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.

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.

Pang Lee is a founding partner of CYL & Partners, a firm of Hong Kong solicitors which practices in association with Cooley HK, a Hong Kong registered foreign law firm. His practice is focused on the formation and operation of various private investment funds, with a focus on venture capital funds, buyout funds and investment advisory businesses. He has been involved on behalf of sponsors and investors in the formation of some of the largest and most active funds and managers in the region. His practice is focused particularly on fund managers making investments around the Pacific Rim, with an emphasis on Greater China, Southeast Asia and India. Pang also has experience advising clients on a variety of issues including carried interest arrangements, co-investments and strategic joint venture arrangements.
Pang is a regular speaker and moderator at venture capital industry conferences.
Pang is fluent in English and is a native Cantonese speaker.
Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School
JD, 2003
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
BS, 1997
Bar Admissions
New York
Solicitor of Hong Kong

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.

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

Maggie is Mergermarket’s Australia Bureau Chief, leading a team of journalists across Australia and New Zealand to write about corporate growth strategies, M&A deals, PE buyouts, cross-border M&A intelligence, as well as data-backed analysis and trend pieces.
Working closely with her colleagues around world, she has been leading the Australian bureau’s cross-border coverage, particularly between Australia and Asia. She also acts as a coordinator on the ground in Australia to facilitate cross-product collaboration between Mergermarket and other sister publications under Acuris, including DealReporter, Inframation and PaRR.
She previously worked at The Australian and Reuters, starting her Australian journalism career in the Press Gallery in Canberra. Maggie has been based in Sydney since 2013.

Charlie Reid, Managing Director, joined BlackRock in 2011 and is a founding member of BlackRock Renewable Power and BlackRock Infrastructure. Charlie is the Head of Asia Pacific for BlackRock Renewable Power and is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing renewable power and climate infrastructure investments across the APAC region. Charlie has played a leading role in building BlackRock Renewable Power into a c.$5bn global platform, in establishing the $2.2bn Renewable Income platform and has invested in over 100 renewable infrastructure assets across a range of markets.
Prior to joining BlackRock, Charlie worked in corporate and energy finance for NTR plc, the Clinton Foundation, Lazard and Goldman Sachs. Charlie earned an MA in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford with first class honours.

Speaker bio coming soon

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.