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PE leader insights: private capital’s commitment towards change
Although most GPs are now actively conscious of the need for increased diversity in the industry, there remains much discussion and debate in terms of how to best implement changes effectively, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where conversations and progress surrounding DEI tends to be slower and more fragmented. Global LPs are increasingly questioning managers on their DEI policies within the firm and at the portfolio company level, however, slowly but surely changes are coming to the forefront. Our panel of regional and global GP leaders will share their respective firm’s initiatives, views on the industry and provide actionable insights.
- How has the conversation of diversity, equity and inclusion developed in the past 12 months globally and locally? Why should these issues be taken as seriously as climate change?
- Within Asia, which countries are taking more concrete steps towards inclusion and diversity and what are best practice firms can share?
- For GPs that have just started to think more about DEI, what are concrete action points/first steps to take?
- How can managers hold their portfolio companies accountable, and which sectors already see wider diversity and more representation?
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Venture capital - building up inclusive entrepreneurship in the region
There is now ample evidence to support the business case for increasing diversity in the venture capital industry. Across the region, particularly in Southeast Asia, we have witnessed increased efforts to improve DEI metrics, whether it be within VC firms or the entrepreneurs that they choose to back. As the VC ecosystem continues to evolve in the region, VCs must not only increase diversity within investment-decision making roles, but also continue to have explicit conversations with their portfolio companies and encourage the C-suite to look at DEI as a matter of strategic importance. Our panel of leading regional venture capitalists will highlight the steps they have taken to create a more inclusive and equitable playing field for the next generation of fund managers and discuss developments in the region.
- What are the initiatives firms have made to ensure that more capital is being committed towards female founders and diverse companies?
- Building diverse investment teams - what needs to be looked at beyond gender, and for the uninitiated, why is this so important?
- Inclusive entrepreneurship - what is the opportunity set like in Southeast Asia and beyond? What more can be done to encourage the next generation of female founders?
- What is the best way for VCs to have conversations with portfolio companies on issues regarding DEI?
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Networking break
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The role of LPs in building an inclusive private markets ecosystem
On a global level, LPs have taken steps to increase pressure on their GPs to take DEI seriously by asking tougher questions, encouraging the adoption of diversity initiatives, and placing more emphasis on capital allocations towards DEI. However, the bulk of the discussion and changes come from overseas LPs, whilst regional LPs are more focused towards ESG as a whole but neglect the “S” aspect of the equation. As a major influence of GP behavior in the industry, there is more that needs to be done. Our panel of global and regional LPs will discuss and debate best practices to enhance DEI in Asia and beyond.
- How can LPs push for more diverse investment partners and executive teams within portfolio companies?
- What needs to be done for regional LPs to take DEI as seriously as their global peers?
- Have LP conversations seen a gradual shift to encompass diversity beyond gender equality?
- Walking the walk - what have LPs been doing internally within their organisations to promote DEI?
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Roundtables and cocktail reception
Moderated by industry leaders, these discussion groups will cover different facets of the industry to encourage discussion between attendees.
Discussion groups:
- The importance of representation within the workplace - role models, mentorship, safe spaces
- Addressing our own implied biases and how to overcome them
- How to be authentic in your professional life and make a difference in the workplace
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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.
Deanna Ong is Chief People Officer at GIC, responsible for Human Resource & Organization, and Corporate Governance for the GIC group. GIC is a global investment management company established to manage the foreign reserves of the Government of Singapore, investing in public equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity and infrastructure assets.
As Chief People Officer, Deanna oversees people strategy to attract, develop and retain talent for enterprise performance, seeded with the right values and culture for GIC. As part of the Group Executive Committee, her areas of focus include talent strategy, leadership development, reward and engagement for organization effectiveness. As Company Secretary, she oversees corporate governance and client relations.
Deanna was previously Director, Finance from 2009 to 2014, where she headed the Finance Group responsible for financial management across GIC’s portfolio, covering financing arrangements for assets, tax planning, investment holding structures, accounting and management of revenue and expenditure.
Deanna is a board member of Swiss Re Ltd, and an advisory board member of Nanyang Business School. She holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore and completed the Stanford Executive Programme.
Angus Choi is a Partner at ERM with over 16 years of experience as Sustainability Financing professional. Angus is currently leading the Transaction Services in ERM China and Hong Kong on ESG advisory services and due diligence for financial clients, including private equity (PEs), equator principle financial institutions (EPFIs), and bilateral and multilateral development banks. Angus has advised on over 100 PE transactions for client in recent years, include: Advent, ADM, ADV, AIC, Angelo-Gordon, Blackstone, Bain Capital, Bridgepoint, Capital Group Private Equity, CAF, Carlyle, CDC, CVC, Cenova, Climate Fund Managers, DCP, Forebright, Gaorong, Goldman Sachs, GIP, KKR, Macquarie, Navis, Nexus Point, NewQuest, Proterra, Olympus, OTPP, TPG and many more. Engagements comprise due diligence support, incorporating sustainability improvements to 100-day plans, support on Responsible Investment /ESG management systems/policy development, and delivering resource efficiency and value enhancement within portfolio companies. Angus received a MSc in Environmental Impact Assessment, Auditing and Management System from University of East Anglia, UK and a BSc in University of Hong Kong.
Lydia Hao joined HarbourVest’s primary partnership team in 2021 as a Managing Director based in Hong Kong and focuses on Asia-Pacific investments.
She was previously a Principal in Neuberger Berman’s private equity team, where she led the firm’s primary funds, co-investments, and secondary investments in the Greater China region. Prior to joining Neuberger Berman in 2017, Lydia spent seven years at CPP Investment Board in Hong Kong as one of the founding members of the Private Equity Asia team, building its direct investment portfolio across the Asia-Pacific region. Previously, she was based in New York where she worked at Apax Partners focused on US private equity buyouts in the consumer and TMT sectors, and worked at UBS Investment Bank in the Mergers and Acquisitions group advising clients across various industries.
Lydia received a Bachelor of Science (summa cum laude) in Hotel Administration, from Cornell University. She speaks fluent Mandarin.
Diana Dawson is a Managing Director at TPG based in Singapore and she oversees Human Resources for the 6 offices in Asia Pacific. Prior to joining TPG, Diana worked at Blackstone, where she served as the Head of Human Resources for South Asia & Australia and she also spent 13 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, 11 of which as Head of Human Resources. Diana earned a BA in Economics from Royal Holloway College, University of London and trained as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Amy is Managing Director as well as the Chair of ESG Committee at FountainVest Partners (Asia) Limited. FountainVest Partners was founded in 2007 and is a leading Asian private equity fund with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Prior to joining FountainVest in late 2019, Amy worked for 4 years as the CEO of Save the Children Hong Kong.
Before Save the Children, Amy spent nearly two decades in financial services with institutions including JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Merrill Lynch, working in the US and Asia, having worked as an investment banker, head of strategy, COO and Head of Regulatory Change Management. Amy is a Board Member of Langdi Pharmaceutical and serves on the ESG Committee of Amer Sports, and the Board of Rädda Barnen Service AB, a Swedish social enterprise focusing on Child Rights in business. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and has an MBA from Columbia University and she was also a Certified Public Accountant qualified in the District of Columbia, USA. Amy is a Hong Kong native and has a 21-year old daughter and a 16-year old son. She is a spiritual practitioner and teaches meditation as a volunteer on a regular basis.
Sarah is the Head of ESG and Sustainability at Affinity Equity Partners. She is responsible for ESG integration, training, and disclosures and helps the firm manage its sustainability and climate related risks and opportunities. She is passionate about ESG as a value creation lever and actively engages with portfolio companies to develop initiatives that will help them create long term sustainable value. As a member of the SVCA ESG committee, she believes that knowledge sharing, and partnerships will help accelerate sustainability solutions that build a better world for the next generation.
Prior to her role at Affinity Equity Partners, she was a founding member of Temasek Holdings’ sustainability team. She started her career as a lawyer, and after 10 years took hold of an opportunity to transition into sustainability. She graduated from Bristol University with an LLB and Bachelor of Business at Nanyang Technological University. Outside work, she enjoys spending time with loved ones and a variety of hobbies including road cycling, skiing, food, travel, reading.
Jessica Espinoza is CEO of the 2X Collaborative, a global industry for gender lens investing convening the entire spectrum of capital providers. She is also Chair of the 2X Challenge that has raised more than US$ 11 billion of gender lens investments since its launch at the G7 Summit in 2018. Jessica has a track record in originating, structuring and executing debt, mezzanine and equity deals in emerging and frontier markets with a strong focus on inclusive innovation. The latest innovation she is spearheading with 2X colleagues is 2X Ignite, a bold facility to unlock capital for gender-smart business at scale by backing female-led fund managers.
Jessica serves on the Board of Directors of AlphaMundi Foundation and previously of the Mexican financial institution Mega as well as the Advisory Board of several private equity funds. As a mentor for Endeavor, she supports high impact companies as they scale up. Jessica is the Founder of XOCO, an inclusive edtech venture and a fellow at Columbia eLab. Jessica was selected for the Leaders Europe 2022 program of the Obama Foundation and awarded the Digital Female Leadership Award of Global Digital Women 2019.
Prior to her current role, Jessica was Vice President for Private Equity & Venture Capital Investments at DEG/KfW. She was also a Member of the Management Board at ProCredit Bank Nicaragua responsible for the Business Clients Division and managed the Africa Regional Office of MicroFinance Transparency.
Jessica holds a double degree in International Business Management from ESB Business School and Dublin City University. She is a PhD candidate at University of Siegen, researching the transformative potential of gender lens investing under the supervision of Prof. Friederike Dr. Welter.
Nick Gainsley is a Partner at OneVentures and leads the credit practice of the firm. He also serves on the Investment Committee of the 1V Venture Credit Fund IV and the OneVentures Growth Fund V.
Nick has 15 years of debt experience both in direct lending and advisory, in Europe and Australia. Specifically he has over 8 years of venture credit experience having led investments to over 100 high growth technology companies.
Prior to joining OneVentures in May 2019, Nick was based in the UK and was a Principal at Kreos Capital, Europe’s largest growth debt fund. His experience there covered deal origination, execution and portfolio management for a significant number of transactions across European markets. He has wider sector experience across technology sub-sectors including FinTech, software, cybersecurity, hardware, e-commerce/DTC, AdTech and life science, investing in both private and public companies.
Prior to this, Nick was a Manager at KPMG in London within the Debt Advisory team where he was involved in managing and advising on a range of debt transaction from mid-market to large cap. Transaction experience covered leveraged finance, corporate refinancing, capital market issuance and strategic financing advice.
Nick holds an BSc (Hons) in Management from UMIST, UK. He is also an Associate member (AMCT) of the Association of Corporate Treasurers in the UK. He is a keen skier and loves to travel the world.
Michael is a partner at Golden Gate Ventures. He joined the firm in 2013 and is currently leading the Growth venture fund. His entrepreneurial journey began in 2000 when he co-founded an IT managed services startup that was acquired in 2006. In 2007, Michael founded a venture fund focused on Dutch small- and medium-sized enterprises to help them with capital financing, business development, and strategy. During the same period, he was invited to join the Economic Development Board Rotterdam as vice-chairman. In that role, he launched the Young Economic Development Board. He brought together a highly influential Dutch network to increase public-private relationships to ensure business leadership invested in local while leveraging the public infrastructure.
Michael was introduced to Golden Gate Ventures in 2013 and relocated with his family to Singapore to join as a Venture Partner in 2013, helping with fundraising, strategic partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions. Since then, Michael has helped to raise over USD $60M for Golden Gate Ventures and its portfolio companies, including helping to raise later stage rounds from external investors as well as leading two early strategic acquisitions.
Sport is an essential part of Michael’s life. He is a former member of the Dutch karate team and the former ambassador for Treknology ( Trek bikes distributor in Singapore). Michael actively participates in Ironman 70.3 races and marathons. Besides sport, Michael is an active writer and writes articles regarding life, balance and venture capital on michaellints.com
Ms Joyce Ng is a Partner at iGlobe Partners. She has over 20 years of experience in venture capital, fund management, insurance and financial services.
Ms. Joyce held several board seats of iGlobe’s investee companies in Singapore and US. In Singapore, she is currently a Board Member of SWAT Mobility and has been instrumental in helping and syndicating the company’s Series A fund raising round. She led investments in MindFiand Partipost. Currently, she also sits on the board of Partipost and Sourcesage. She was a Board Observer of Tonik Financial (a digital bank).
In the United States, she has been actively involved in overseeing iGlobe’s investment in Unity Software Inc. (a 3D real-time development tool company) (NYSE: U). Other listed portfolios under her charge include Nerdwallet Inc. (a fintech company) (NYSE: NRDS), Matterport Inc. (solutions for 3D scanning of spaces) (NASDAQ: MTTR) and Hippo Holdings Inc. (data-driven online home insurance) (NASDAQ: HIPO). She was a Board Observer of Starmaker Interactive Inc. (acquired by a Chinese entertainment company in 2016).
Ms. Joyce worked from 1996 to 2003 with Vertex Management Pte. Ltd. In 1996, she joined as an Analyst responsible for portfolio monitoring of Vertex European investment. She was later promoted to Assistant Manager in charge of fund of fund investments.
Ms. Joyce comes with diversified experience. She was previously a team leader & trainer at ACE Insurance (acquired by Chubb), responsible for all training needs of the call centre staff. She started her career in the Credit Admin Department of Bank Indosuez.
Ms Joyce was a Mentor with CRIB and was serving as Mentor at Ulu Pandan Stars (a non-profit organisation providing tuition to children from low-income families).
Dr. Marietta Wu is Managing Director of Quan Capital, a life sciences venture fund with offices in China & US, and deep expertise in global investments and cross-border value creation. She is a founding member of Zai Lab (NASDAQ: ZLAB; HKEX: 09688) and served as COO and Director of the company prior to Quan Capital. Dr. Wu represents Quan Capital on the board of Alebund Biotech, Crescendo Biologics, Eluminex Biosciences, Innoforce, MEDx Translational Medicine, RareStone Group, Zenas Biopharma and Zidan Medical, and was a Director of Kira Pharmaceutical. Over the past decade, Dr. Wu has been active in cross-border ventures and value creation in the life sciences industry, and is a founding member of the China Healthcare Investment Conference. She was Managing Director at Burrill & Company, and led its investments and operation in Greater China. Prior to her focus on healthcare investments and company building, Dr. Wu held various roles with increasing responsibilities at Edwards Lifesciences and Eli Lilly & Company.
Dr. Wu received her medical degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (formerly Shanghai Second Medical University), a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from Medical College of Ohio, and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Ms. Buckley founded and leads Sweef Capital, a Singapore-headquartered independent impact investment firm dedicated to improving the lives of women, men, their families and communities in underserved markets by focusing on investing in high growth entrepreneurs building inclusive businesses. Sweef Capital’s investment practice is very much relationship centred and value creation oriented which instils confidence in investee companies and leverages established channels to drive strong deal flow.
Ms. Buckley comes with over 20 years in private equity leadership roles focused on growing mid-sized businesses across Europe and Asia as Head of GE Capital’s EMEA private equity business and as CIO of its Asian operations.
Prior Ms. Buckley was on the Global Investment Committee and led the Asian and women’s economic empowerment investment programs for a US-headquartered emerging market impact investment firm before spinning out the team to form Sweef Capital.
During her career, she has worked at Goldman Sachs International and Private Advisors in London and at Fletcher Challenge in Auckland.
Ms. Buckley received her MSc in International Accounting & Finance from the London School of Economics. She also holds a LLM (Hons) and LLB (Hons) from the University of Canterbury
Jessica Espinoza is CEO of the 2X Collaborative, a global industry for gender lens investing convening the entire spectrum of capital providers. She is also Chair of the 2X Challenge that has raised more than US$ 11 billion of gender lens investments since its launch at the G7 Summit in 2018. Jessica has a track record in originating, structuring and executing debt, mezzanine and equity deals in emerging and frontier markets with a strong focus on inclusive innovation. The latest innovation she is spearheading with 2X colleagues is 2X Ignite, a bold facility to unlock capital for gender-smart business at scale by backing female-led fund managers.
Jessica serves on the Board of Directors of AlphaMundi Foundation and previously of the Mexican financial institution Mega as well as the Advisory Board of several private equity funds. As a mentor for Endeavor, she supports high impact companies as they scale up. Jessica is the Founder of XOCO, an inclusive edtech venture and a fellow at Columbia eLab. Jessica was selected for the Leaders Europe 2022 program of the Obama Foundation and awarded the Digital Female Leadership Award of Global Digital Women 2019.
Prior to her current role, Jessica was Vice President for Private Equity & Venture Capital Investments at DEG/KfW. She was also a Member of the Management Board at ProCredit Bank Nicaragua responsible for the Business Clients Division and managed the Africa Regional Office of MicroFinance Transparency.
Jessica holds a double degree in International Business Management from ESB Business School and Dublin City University. She is a PhD candidate at University of Siegen, researching the transformative potential of gender lens investing under the supervision of Prof. Friederike Dr. Welter.
Mr. Fang is the founding managing partner of Starquest Capital, a China based private equity and fund of funds firm with investment strategy focused on consumer, healthcare and technology sector. Mr. Fang oversees the FoF investment, ESG integration, business development and various activities. Starquest Capital is the first Asian recipient of the UNPRI Awards 2019 Emerging Markets Initiative of the Year.
Prior to founding Starquest Capital in 2018, Mr. Fang served as the Head of LGT Capital Partners in China for 12 years. Before joining LGT Capital Partners in early 2007, Mr. Fang worked for AXA Private Equity Group in Singapore focusing on fund of funds and direct investment in Pan-Asia region. Mr. Fang has a total of 20 years' experience in the finance industry.
Mr. Fang has invested over USD 1.5 billion in Chinese private equity market, including long-established GPs such as CDH Investments, CITIC Capital, Sequoia Capital and Legend Capital, as well as VC 2.0 GPs such as Primavera Capital, Source Code Capital and Gaorong Capital. Mr. Fang is the member of Advisory Committees for over 20 funds in China and a member of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission Expert Committee. He is also invited to be expert judge of Forbes China 2020 "30 Under 30" List.
Mr. Fang holds a Bachelor degree in Accounting from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, MBA from INSEAD Business School and EMBA from People’s Bank of China School of Finance of Tsinghua University. Mr. Fang also holds the Chinese certified public accountant qualification. He is the member of Future Forum Youth Council. His native language is Mandarin. He is also fluent in English, French, Cantonese and can use conversational German and Japanese.
Laurien leads IFC’s efforts to advance gender equality within the Disruptive Technologies and Funds group, which invests directly in disruptive technology companies as well as investing as a LP in PE and VC funds. She is an experienced investor in these asset classes across emerging markets.
Kerrine is a Managing Director in Hamilton Lane’s Client Solutions Group, where she heads the firm’s Southeast Asia office. She is primarily responsible for business development, as well as coverage of client relationships in Southeast Asia.
Prior to this, Kerrine was the Head of Alternatives Distribution for Southeast Asia at BlackRock, where she was responsible for distribution strategy and client engagements on BlackRock’s alternative investment product suite, across client segments. Previously, she was the head of Institutional Client Business for Southeast Asia. Kerrine first joined BlackRock in 2010 as a member of the iShares Global Client Group, where she was responsible for ETF distribution.
Before joining BlackRock, Kerrine was responsible for business and product development for Alternative Investments at UOB Asset Management and held credit analysis and strategic investment roles within United Overseas Bank.
Kerrine received a MSc degree in Applied Finance from Singapore Management University and a BA degree, with first class honours, in Economics from the National University of Singapore. Kerrine is also a CFA and CAIA charter holder.
Lily is the founder of HerValue, the largest, only women empowerment organization for finance and investment in China. Under her leadership, HerValue will debut the first diversity & sustainability conference in China for finance and investment on International Women’s Day March 8th in 2023. HerValue and AVCJ are also partners to each organization’s diversity conferences. She was recognized as a woman community leader for her work on HerValue in the "Women community leader and Their Impact as Global Changemakers" textbook by IGI Global, a leading international academic publisher.
She authored the first of its kind investment research report on healthcare investments in Asia and organized the inaugural forum as the thought leader in this space. This thesis underwrites businesses, asset managers that serve 60% of world's population's healthcare needs, which will make up more than 40% of global healthcare growth. The thesis also drives accessible, equitable healthcare and health literacy for the public. Key markets are Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Bangladesh.
Lily does investments across South Asia, Southeast Asia at a multilateral development finance institution, an organization that advances development by backing companies and asset managers in member nations. Prior, she was an international investment banker in New York City serving the infrastructure, transportation sector.
Prachi Maheshwari, Deputy Director - Impact Investing
Prachi is the Deputy Director for Impact Investing at Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian government in the South East Asia region. Prior to joining Investing in Women, she led the Gender Lens Investing practice at Intellecap, an Aavishkaar Group company headquartered in India. Prachi has over 15 years of experience in private sector development, blended finance, and impact investing – across Asia Pacific and East Africa.
Before joining international development, Prachi had worked with leading multinational companies – Nokia and Tata Consultancy Services – in various strategy and operations roles. She has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from India and an MBA from the Philippines.