Mergermarket M&A Forum - Hong Kong
The premier M&A forum in Hong Kong
The Four Seasons, Hong Kong
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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.
Bagrin Angelov is an M&A Executive Director in the Investment Banking division of China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC) based in Beijing, where he is exclusively dedicated to China cross-border M&A situations. Mr. Angelov has profound experience in supporting multinational corporations, private enterprises and state owed enterprises with their cross-border M&A undertakings. To date he has advised on 100+ M&A deals globally (both in emerging and developed markets such as USA, Germany, Korea, Japan, Israel and Australia), with a combined transaction value of some US$100bn. Prior to CICC Mr. Angelov worked in the Investment Banking divisions of Barclays, ABN AMRO, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and a Middle Eastern SWF.
Betül joined TMF Group in 2020.
She has experience in M&A integration both as a corporate lawyer and as a professional services vendor, focusing on cross-border deals involving consolidation, expansion and M&A with exposure to Asia-Pacific markets for 10 years.
Errol has worked as Global Head of Compliance & Legal Counsel, APAC Head of Compliance & Legal and Legal Director at top tier investment banks, securities brokers, fund managers and listed blue chip corporates in Hong Kong. Prior to working at financial institutions, Errol worked at magic circle law firms in London and Sydney. Errol has managed Compliance teams, partnered with Chief Operating Officers to successfully execute MIFIDII & Brexit Compliance programs, addressed MAS & ASIC inspections, conducted anti-bribery and anti-money laundering investigations, established KYC, AML & anti-bribery policies and delivered IT solutions to implement AML & KYC programs. He has also worked on highly complex M&A transactions involving complex analysis of US, European & Australian sanctions as well as offshore M&A transactions involving foreign investor approvals from local governments. He is a leading speaker at conferences organised by Asia Risk & International Financial Law Review and asked for his views in GC Magazine - The Legal 500.
Errol is a qualified lawyer who is licensed to practice in Hong Kong, Australia, England and New York and is a member of the Advisory Board of Energy Risk - a leading thought platform for energy professionals.
Alex is currently VP Strategy & Development, Asia Pacific for Amcor, a $15 billion ASX-listed global leading supplier of flexible and rigid plastic packaging to well-known FMCG and Pharma brands. Before seconded to the current management role, he was Vice President, Head of Asia M&A when he completed nine acquisitions and led numerous others in Emerging Asia and Middle East/Africa for Amcor.
He has over 15 years of experience in leading M&A transactions and managing acquired businesses in Asia as corporate & financial owner and as advisor. He launched the ex-Japan Asia private equity investment business of leading Japanese buyout fund Advantage Partners and closed several investments that generated attractive capital gain for the fund. While at Coca-Cola and McKinsey Asia Corporate Finance Group, he led transactions of various sizes across Asia. He also advised private equity funds and corporations in Europe and Asia on investment and post-merger restructuring during his tenure at Bain & Company.
Cliff Chau joined HOPU Investments in 2012 and serves as CFO, Co-COO and Partner in charge of healthcare investments. Cliff has over 20 years of experience in international financial industry with in-depth financial advisory and management experience in both the U.S. and China. Besides his CFO and Co-COO duties, he focuses on building a HOPU healthcare ecosystem and investing in biotech, medtech and healthcare services companies.
Cliff brings a wealth of experience in investments, risk management, operations and sales & marketing to his approach to healthcare industry. His current portfolio companies include Ambrx Inc., a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, Mevion Medical Systems, a proton therapy system company headquartered in Massachusetts and I-Mab Biopharma, a China-based global player in innovative biologics and he sits on the boards of Ambrx and Mevion. In the early stage of his career, Cliff was responsible for the sales and marketing of clinical and laboratory products of Beckman Instruments, Bio-Rad and Merck in China.
Prior to joining HOPU, Cliff was the Managing Director and Head of Finance Department of China Investments Corporation (CIC). He was a member of CIC’s risk management committee and an observer of investment committee. He also represented CIC sitting on the boards of CITIC Capital and China Jianyin Investment Limited. Before CIC, Cliff was a Partner of KPMG’s Transaction Services Practice, where he advised numerous cross-border transactions and was deeply involved with assisting companies to implement their China strategies. He worked at KPMG’s Beijing office and Los Angeles office.
Cliff also sits on the boards of Advisory Committee for the Quantitative Finance Program of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Sinopec Marketing Company, and The China Tea Company.
Cliff holds an MBA from State University of New York, a BSc. in Biochemistry from CUHK and a C.P.A. State of California.
Prior to his current role at WeDoctor, Jeff served as the Group Chief Innovation Officer of Fullerton Health. Prior to that, he was the Chief Strategy Officer of WeDoctor. Before joining WeDoctor, Jeff was the Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia Pacific at HSBC, where he was in charge and led all the TMT transactions across the region and a Senior Director with Credit Suisse Hong Kong’s TMT investment banking team. His coverage focused on capital raising for internet companies and traditional technology M&A transactions across Asia Pacific.
Jeff graduated from the University of Southern California in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Mr. Max Chen is a Partner and a founding member of Primavera Capital.
At Primavera, Mr. Chen led the firm’s investments in a variety of opportunities in the consumer and technology sectors, including investments in Alibaba Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics, Alibaba Local Services Group, Palantir, Lufax, iResearch, Vitaco Health and Linksure Global.
Prior to Primavera, Mr. Chen worked at the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in both Hong Kong and New York.
Mr. Chen received his JD and MBA degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School respectively and also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College.
Prior to joining Morrow Sodali, Raymond spent more than ten years at Georgeson, a Computershare company. Raymond was responsible for providing capital markets intelligence, proxy solicitation support, M&A transaction advisory and corporate governance support to many high profile companies and transactions across the APAC region, including Mainland China. In particular, Raymond provided insight into China-based institutional investors and hedge funds and solutions to help companies engage with their investors to achieve the highest possible voting outcomes at shareholder meetings. Prior to joining Georgeson, Raymond worked for Citibank N.A. in New York where he worked in client relations and prior to this role he was the global trade operations assistant of Agricultural Bank of China.
Raymond has participated in transactions including Haier Electronic Group Co., Ltd. privatisation by Scheme arrangement by Haier Smart Home Co., Li & Fung Ltd. privatisation by Scheme arrangement by GLP Golden Lincoln A Holdings Ltd., and Belle International Holdings Ltd. privatisation by Scheme arrangement by Hillhouse Capital and CDH Investment.
Raymond received a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University and completed classes of the Enterprises Risk Management program in New York University.
Charles Ching is a partner in the Corporate Department and the Managing Partner of Weil’s China offices. He regularly represents international and China-based private equity sponsors and corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions, minority investments, PIPEs and other investment transactions, particularly those with a China focus. He has also acted on some of the most prominent cross-border M&A transactions involving China in recent years.
Ranked as a leading lawyer by Chambers, The Legal 500 and IFLR1000, Charles is also named in The Best Lawyers™ in China 2020 and further earned the distinction of 2020 Private Equity and Venture Capital “Lawyer of the Year” in Shanghai. In addition, he is included in China Business Law Journal’s annual “A-List” for 2019 and 2018 as one of the leading lawyers in foreign firms in China.
Charles received his JD from Yale Law School and BA from Columbia University. He is a native Mandarin and English speaker and is qualified as an attorney in New York and a solicitor in Hong Kong.
Marco is currently the Group Head of Legal at CLSA and is also an executive director of a Hong Kong listed company, CLSA Premium Limited (HKEx Stock Code: 6877). Before joining CLSA, Marco spent approximately 10 years at Morgan Stanley Asia, holding various senior positions including, the Regional COO role of the Private Funds business and the Regional Head of Legal role for both Private Funds and IBD M&A. He was awarded M&A individual of the Year in 2019 by the Association of Corporate Counsel. He was a corporate attorney at Slaughter and May (London and Hong Kong) for more than 7 years prior to that.
Ms Shengyan Fan joined China Everbright Limited in 2009 and is a Managing Director of the Merger & Acquisition Department. She also serves as a Managing Partner of the CEL Catalyst China Israel Fund and a member of the investment committee of the CEL Global Investment Fund and the CEL Catalyst China Israel Fund.
Ms. Fan has 20 years’ experience in direct investment, capital raising and investment banking businesses. Prior to joining CEL, Ms. Fan has held various positions with increasing responsibility at multinational investment banks.
Ms. Fan holds a BA and a BS from Tsinghua University and an MA from the University of Oxford.
Amy is the Chief Operating Officer at FountainVest Partners (Asia) Limited. FountainVest Partners was founded in 2007 and is a leading China-focused private equity fund headquartered in Hong Kong. Prior to joining FountainVest in late 2019, Amy worked for 4 years as the CEO of Save the Children Hong Kong, the HK member of a global movement that works in 120 countries focusing on the most marginalized and deprived children.
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 serves on 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 20-year old daughter and a 15-year old son. Since 2015, Amy has been an dedicated practitioner of meditation which she credits for her clarity in her life’s purpose.
Raymond is the General Counsel, International, of China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited with oversight of the legal, regulatory and enterprise risk management aspects of the Group’s international operations, principal investments and strategic initiatives around the world.
He has received various industry awards over the years, and was recently recognized as one of the most influential corporate counsels in The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist for China and Hong Kong in 2017.
Prior to joining CTS, he spent more than 18 years in various senior management, corporate development and legal and compliance roles with leading diversified conglomerates, a bulge bracket investment bank, and in private practice with Wall Street and Magic Circle law firms where he focused on capital markets transactions, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, technology and telecommunications, strategic initiatives and principal investments across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Raymond is a graduate of Columbia Law School, New York and The Wharton School’s Advanced Management Program for Senior Executives.
Frank Jin is an Executive Director within Morgan Stanley’s Mergers & Acquisitions Department based in Hong Kong. He is currently the M&A Operations Officer for Asia Pacific.
Frank has over 13 years of experience practicing M&A. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Frank worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Standard Chartered and the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell focusing on M&A transactions and leveraged finance in New York and Hong Kong. Frank is dual qualified as a New York lawyer and Hong Kong solicitor.
Frank received a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, in Biology and Commerce, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Frank’s M&A practice focuses on China-related transactions as well as those involving listed companies in Hong Kong and other venues.
Dr Amit Kakar joined Novo Holdings Asia in August 2020 as Head of Asia to lead investments and partnerships across the region, focusing primarily on the markets in China, Southeast Asia and India.
Dr Amit Kakar has more than 25 years of healthcare experience with several senior management roles across the globe and having worked in India, China, Singapore, Denmark and the USA. Previously, he has been with Everlife Asia based in Singapore as Head of M&A and Business Development, with the Avenue Capital Group as Head of healthcare investments for Asia and with GE Healthcare in several senior leadership positions.
Dr Amit Kakar is a Medical Doctor with a postgraduate degree in Radiation and Nuclear Medicine from Tata Memorial Hospital and Cancer Centre in Mumbai, India.
Kapil Kirpalani is a Director and serves as KKR’s Chief Compliance Officer for the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Kirpalani was at HarbourVest Partners where he was responsible for the legal/compliance coverage of the funds, secondaries and direct co-investing businesses across Asia. He was previously with Pacific Harbor Capital (a Citigroup affiliate) where he covered a broad range of businesses including special situations, debt & equity investments. He began his career in private practice. Mr. Kirpalani holds an LL.B. (with honors), an LL.M. and has completed further business studies at the University of Cambridge.
Irene Koh, Executive Director, Ms. Koh joined JP Morgan Asset Management Private Equity Group in 2008. Prior to joining the Group, Ms. Koh was with JPMorgan's real estate structured finance group, originating and structuring commercial mortgage backed securities for REITs in Asia Pacific ex-Japan. Previously, Ms. Koh was a senior application engineer with Soluris Inc. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a MS in Financial Engineering from the National University of Singapore.
The Private Equity Group is one of the largest global private equity investment managers with assets comprising of over 350 partnerships, direct and secondary investments.
Toto Ku is the Head of Greater China at Datasite (formerly Merrill Corporation), responsible for the company’s rapid growth in the mainland. He leads the expansion of Datasite’s footprint in the market, now trusted by thousands of corporates and PEs in China to securely source, manage and execute their deals and transactions faster.
Toto has more than 10 years’ experience in the finance industry, holding senior management roles in portfolio companies of KKR, Bain Capital and other global organizations, with a focus on financial technologies.
He specializes in helping global companies establish their footprint in China, successfully developing multiple opportunities for business growth over the past decade. Toto also has set up several real estate brokerage firms in Hong Kong serving hedge funds and PEs.
Donald Lacey is Chief Investment Officer at Ping An Global Voyager, a growth stage fintech and healthtech venture fund formed by Ping An Group. Mr. Lacey joined Ping An from Citigroup, where he worked as a managing director in a variety of corporate and investment banking roles across Asia Pacific. While at Citigroup, he led the bank’s advisory efforts on numerous high profile cross-border M&A and capital raising transactions for Asian insurance, banking and technology firms. Mr. Lacey commenced his career as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York. He has an SB from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Raymond, based in Shanghai, China, joined Principle Capital in 2019.
Principle Capital is a private equity investment firm based in Shanghai investing in Chinese and cross-border middle cap market companies. Principle Capital was founded in 2002 with the mission of helping Chinese and cross-border enterprises to build industry leading businesses.
Prior to Principle, Raymond was a Managing Director at Lau Equity, a private investment company, which invests across a broad range of sectors and geographic areas in private equity, public equity, fixed income and real estate.
Raymond spent 9+ years at GE Pension Trust, where he managed the private equity portfolio.
Education: Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management, MBA, Business Administration and Management, General; HKUST Business School, MBA; Guanghua School of Management, MBA, Finance and Business in China; Tel Aviv University, Executive MBA, Venture Capital and Product Management
Elsy Li is the Group Treasurer and Head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited. Ms. Li is a seasoned investment banking professional with more than 24 years of experience. Prior to joining Sun Hung Kai Co. Limited, she has held various senior investment banking positions including Managing Director of Institutional Client Group and Managing Director of Asia Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank Hong Kong. Elsy held a BBA degree from the Ross Business School at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and has been a Member of the Listing Committee of Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2019.
Michael Ling is the deputy company secretary for CLP Holdings Limited and oversees the day to day functions of CLP Group Corporate Secretarial and works closely with the Board of Directors of CLP Holdings and the Board Committees.
Prior to taking up this position in 2016, he was the legal counsel on the international team of CLP Group Legal Affairs for over four years. Before joining CLP, he was in the group legal function of AIA Group Ltd and was involved in the restructuring of the AIA group of companies. He also has extensive experience in corporate transactions and advisory work including public and private M&A and capital markets work in Hong Kong, London and Beijing.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University and has completed the IMD’s Applied Leadership Program and the FT Non-Executive Director Programme. He is a Fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar. He is also a Fellow member of both The Chartered Governance Institute and The Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute (HKCGI) (formerly known as The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries), and awarded with the dual designations of Chartered Secretary and Chartered Governance Professional; he is currently a member of Technical Consultation Panel and Mainland China Focus Group of HKCGI. He also sits on the Board of AFS Hong Kong.
Samson Lo joined UBS in 2010 and is primarily responsible for M&A origination and execution in the Asia Pacific region across many industry sectors. From 2007-2010, Mr. Lo was a member of Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific's investment banking team for Hong Kong-based corporations. From 2000-2007, Mr. Lo was a member of Lehman Brothers' M&A group in New York City and led executions for transactions across many industry sectors.
Mr. Lo graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania's Management & Technology Program, with joint undergraduate degrees from Wharton School and School of Engineering & Applied Sciences.
Mr. Long co-founded Olympus Capital Asia, an Asia-dedicated private equity firm, in 1997. Since inception, Olympus Capital has invested over $2 billion in more than 50 Asian companies.
In 2009, Mr. Long spearheaded an initiative by Olympus Capital to invest in clean energy and sustainability-related companies. This led to the formation of Asia Environmental Partners I and II (AEP), funds which have invested $600mm in renewable energy, water services/technologies, responsible production and sustainability solutions.
Mr. Long holds an MBA degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an AB degree from Brown University.
Simon is a partner based in Winston & Strawn’s Hong Kong office and chairman of the firm’s Asia practice. He advises Asian and international companies on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities transactions, and the structuring, listing, governance, and business combination of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).
Simon has assisted Asia-based SPAC sponsors in initial public offerings on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, as well as with identifying potential business combination targets and structuring and closing deals in various industries including fintech, crypto-currency, media & entertaining, healthcare, new energy, and waste management.
A member of the editorial board of Lexis Advance® Hong Kong Practical Guidance – Corporate, Simon has authored six books on private equity and M&A topics published by LexisNexis.
Simon serves as an honorary legal adviser to the Toy Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Electrical Appliances Industries Association, the Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council, and as Vice President of Monte Jade Science and Technology Association of Hong Kong. He was also a legal adviser to the Hong Kong Electronics Association and a former honorary legal adviser to The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies for many years.
Pamela Mar leads the development of knowledge and applications which support the Fung Group’s strategic response to disruption driven by the rise of sustainability, geopolitical risk and the changing nature of consumption. Current explorations include trade finance, sustainable finance and the global supply chain’s evolution after Covid-19.
Prior to her current role, she ran the Academy’s programs that support sustainable, competitive advantage in the supply chains of Fung Group companies, including the use of mobile and IOT technologies, as well as direct supplier training. Until 2019, she served as the Fung Group Director of Sustainability and was instrumental in growing sustainability beyond compliance and into a competitive advantage for the Group. She was named one of 10 leaders on the Eco-business Sustainability A-List at the end of 2019. She continues to teach sustainability as an Honorary Visiting Lecturer in the MBA program of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
She was formerly based in Shenzhen as a Director in the Global Finance Center of TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings, and prior to that, in Geneva as the World Economic Forum’s Associate Director for Greater China, where she built the Forum’s key relations with the Chinese government and businesses.
Pamela studied Philosophy and East Asian Studies at Yale University, graduating summa cum laude, and then went on to obtain an M.Sc. in Management with honors from the London School of Economics.
LLM, with over 17-year multinational legal affairs management experiences, Victor used to work in a Hong Kong red-chip mobile communication company, a multi-national cosmetics company, and a world-class retail conglomerate. His extensive experience has equipped him with rich business knowledge of various industries, a sharp sense of different industry sectors and legal practice experiences. Victor has worked at Henkel for over 10 years, during which he has led his team handled numerous and complicated legal affairs and projects in the areas of international & domestic restructuring, divesture, mergers & acquisitions, labor, anti-trust, tax, customs, dispute resolution, government affairs, compliance and corporate governance. Victor’s performances has won him a high recognition from the Headquarters’ management, and he was elected as one of the Top General Counsel in 2015 by Asia Legal Business of Thomson Reuters. Victor’s current practices and study interests concentrate on the legal systems of foreign direct investment, anti-trust, mergers & acquisitions, tax law and corporate law. Victor was also invited from time to time by professional forums as the guest speaker on the above mentioned areas.
At Generali Asia, John Spence is responsible for formulating and executing mergers and acquisitions, fostering strategic alliances and partnerships and leading regional corporate development initiatives to achieve Generali’s growth targets in Asia.
Prior to joining Generali, Mr. Spence provided independent strategic advisory services for Asian cross border insurance and asset management transactions at Asian Capital Advisors and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW). At Macquarie Funds Group, he also had responsibility for Asian acquisitions and led a Korean asset management joint venture. At Manulife Financial, his region-wide responsibilities included mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships and wealth management. In Australia, Mr. Spence held senior executive roles at National Australia Bank and AMP.
Mr. Spence holds a Masters of Business Administration from Australian Graduate School of Management, Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University, is a Chartered Accountant, a Chartered Secretary, Senior Associate of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, and a Certified Financial Planner. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.
Cyan joined KPMG Hong Kong in July 2011, and prior to joining she had worked in McKinsey & Company Corporate Finance, PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance and Nomura International
She has over 15 years of experience in M&A advisory including fund raising, divestment, joint venture and acquisitions with a focus in consumer sector. She is the consumer sector leader for Greater China M&A team.
In recent, she has advised on disposal for Winnitex, a textile sector (approx. US$180m); Tam Chai Yunna Noodle (US$128m); 5 subsidiaries of Singamas Container Holdings Limited (approx. US$540m)
Licensed Representative, SFC (Advising on Corporate Finance)
HKICPA
Bachelor of B.B.A. in Professional Accountancy
Catherine Tsoi is currently the Chief Greater Bay Strategy Officer for Sun Life. She is responsible to spearhead the strategic expansion of Sun Life in the Greater Bay Area. In her role, she leads the strategy development, drives new partnerships, and oversees the execution of the strategy and key business initiatives for the organization. Catherine was previously the Head of Corporate Development and Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A”) for Sun Life Asia. She was instrumental in managing M&A transactions and strategic investments for Sun Life across all the markets in Asia.
She has over 18 years of experience in financial services spanning across insurance, wealth management, institutional and retail banking. Her expertise encompasses M&A, corporate strategy, transaction advisory, market entry, business development and partnership establishment and management. Catherine has strong business acumen and acute expertise in leading large scale, cross border M&A transactions and building long term relationships.
Prior to joining Sun Life, Catherine was Assistant Vice President and led the Regional strategy and business development for MetLife Asia. Before joining the insurance industry, Catherine was a long time banker for Citi and National Australia Bank and held a number of leadership positions where she opened new markets, set up JVs and new partnerships, structured transactions for bank and third-party distribution and strategized in building a sustainable business. Catherine balances strategic oversight with deep knowledge of financial services across banking, insurance and wealth management and has worked and lived in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and the US.
Catherine is a champion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She recognizes that sustainability and corporate social responsibility have immense positive impact and can make a difference to the business, our global community and the environment. Catherine is an MBA graduate; she is optimistic, enjoys new challenges and is passionate about life.
PV Wang currently serves as Managing Director of Legend Capital and is responsible for assisting CEO and CIO in charge of investor relation, business development and other related work for the company.
Prior to Legend Capital, Mr Wang was the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Noah Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. and was responsible for its private market investments. Mr Wang was a Partner at Adams Street from 2002 till December 2015. He was involved in formulating the firm’s private equity fund investment strategy for Asia and was a member of its Primary Investment Committee.
As the APAC head of global development at RBI (brand owner of Burger King®, Popeyes® chicken and Tim Hortons® coffee backed by 3G Capital), Ryan Wei leads new market expansion efforts for the firm through partnerships with QSR operators and F&B investors.
A former founder and serial entrepreneur, Ryan spent 2020 building up one of Indonesia’s largest FMCG B2B eCommerce platforms as the Chief Strategy Officer and CFO. Prior to tech start-ups, he was the UK Managing Director / Head of China at a cross-border PE fund and M&A boutique DealGlobe Capital. Previously he was with London-based Actis PE and Swiss-headquartered Partners Group, focusing on growth equity and buyouts, plus LP fund investments first in Europe then Asia.
During early career days in Canada, he worked in Big Tech, central bank fund management and derivatives trading. Ryan graduated from London Business School and the University of Toronto with high distinction.
Esther Wong is managing director in SenseTime, also a founding partner of SenseTime’s AI fund with AUM of RMB 5bn. SenseTime investment focuses on investing companies in AI ecosystem and finding long term strategic partners.
Esther previously ran Equity Capital Market in Bocom International, China's fifth largest bank, where she was in charge of overseas IPOs and equity placements. Esther began her career 20 years ago as an analyst on Wall Street with ABN Amro; her last role in New York was Head of Sales and Trading for Cazenove Asia (acquired by JPMorgan) whereby she was the first Chinese and first woman to be appointed that position. She moved to Hong Kong in 2006 to support launching of CICC’s US office, and in the process, rated as one of Greater China's Top Institutional Sales by Asia Money Magazine 5 years on a row.
Esther graduated with Associate Degree in Hospitality Administration in Glion Institutes, Switzerland; followed by BA(s) in Economics and Political Science in SUNY Stony Brook.
Miranda Zhao joined Natixis in 2019 as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Asia Pacific, Corporate & Investment Banking. Miranda is responsible for leading the development of M&A activities for the Asia Pacific platform, working closely with the bank’s in-house teams as well as its network of boutiques in the region and globally.
Miranda has extensive investment banking experience across Asia Pacific and Europe, with a strong focus on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
Her most recent role prior to joining Natixis was as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at China Everbright Capital Limited. Prior to that, she works for various global investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and The Royal Bank of Scotland/CIMB.