EMPEA Private Equity Masterclass in Hong Kong

January 18, 2018 | The Offices of Debevoise & Plimpton | 21/F AIA Central, 1 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

EMPEA and HKVCA members may register for free with the code EMPEAHK18.

• Register
• Agenda

EMPEA’s 4th Private Equity Masterclass in Hong Kong will take place on Thursday, 18 January 2018 following the Asian Financial Forum and the Asia Private Equity Forum on 17 January.

In both size and scope, the private capital industry in Emerging Asia increasingly looks more like a developed market than an emerging market. Fund managers have invested US$27 billion in Emerging Asia so far this year, removing any doubt that 2017 year-end totals will surpass 2014’s previous record of US$28 billion. At a scale more commonly seen in the U.S. or Western Europe, big-ticket buyouts and expansive growth deals drove investment totals, particularly in China and South Korea. Concurrently, larger funds have raised an outsized proportion of Emerging Asia’s fundraising. Five funds accounted for 54% of the US$26 billion raised so far in 2017, including the record-breaking US$9.3 billion KKR Asian Fund III, which closed in June. Capital concentration in a small number of funds will likely increase as global LPs looking to enter the region commit to well-established managers. However, venture capital funds accounted for 58% of funds closed in 2017, indicating that small—and often local—funds with access to Asia’s most promising startups still play an important role in the industry.

Speakers

Karlyn Adams, Associate Director, BSR 

Karlyn Adams, an Associate Director in BSR’s Hong Kong office, focuses on helping companies and investors to integrate environmental, social and governance considerations into their business models and processes.  Her work is cross-industry with emphasis on financial services, consumer goods, and transportation & logistics. Prior to joining BSR, Karlyn was VP of Strategy & Transformation for TAU Investment Management, a private equity firm focused on investing in manufacturers in Asia, and founded on principles of ESG integration and responsible supply chains.  She was formerly a management consultant with IBM and with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where she advised corporate clients in financial services, pharma and high tech on a range of topics requiring strategic analysis, creative problem-solving, stakeholder engagement and cross-functional collaboration.

Karlyn holds a BA in Economics from Stanford University, an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an MA in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Gavin Anderson, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton 

Gavin Anderson is based in the Hong Kong office and is a member of the firm’s Investment Funds and Investment Management Group. He has broad experience in advising sponsors and investors on a variety of issues, including fund formation, co-investment and carried interest arrangements. Mr. Anderson’s recent experience includes acting for clients such as Baring Private Equity Asia, CDH Investments, D. E. Shaw, Global Infrastructure Partners, HarbourVest, Morgan Stanley, Navis Capital Partners, Southern Capital and Quilvest. Mr. Anderson earned his B.A. (Hons) from the University of Oxford (Brasenose College) in 2000 and PgDL from the College of Law at Guildford in 2001. He graduated from the Legal Practice Course at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice in 2002. Prior to joining Debevoise in 2006, he trained and worked as an associate at an international law firm in London.

Neil Brown, Partner, Head of Investor Development Group, Actis 

As head of IDG Neil is responsible for Actis global fundraising and investor relations activities. He is a member of both the Executive Committee and the Valuation and Exit Committee. Prior to joining Actis in 2013, Neil worked in Sydney as a Founding Director of the boutique Private Equity advisory firm, Minerva Capital Advisors Ltd (2009-2013). Previously, he was an Executive Director and Head of Global Debt & Equity Capital Markets and Head of Funds Management at Alco Finance (Sydney, 2007-2008). Neil also brings experience from his time as Global Head of the Sales, Products & Client Services division with Citigroup Alternative Investments (New York, 2004-2007). He holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and a First Class Honours in Industrial Chemistry from The University of New South Wales.

 

Leo Chiu, Principal, CPP Investment Board 

Leo joined CPP Investment Board in 2008 when the Hong Kong office was established. He is a senior member of the Private Equity Asia team that manages Asian private equity funds and co-investments. Prior to joining CPP Investment Board, Leo worked in the Investment Banking and Wealth Management Departments at UBS in Hong Kong and Zurich. Leo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics Political Science with Honors from Columbia University.

Shawna Kaufman, Managing Director, Membership, Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) 

As Managing Director, Membership of the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Shawna Kaufman is responsible for ILPA’s relationships with the world’s leading private equity investors. This includes establishing and enriching ILPA’s connections with current & prospective members, building a deep understanding of LP interests & issues, and coordinating ILPA’s services to maximize their impact on LP priorities. She is additionally responsible for overseeing ILPA’s global events and conferences as a central platform for member engagement. The Institutional Limited Partners Association engages, empowers and connects limited partners to maximize their performance on an individual, institutional and collective basis. With more than 450 member institutions representing over US$1 trillion of private equity assets under management, ILPA is the only global organization dedicated exclusively to advancing the interests of LPs and their beneficiaries through best-in-class education, research, advocacy and events.

Ralph Keitel, Principal Investment Officer, IFC

Ralph Keitel is a Principal Investment Officer in the Private Equity and Investment Funds department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Since joining IFC in early 2006, he has been responsible as regional lead for IFC’s private equity fund activities in Eastern Europe/Russia (2006-2008), Africa (2008-2011), Latin America (2011-2014) and East Asia (since 2014).

Brian Lim, Partner, Pantheon 

Brian is a Partner and Head of Pantheon’s Asia and Emerging Markets Investment teams. Prior to joining Pantheon, Brian worked as a Portfolio Director at CDC Group, the specialist emerging markets private equity investor, and before that worked at Watson Wyatt advising institutional investors on private equity and investment strategy. Brian qualified as an actuary and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. He has an MBA from the London Business School, and a BSc in Actuarial Science from City, University of London.

George Maltezos, Partner, Campbell Lutyens 

George Maltezos joined Campbell Lutyens as a Partner in 2016 to help develop Campbell Lutyens’ Asia Pacific activities and look after institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand. George spent nearly 8 years at Goldman Sachs where he was a Managing Director and Head of Credit and Alternatives, Aus/NZ, after which he established his own fund placement firm in Australia to service global asset managers seeking to access capital owners in the region. George has a 20 year career in global alternatives. He graduated from the University of Technology in Sydney and is a CFA charterholder.

Eric Mason, Managing Director, The Church Pension Fund 

Eric Mason is a Managing Director of The Church Pension Fund. He joined the Church Pension Fund in 2009 as the head of the Fund’s new Asian office based in Hong Kong and has been based in Asia for almost 25 years. Mr. Mason and his team are responsible for the Fund’s investments in Asia across all asset classes with a focus on private equity, real estate and hedge funds. The team manages approximately $1.8 billion in investments in Asian based managers. Prior to joining the Fund, Mr. Mason was the head for the Carlyle Group’s Asia Leverage Finance Fund and before that spent 13 years at JPMorgan most recently as Asian regional head of Leveraged Finance. In these roles, Mr. Mason has developed experience in structuring, underwriting and investing in private equity and credit transactions. Mr. Mason first came to Asia in 1990 to teach at the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing with Princeton-in-Asia, prior to that he worked in Washington DC for U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. Mr. Mason earned a Masters Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and a B.A. in International Relations and Economics from the University of Delaware. Mr. Mason speaks Mandarin Chinese. The Church Pension Fund is a private tax exempt organization based in New York City with more than US$12 billion in assets under management. The Fund has been in continuous operation since 1917 and provides pension benefits to those serving the Episcopal Church. The Church is an extensive investor in alternative assets and has been investing with many of the global leaders in venture capital and private equity for decades.

Judith Li, Partner, Lilly Asia Ventures 

Judith J. Li, is a Partner at Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), based in Hong Kong / Shanghai and focused on early and growth stage investments across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics both domestically and cross-border. Judith holds board appointments at a variety of LAV’s portfolio companies, including Crown Biosciences (6554:TT), Just Biotherapeutics, Veritas Genetics, and Nextcure. Her prior experience includes McKinsey’s New York office, hospital administration at Partners Healthcare, and co-founding an interventional nephrology medical device venture. Judith holds a B.A. in Neurobiology from Harvard and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and currently resides in Hong Kong, splitting her time between Hong Kong, Shanghai, and the Bay Area.

Steve Okun, ASEAN Representative, EMPEA 

Steve Okun, EMPEA’s ASEAN Representative, is Founder and CEO of Singapore-based APAC Advisors, having lived and worked in Asia since 2003, most recently for global investment firm and EMPEA member, KKR, and previously, with global logistics company UPS. As KKR’s first Director of Asia Public Affairs, Mr. Okun’s responsibilities encompassed government affairs, communications, stakeholder engagement and sustainability, and in supporting such efforts for its portfolio companies. His responsibilities included KKR’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives. He created and led KKR’s impact investing pro bono program in the region, a model for strategic philanthropic engagement for which KKR won Public Affairs Asia’s Gold Standard Award for Corporate Citizenship.

Andrew Ostrognai, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton 

Andrew M. Ostrognai is a corporate partner and Chair of the firm’s Private Equity practice in Asia. He is also a member of Debevoise’s Private Equity Group focusing on private equity fund formation and downstream investment in the Asia Pacific region.Mr. Ostrognai has extensive experience in forming all types of funds, from large pan-Asian buy-out funds to smaller focused sector or country-specific funds, as well as separate account programs and foreign-sponsored, RMB-denominated private equity funds. Mr. Ostrognai also has strong experience in various types of secondary transactions. Mr. Ostrognai received his B.A. in 1986 from Yale University and his J.D. in 1989 from the University of Chicago Law School.

David G. Pierce, Managing Director & Head of Asia, HQ Capital 

David Pierce is Managing Director & Head of Asia for HQ Capital, a leading independent alternative investment manager with currently more than US$12 billion in assets under management in private equity and real estate.  Based in HQ Capital’s Hong Kong offices, David serves on the firm’s global private equity investment committee.  In addition to various private boards and fund advisory committees, David is a Board Member of the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, which he chaired from 2011-2013.  He is Chair of the HKVCA’s Asia Private Equity Forum as well as a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s Steering Committee of the Asian Financial Forum.  David is also a member of the Asia Council of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association, which he chaired from 2013-16. David holds an LLM from the London School of Economics, a JD cum laude from the Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Dartmouth College.

Kyle Shaw, Founder & Managing Partner, ShawKwei & Partners 

Kyle Shaw is the founder and managing partner of ShawKwei & Partners, a private equity fund manager based in Hong Kong and Singapore investing in Asian advanced manufacturing and service industries.  ShawKwei is actively involved in managing portfolio companies and has specialist operating skills in areas such as revenue growth, margin expansion, and capital efficiency. Kyle has managed investment portfolios starting in 1990 with Security Pacific National Bank in Hong Kong, then in 1993 with the Tudor Investment Group in Shanghai, and in 1998 establishing ShawKwei & Partners.  Prior to private equity, Kyle worked in the oil industry with Union Texas Petroleum in Houston and Tidewater in Louisiana and Singapore.  During his private equity career, Kyle has served on the board of directors of numerous companies in China, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan including Flextronics, China Fangda Group, YongLe Tape, Amos Holdings, and Beyonics. Kyle received an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 and a BS Commerce from the University of Virginia in 1983.  He studied Mandarin Chinese at Taiwan’s National Normal University Language Institute for foreign students in 1985, and has lived over 30 years in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan.

Kurt Tong, U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau 

Kurt W. Tong assumed his duties as Consul General representing the United States to Hong Kong and Macau on August 27, 2016. As Chief of Mission, Mr. Tong leads a large interagency team that cooperates with the governments of Hong Kong and Macau in a variety of areas. Those areas include expansion of trade and bilateral investment; combatting transnational crime; protection of the environment; and educational and cultural exchanges. The Consulate General also supports U.S. resident citizens and visitors and provides visa services to facilitate tourist and business travel to the United States. Mr. Tong has been a diplomat since 1990, including service at the National Security Council, and in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and Manila. Before joining the Foreign Service, he was an Associate with the Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo. Consul General Tong holds a B.A. from Princeton University, and speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Rebecca Xu, Vice Chair, EMPEA Board of Directors; Co-Founder and Managing Director, Asia Alternatives Management LLC

Rebecca Xu is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Asia Alternatives. Ms. Xu leads Asia Alternatives’ Beijing office and is also a part of the Hong Kong office. She is on the Firm’s Investment Committee and co-leads Asia Alternatives’ investments in expansion and growth capital funds, focusing most of her time on Asia Alternatives’ China investments. Prior to starting Asia Alternatives, Ms. Xu was a Senior Investment Officer at the Funds Group of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group. There, she had the primary responsibility of leading IFC’s fund investing and portfolio supervision in Asia for over six years. Previously, Ms. Xu also worked at McKinsey & Co, Inc. (Washington D.C.) and HSBC (Hong Kong). Ms. Xu received an MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a Bachelors degree in International Relations from the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China. Ms. Xu is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English. Ms. Xu is Vice Chairman of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA) and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for several of Asia Alternatives’ China and India private equity funds. In addition, she serves on the Board of the Chun Hui Bo’ ai Children Foundation.”