Analysis >> Advisory
Family offices: A role for Hong Kong?
Hong Kong’s package of incentives for family offices is intended to redress a balance that has swung in favour of Singapore. Geopolitics is dampening its competitive advantages
Cybersecurity: PE urged to go post-quantum
Private equity firms with masses of information, long histories, and long futures will be vulnerable to code-cracking quantum computers perceived as lurking on an inevitable near-term horizon
Generative AI in due diligence: Crunching new numbers
Private equity is rediscovering artificial intelligence as a due diligence tool in the wake of ChatGPT. Data security, legal, and technical risks have curbed uptake somewhat, less so for venture
Put a bow on it: India draws funds to GIFT City
India has created an onshore jurisdiction with offshore characteristics to lure country funds currently domiciled in Singapore and Mauritius. Does GIFT City have staying power?
Labour shortages: Tales from north and south
Australia and Japan are facing extreme labour shortages. In the former, GPs can survive on policy support and emergency manoeuvres. In the latter, fundamental strategy shifts are a more immediate imperative
GP selection: Discriminating customers
Sizeable LPs are hardening their criteria for fund commitments in reaction to a tougher investing environment. But going with fewer, deeper relationships is an uphill climb
Placement agents: Asian entries
Asia’s sparse placement agent scene is fleshing itself out despite macro headwinds, but the model is being revised to adapt to a changing market. This appears irreversible
Emerging Asia start-ups: Governance revisited
Even a modest cooling off from tech investment euphoria experienced in the peak of the pandemic could reveal big cracks in Asian start-up markets. Diligence efforts are ramping up, but is it enough?
Diversity & inclusion: Acting with intent
GPs are looking to build teams representing different genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds as stakeholders call for more diversity and studies suggest it leads to better decision making
2022 preview: ESG
Keeping tabs on sustainability credentials at the portfolio and company level will become more data-driven and collaborative. Eventually, getting results will require greater sacrifices
Hong Kong IPOs: Winner by default
New York’s loss is expected to be Hong Kong’s gain as regulatory and political turbulence drives Chinese start-ups to look for alternative listing destinations – unless valuations become a sticking point
HNWIs & private equity: The road to retail
From B2C aggregation platforms to nascent blockchain-based products, solutions that bring alternatives to the mass market are emerging. Providers prefer to be labeled enablers than disrupters
HNWIs & private equity: Access all areas?
The private equity industry wants more efficient and inclusive ways to raise high net worth money than private bank feeder funds. Technology, in different ways, might provide the answer
Japan digitization: Easy targets, hard to hit
Japan’s massive mid-sized business sector is still trading in its fax machines for the cloud, sometimes willingly, sometimes begrudgingly. PE’s help is most needed in terms of mindset
ESG best practice: From global to granular
The value creation-driven PE playbook on ESG in Asia converts marginal gains into big picture policy wins – provided investors focus on the right areas and the flow of information isn’t stymied
Virtual reporting: Lost in translation
GP-LP reporting in the age of remote portfolio assessments and stilted video catchups leaves much to be desired. Both sides are trying to bridge the divide, but no best-practice approach has emerged
Blockchain: Going mainstream
The most disruptive technology in financial services is also the most esoteric and misunderstood. As a long, speculative uptake phase unfolds, investors are coming to terms with the future
Myanmar: Asia’s anguish
Myanmar has proven unique among Asia’s frontier markets in terms of volatility and risk. As its ongoing humanitarian and political catastrophe deepens, a sense of helplessness has taken root
ESG scoring: Measured approach
Investors are encouraged to keep experimenting in quantifying and qualifying the real-world outcomes of their sustainable investment programs. Every report is imperfect yet worthwhile
ESG & operations: Compliance corner
Few mid-market private equity firms in Asia have dedicated ESG personnel and this is not necessarily an obstacle to progress. As compliance and reporting burdens increase, the status quo may change
Private equity & cybersecurity: Dark clouds
From fraudulent drawdown notices to ransomware, private equity firms and their portfolio companies are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Training and vigilance are paramount
Asia family offices: Unfamiliar territory
The industrial backgrounds of family offices represent a strategic edge but also a potential hinderance to portfolio diversification. The same goes for principal-led governance structures
Asia fund administration: Odd jobs
COVID-19 is the latest in a growing list of drivers causing private equity firms to outsource various operations. The trend is implacable but inherently flexible
Alternative fund structures: Alternate universe
Irregular fund structures, including single-asset platforms, are often the most appropriate inroad for investors in developing Asia. But it has taken a pandemic to bring them to the fore