EmergeVest co-founder joins VI to launch credit strategy
A three-person team from EmergeVest, including co-founder Roger Moh, has moved to Hong Kong-based VI Asset Management to launch a private credit strategy.
Moh (pictured) is joined by Kit Mak, formerly EmergeVest’s general counsel, and Sam Clothier, who led the firm’s investor relations function. There are plans to recruit additional investment professionals and raise an open-ended fund. The goal is to accumulate up to USD 150m over the course of 12 months.
The decision to depart EmergeVest was driven by a desire to return to his roots as a credit and special situations investor in the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) space, Moh explained.
EmergeVest – originally known as Emergent Investment Group – was conceived by Moh and Heath Zarin in 2008 after a stint building Credit Suisse’s Asia private equity operation. The firm made several investments and was then brought in-house by HSBC as the bank’s principal investment arm.
“At HSBC, when a situation became complex and required bespoke financing, the commercial banking team would bring in the principal investments team to solve the problem,” said Moh. “Banks are no longer putting money into principal investments, so that leaves a big gap in the market. Banks only want to finance larger corporates, so it’s hard for SMEs to get financing.”
Moh and Zarin left HSBC in 2012, having built up a USD 120m portfolio, and formed EmergeVest. When it became clear that a full spinout of the assets wouldn’t be possible, they raised a USD 50m fund that financed management buyouts by two Chinese companies – effectively taking out positions held by HSBC – and contributed growth capital.
Three more funds followed, facilitating the creation of EV Cargo, a logistics business that accounts for almost all EmergeVest’s asset value. With Zarin keen to develop the firm as a specialist investor in technology-enabled supply chains, he and Moh decided to part ways.
VI’s credit strategy will focus initially on investments of USD 10m-USD 15m, rising to USD 25m-USD 30m over time. Target companies will be classic SMEs with EBITDA of at least USD 10m.
VI is chaired by Vic Lee, who previously spent 15 years at Tencent Holdings where he was responsible for planning, building, and managing the company’s operational platforms, including the technical architecture. Latterly, he led the online search division.
Lee established Virtus Inspire Ventures – now VI Ventures – in 2012 to make early-stage cross-border technology investments in Israel, the US, and China. He remains the managing partner.
VI’s overall AUM is approximately USD 11bn across multiple asset classes. The bulk of this is in Korea following the acquisition of HI Asset Management from DGB Financial Group in 2019. The firm has 60 investment professionals in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Singapore.
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