Investors eye openings in Asia special situations

"We look at the credit space the most," said Steve Martinez, head of Asia Pacific, senior partner private equity, Apollo Management Asia, speaking at the AVCJ PE Leaders' Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday. "The amount of capital raised in the last year is about $30 billion and a lot of that has gone into growth capital. There is $620 billion in non-performing loans across the top 100 financial institutions in Asia."

Martinez noted that Asian banks aren't being forced to make decisions on bad debt like their European counterparts, and that there are challenges relating to enforcing foreclosures. But he still described the situation as "an interesting opportunity that is beginning to show."

Both Martinez and Robert Petty, managing partner & co-founder of Clearwater Capital Partners, talked up investing against the cycle and taking risks when others aren't prepared to take risks. "Now is the time when you're supposed to invest in Asia, perhaps in the second-tier small- and medium-sized enterprises," he said.

The PE Leaders' Summit and Limited Partner Summit, both of which took place on Tuesday, form part of the AVCJ Forum 2011 and Private Equity Week - Asia. It continues today with the Investment Summit. For more information, please visit http://www.avcjforum.com. You can also follow events as they unfold via Twitter @AVCJ (hashtag #avcj and #avcjforum).

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• Topics
• Credit/Special Situations
• Restructuring
• Greater China
• Clearwater Capital Partners
• Apollo Global Management
• China
• Distress