Connaughton: Foreign GPs must differentiate to compete with locals in Asia

Speaking at the AVCJ Investment Summit on Thursday, Connaughton said that particularly in China, where the number of local players has greatly increased in recent years, domestic GPs have a clear advantage. "You really have to have a reason to be there, to create differentiation among a very large group of players," he said of offshore funds.

Connaughton said it is an "unfortunate reality" that the sense of expectation currently surrounding the Asian market has led to aggressive inflows of capital. "So you need to operate in an environment where there's always going to be an oversupply of capital relative to the opportunities that are available to us," he added.

Connaughton also spoke about Bain's current investment focus in the US, revealing that the area of greatest interest for the firm over the past two years has been businesses specializing in cost-containment, such as those which provide outsourcing services to the healthcare or industrial sectors. In Europe, meanwhile, Bain has analysed an increasing number of turnaround deals.

On investing in countries experiencing economic uncertainty, he commented: "The ability to go beyond the macro and fund growth opportunities is going to be important."

The Investment Summit formed part of the 24th annual AVCJ Forum, which took place from November 7-10 in Hong Kong. For more information, go to www.avcjforum.com.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Industrials
• Bain Capital Asia
• China