AVCJ Awards: Explaining the changes for 2014

Sharp-eyed readers will notice that we've added a few categories for 2014. For many years, we have deliberately kept the AVCJ Awards categories reasonably tight to focus on quality and prestige. Introducing new categories therefore involved striking a careful balance between remaining true to our philosophy and embracing the fact that the industry is becoming broader and more diverse.

Above all, the decision to expand the fundraising, investment and exit categories so there are three tranches in each - venture capital, mid-cap and large-cap - was driven by a frustration that so many strong mid-cap players were getting overlooked.

Take fundraising, for example. In 2008, Hony Capital Fund III ($580 million) won the sole prize available. Over the next five years the winners steadily grew in size to KKR Asian Fund II ($6 billion) in 2013. Fund sizes across the region have generally increased but there are still a host of mid-cap players that stick to their strategies and deliver returns. We hope this year we can acknowledge them.

Similar phenomena are apparent in the deals and exits categories, although perhaps not to the same degree. Nevertheless, this year's mid-cap exit category already seems like a particularly tough one for the voters to call.

Of course, in dividing up mid-cap and large-cap creates sparks debate as to where the thresholds should be set. Indeed, we started out with one approach for 2014 and subsequently changed course - well before voting started, I hasten to add - because it seemed unfair given the transactions in front of us.

So a mid-cap fund is below $1 billion in size, a mid-cap deal is for equity checks below $100 million, and a mid-cap exit is for equity checks that were below $100 million on entry. There is no perfect formula and this one probably won't be to everyone's liking. If you have any suggestions as to a more effective approach for 2015, please let us know.

Finally, as in the past, the judging process will continue to reflect the combined views of the private equity and venture capital community (which has a 50% say in the outcome), our panel of industry experts (25%), and the AVCJ Editorial Board (25%). This system we have no plans on changing.

If you wish to register your views as to the most deserving funds, deals, exits, individuals and firms of the past year, please vote. All the information you need is at http://www.asianfn.com/votehk.asp or at the awards homepage http://www.avcjforum.com/static/avcj-awards.

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• Topics
• Performance
• AVCJ Awards
• Performance
• Fundraising