AVCJ Forum: More than meets the eye
In the June 22 edition of this column, I shared a conversation with a venture capitalist about the reasons why it makes sense for VCs to attend the AVCJ Forum (www.avcjforum.com) in November. Basically, senior partners of the larger private equity and venture capital firms now hold responsibilities and power on par with Fortune 500 CEOs and with this comes the need to communicate clearly with people outside their own staff, portfolio companies and LPs – i.e. other private equity firms, policy makers and the media.
I received a few comments about this piece and as we get closer to the event, the number of questions is beginning to increase. The excitement has been particularly intense this year – hardly surprising given this year’s line-up of private equity icons includes Henry Kravis, David Bonderman and David Rubenstein.
Questions about the conference are usually interspersed with concerns about the potential impact of a debt crisis. We are all waiting with bated breath to see whether developed world leaders can muster sufficient political support to offset another wave of financial difficulties, but this hasn’t stopped the big ticket deal flow. And, so far, there hasn’t been any sign of a delay in the huge number of funds that will hit the market towards the end of the year.
One thing I am asked most often is who will be in Asia this year. The answer is that almost every major private equity firm will be involved – whether it is an executive attending the event or a senior partner in town to meet with regional LPs at the same time.
In its 24 years of existence, the AVCJ Forum has become an ecosystem in itself – and the mainstay of what is now Asia’s Private Equity Week. The sheer number of investor meetings, dinners, cocktail parties and smaller regional events built around our event is staggering. While we expect to welcome over a thousand delegates this year, th e number of private equity professionals, LPs, GPs and advisors in Hong Kong that week will be much larger.
Meanwhile, for those of you confirmed to attend (or considering attendance), we would like you to help us make sure the conference meets expectations. Given AVCJ’s tradition of great programming and strong editorial presence, we are continuously fine-tuning the topics on the event agenda. If there is any area you feel is worthy of attention, please contact me at allen.lee@incisivemedia.com.
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