Weekly Digest
Q&A: Hike Capital’s Anna Xu
China-focused Hike Capital positions itself as an entrepreneur-led VC firm, having been established by two start-up founders. One of them, Anna Xu, explains why this makes a difference
Q&A: OMERS’ Ani Deshmukh
Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) recently backed a spinout of Olympus Capital Asia’s credit team as Orion Capital Asia. Ani Deshmukh, a director with the Canadian pension fund, explains its regional strategy
LP interview: Sun Hung Kai & Co
Lindsay Wright, CEO of the newly launched funds management unit at Sun Hung Kai & Co, is helping reposition a Hong Kong financial services mainstay as an alternatives investor
Profile: Cook Islands Super's David Brown
In 2015, David Brown swapped a career as an LP in Australia for a similar vocation in the Pacific Islands. Despite leaving his comfort zone – and getting charged and then cleared of fraud – he’s keen for more
Q&A: Everstone Group's Sameer Sain
Sameer Sain, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based and India-focused Everstone Group, explains why he’s doubling down on ESG and on a hands-on buyout strategy that prioritizes bargain hunting
Q&A: Affirma Capital's Ivo Philipps
Affirma Capital came into being 18 months ago as Standard Chartered’s private equity team spun out with most of the remaining balance sheet assets. COO Ivo Philipps explains the middle and back office transition
Q&A: Gushcloud's Althea Lim
Singapore’s Gushcloud, a VC-backed influencer talent agency and content producer, operates at the frontlines of a young, fast-changing media landscape. CEO Althea Lim tours the latest developments
Q&A: Bain & Company's Henrik Naujoks
Henrik Naujoks, Bain & Company’s financial services lead for Asia, observes that investors must not ignore the increasing cohesion of the Greater Bay Area despite a relative lack of near-term gambits
AVCJ Awards 2020: Firm of the Year - Mid Cap: Advantage Partners
Richard Folsom, representative partner of Advantage Partners, looks back on a year dominated by succession planning, fundraising, and new investment opportunities
Profile: Sarmayacar's Rabeel Warraich
Rabeel Warraich swapped the stability of GIC for the untested waters of early-stage investment in Pakistan. With Sarmayacar about to close the country’s first VC fund, the gamble appears to be paying off
Q&A: Office of New York City Comptroller's Wendy Garcia
Wendy Garcia, chief diversity officer for the Office of New York City Comptroller discusses her team’s diversity and inclusion objectives and what this means for GPs seeking allocations from city’s pension funds
AVCJ Awards 2020: Fundraising of the Year - Venture Capital: Ince Capital Partners
A year after leaving Qiming Venture Partners, J.P. Gan raised $351.9 million for his debut fund at consumer internet-focused Ince Capital Partners
Q&A: North Summit Capital's Wanli Min
Previously chief machine intelligence scientist at Alibaba Cloud, Wanli Min is now applying his deep technology expertise to investment at North Summit Capital. He explains what kind of innovation makes him tick
The crystal ball: Predictions for 2021
Industry professionals process the upheavals of 2020 to inform outlooks for a range of markets and investment themes. Realist bullishness abounds
Q&A: Hamilton Lane's Collwyn Tan
Collwyn Tan, Hamilton Lane’s co-head of Asia investment and key point person for everything transactional in the region, unpacks the mixed signals of 2020
LP interview: Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University has aggressively expanded its endowment program by ramping up its appetite for risk. Asian venture capital is playing a key role in this agenda
Profile: Aavishkaar's Vineet Rai
Vineet Rai’s career in impact investing started before the concept really existed. Spurred – but also slightly troubled – by mainstream awareness, he has big plans for India-based Aavishkaar Group
Q&A: British Columbia Investment's Jim Pittman
Jim Pittman, global head of private equity at British Columbia Investment Management, discusses the mechanics of building a co-investment heavy portfolio from Canada’s 12th largest urban center
Q&A: The Carlyle Group's Kewsong Lee
Kewsong Lee, CEO of The Carlyle Group, discusses the firm’s response to COVID-19, finding alpha in a low growth world, not allowing size to inhibit speed of action, and embracing work-from-home
Q&A: Investcorp's Duncan Zheng
Duncan Zheng, head of China private equity at Investcorp, observes that COVID-19 dislocation has created some timely inroads as the firm’s broader expansion agenda ramps up
LP interview: Hermes GPE
Hermes GPE is leaning into Asia as the region proves relatively successful in deflecting COVID-19. This entails a greater focus on growth capital, country funds, and defensive sector targeting
Profile: Jihoon Rim
Jihoon Rim has been a venture capitalist, CEO of one of Korea’s largest technology companies, and a US business school professor – in the space of a decade. He explains the appeal of new challenges
Q&A: Unison Capital's Tatsuo Kawasaki
Tatsuo Kawasaki, a partner at Unison Capital, on supporting existing investments and making new ones, expectations of distress in Japan, and why a platform approach makes sense for healthcare
LP interview: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
For Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, COVID-19 has reinforced the key tenets of its Asia investment strategy, from being flexible on timeline to putting boots on the ground
