Finance Panel
Investment Opportunities and Strategies in
Asia
As the US private equity and venture capital markets become ever more competitive, firms are increasingly looking for investment prospects in the fast-growing economies of Asia. In this panel, we will explore the relevant aspects and major questions of investing in Asian businesses. A few examples:
- Where are the opportunities in both the near and long term?
- What are the major obstacles and risks?
- What are the common investment models and exit strategies?
- Is there an early-entry advantage?
Panelists
Hanson Li, Executive Director, The Hina Group
Hanson
Li is currently Executive Director at The Hina Group, one of the largest
merchant banks focusing on China with 40+ professionals on the ground in
China. Hanson works in both the investment banking division (IBD) as well
as the private equity fund. For IBD, he assists global corporations with
their mergers and acquisitions in China. He also works with leading Chinese
companies in raising capital and exploring M&A opportunities outside of
China. For the Hina Private Equity Fund, Hanson evaluates Chinese domestic
buy-out and investment opportunities.
Outside of The Hina Group, Hanson is
involved with various Asian American professional organizations including
Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association (the largest Chinese CEO
network), Asia American MultiTech Association (AAMA: one of the oldest and
largest Asian American professional organizations), and Association of Asian
American Investment Managers (AAAIM: the only organization focusing on Asian
American fund managers). He is co-chair for AAMA’s annual conference for
the second year running and also serves as a special advisor.
Prior to graduating from Stanford Graduate School of Business and joining
The Hina Group, Hanson gained significant operational experience at Capital
One Financial and EqualFooting. At Capital One, he held management roles at
AmericaOne, the company's telecom subsidiary. At EqualFooting, a
B2B/software start-up focused on small businesses, he held dual Vice
President roles managing both operations and strategy.
On the personal side, Hanson has a passion in
the food and beverage business; he is currently involved with a San
Francisco restaurant (Andalu) and an Austin based bar/coffeehouse
(Halcyon). Hanson also enjoys advising start-up companies and creating new
company ideas. He lives in San Francisco with his beautiful wife Terri and
baby daughter Madison. Hanson earned an MBA from Stanford, as both a Siebel
Scholar and an Arjay Miller Scholar.
Jeremy Goodwin, Founder, 3G Capital Partners
Jeremy Goodwin is a co-founder of Global
Capital Group and Managing Partner of 3G Capital Partners who with his group
successfully negotiated the $20M control acquisition by Mueller Industries
of their Chinese Joint Venture partner Changzhou XIngrong Copper. He is also
an Independent Director with Pacificnet, Inc. He began his career in 1995 at
Mees Pierson Investment Finance S.A. in Geneva, Switzerland where he
supported the fund private placement/private equity finance team. Noteworthy
transactions executed by the group included assistance on the placements of
the $1.2 Billion Carlyle Partners II Limited Partnership. In 1997 he went to
work for the then parent institution, ABN Amro, in Beijing, China where he
established the Global Clients desk representing the bank's multinational
clients to sovereign regulatory agencies and local financial institutions
while monitoring their working capital needs. During his time there, the
office was approved by the Central Bank of China to operate as a fully
licensed branch. Noteworthy transactions executed by the group included
assistance in the business development and project management for the Royal
Dutch Shell Oil project and the Beijing Capital International Airport
listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange arranged by the Hong Kong office of
ABN Amro Rothschild. He also assisted the Singapore Debt Capital Markets
team in the business development origination of Sovereign Euro Debt
Issuances for the Ministry of Finance and the State Development Bank in
Beijing for the People's Republic of China.
In 1999, He went to work for the Board of ING Barings based out of London as an International Associate reporting directly to the buisiness manager for the CEO. One of his primary assignments was in Hong Kong with the ING Beijing Investment arm of Baring Private Equity Partners, a joint venture with the Beijing Municipal Government established in 1994 at the decree of then Chinese Premier Zhu Rong Ji and widely considered the first domestic Chinese Private Equity fund.
Mr. Goodwin received his BS from Cornell University in 1996 in conjunction with the Institute of Higher International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He later pursued his advanced degree with Princeton University with a concentration in Chinese affairs which he completed at the prestigious Nanjing Chinese Studies Center of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Jeremy is fluent in written and spoken Mandarin Chinese, French and has working knowledge of Vietnamese.
Jeff Shen, Managing Director, Barclays Global Investors
Jeff is the Head of Asia ex Japan
Equity at BGI, the largest asset manager in the world. Jeff is
responsible for the research and management of all active strategies
invested in the eleven developed and emerging Asian equity markets that
include Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, China and India.
Prior to joining BGI in 2004, Jeff was the global head of macro absolute return product, responsible for asset allocation research and macro investment, at JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management in New York. During his tenure at JP Morgan, Jeff worked in the portfolio advisory, hedge fund and risk management research functions in London and New York.
Jeff is an adjunct professor at the Stern School of Business at NYU, teaching MBA classes on international investments. Jeff received his PhD in finance from the Stern School of business at NYU.
Richard Lim, Managing Director, Mayfield China
At
Mayfield China, Richard focuses on investments in the Internet and
semiconductor component sectors. Prior to founding Mayfield China,
Richard was an entrepreneur and was involved in
founding three U.S. internet startups: iMarket (acquired by Dun & Bradstreet
(NYSE:DNB)), Quickdot and Co- nect (acquired by Pearson (NYSE:PSO)). He was
also an executive at Lotus Development Corporation.
Richard grew up in Singapore and has a MBA from Stanford University (Arjay Miller Scholar) and a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MD equivalent) from the National University of Singapore.
Richard is a Charter member of Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA).
Moderator
Lili Zheng, Deputy Managing Partner - Chinese Services Group, Deloitte Tax LLP
Lili
Zheng is a partner in Deloitte Tax LLP's International Tax practice and has
been with the organization since 1989. Her work experience includes
development of strategies to manage worldwide effective tax rates,
cross-border international mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring
and venture fund structuring. She also has extensive knowledge in IPO
positioning, establishing offshore IP holding companies, implementing
cost-sharing agreements and advising on entry and exit strategies for
cross-border investments.
Lili is also the Deputy Managing Partner of Deloitte & Touche LLP's Chinese Services group in the U.S. Lili has extensive experience working with Chinese clients and travels often to the Asia Pacific region. she is also a liaison for business transactions with Greater China and previously worked in Deloitte's Tokyo and Beijing offices. She is highly conversant in Chinese tax and business issues.
Lili was recognized as one of the top five tax advisers in the West Region of the U.S. and among the top 15 in the U.S. in a leading international survey on tax advisers conducted by the International Tax Review in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, Lili was awarded the AWIB Leadership award by Asian Women in Business. Lili holds an M.S. in Taxation from Golden Gate University and a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of California, Berkeley.