The HKVCA held its annual Christmas Cocktails event at the China Club on the evening of December 12, 2019. Attendees were formally welcomed to this year’s event by Wendy Zhu, the Association’s Executive Director and Managing Director at AlpInvest Partners.

Nearly 100 people representing all sectors of the private equity and venture capital community were in attendance and enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate this holiday season with their professional colleagues. The HKVCA would like to thank again both Ascent Partners and Latham & Watkins for their support and sponsorship. We also would like to thank all those whose attendance made this event such a warm and festive evening.

The HKVCA organized a special luncheon for representatives from family offices at the China Club on December 10, 2019. The lunch featured a dedicated roundtable discussion on the challenges associated with managing family offices as well as the opportunities to be found in private capital investment. In addition, Peter Lee from Deloitte shared with attendees the various findings of the firm’s recent family office survey, which offered insights on the current market landscape and how to optimize management services for family members. The HKVCA would like to express our gratitude to Deloitte, whose sponsorship made this important event possible.

December 6, 2019 saw the HKVCA hold its last monthly breakfast meeting of the year. Hosted at the Hong Kong Club by the Association’s Chairman, Chin Chou, more than 80 members registered to attend. Our monthly breakfast meetings continue to be very popular and well attended by our members and we look forward to continuing to host this great networking event in the coming year. In the meantime, the Association would like to thank all of our members who attended this month and we extend a special thanks to our sponsor, CSC Global Financial Markets (CSC), whose generosity helped make December’s breakfast meeting such a success.

HKVCA Private Equity Fundamentals Course 2019
10 September - 4 December, 2019

The HKVCA once again successfully hosted its annual Private Equity Fundamentals Course. Held between September and November 2019, this popular training class continued to focus on the very core fundamentals of private equity and venture capital. The course ran with the support of the Chinese University’s MBA program, Hong Kong University’s MBA program, and the MBA program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The first two sessions, which were held on September 10th and 18th, dealt with private equity basics and early stage investment. Modules covering investment decisions, valuation issues, ESG, post-investment matters and transaction documentation were completed on September 26th and October 10th, 15th and 22nd respectively.

This year the Tax and Fundraising module was sponsored by KPMG and was completed on November 8th. The final module, a session dedicated to examining case studies, was held on December 4th.

The HKVCA was very pleased that over 90 delegates attended the course and we would like to extend a very special thanks to our knowledgeable course instructors:

• Wen Tan, Co-Head of Asia Pacific Private Equity, Aberdeen Standard Investments
• Matthew Puhar, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
• Naomi Moore, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
• Michael Prahl, Partner, Asia-IO Advisors
• Alvin Lam, Principal, CVC Capital Partners
• Patrick Yip, Vice Chair, Deloitte China
• William Lee, Director, International Tax, Deloitte China
• Yvonne Yip, Senior Manager, International and M&A Tax Services, Deloitte China
• Robert Kwok, Partner, Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
• K. O. Chia, Director, Grace Financial
• Michael Chan, Senior Vice President, Marketing Development Division, HKEX
• Roger King, Adjunct Professor of Finance, HKUST
• Winnie Peng, Associate Director, Tanoto Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies, HKUST
• John Levack, Vice Chairman, HKVCA
• NiQ Lai, Co-Founder & CEO, Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited
• Rocky Lee, International Partner, King & Wood Mallesons
• Arion Yiu, Partner, KPMG
• Darren Bowdern, Partner, Deal Advisory and M&A Tax, KPMG
• Sandy Fung, Partner, KPMG
• Kasheen Grewal, Director, Deal Advisory and M&A Tax, KPMG
• Maurice Conway, Associate, Latham & Watkins
• Gwenlynne Lee, Associate, Latham & Watkins
• Ivan Chan, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley
• Marcia Ellis, Partner & Co-Head of Asia Private Equity practice, Morrison & Foerster
• Catherine Liu, Of Counsel, Morrison & Foerster
• Olivia Tang, Associate, Morrison & Foerster
• Dennis Kwan, Managing Director, MVision Private Equity Advisers
• Leslie Tam, Senior Vice President, MVision Private Equity Advisers
• Min Lin, Founding Partner, NewQuest Capital Partners
• John E. (Jack) Lange, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
• Oscar Chow, Managing Director, Polaris Holdings
• Gordon Yen, Founding Managing Partner, Radiant Tech Ventures
• Lorna Chen, Asia Managing Partner and Head of Greater China, Shearman & Sterling

Seminar: Licensing of Private Equity and Venture Capital Firms
18 November, 2019

The HKVCA hosted a seminar with the Hong Kong Security and Futures Commission (SFC) on November 18, 2019 at the offices of KPMG. SFC representatives Wilson Lo, Senior Director; Eric Ho, Director, Licensing; and Adam Lo, Senior Manager, Licensing, Intermediaries, delivered a talk on SFC licensing requirements for private equity firms.

In addition to providing a general overview of the SFC’s licensing regime, and common licensing issues, the speakers also used a series of slides illustrating which types of licenses professionals may need, what licensing requirements are exempted, the approval criteria and any ongoing obligations licenses require.

More than 200 practitioners registered for the seminar and among the many highlights of the event was the high degree of interaction between the speakers and participants. The Association received a great deal of positive feedback, with many attendees noting they found the information provided extremely relevant. The HKVCA would like to thank the speakers and the attendees, and extends a very special thanks to KPMG for providing the venue.

Real Asset Seminar with Cocktails: A Conversation With Industry Leaders
29 October, 2019

The HKVCA held its Real Asset Seminar on October 29, 2019 at the China Club. More than 60 people registered to attend the event, which featured a panel made up of industry leaders who discussed issues around investment in the sector during uncertain times. Among the subjects examined by the panel were perceptions around shifting expectations, strategic positioning and the outlook for the industry across the region. The panelists also shared what were clearly optimistic views on real estate investment in Hong Kong during the Q&A session that followed the panel discussion.

We would like to thank Invesco for its most generous sponsorship. We would also like to thank the panel members who contributed greatly to the success of the event, namely Calvin Chou, Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Invesco Real Estate; Christopher Heady, Senior Managing Director & Head of Real Estate Asia, Blackstone; Kenneth Gaw, President & Managing Principal, Gaw Capital Partners; and Alexandre Heriard-Dubreuil, Partner and Chief Investment Officer, L Catterton Real Estate.

The HKVCA held its annual wine tasting evening on October 23, 2019 at the Hong Kong Club and it proved to be once again one of the most popular events of the year. Following the theme “Everything Gevrey, Chambertin of course…”, Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee led the attendees through the tasting of five fabulous wines selected exclusively from producers located in the Gevrey-Chambertin area of France. More than 100 people registered for the event and feedback received from the participants indicated the evening was very much enjoyed and a tremendous success.  
 
The Association would like to offer its sincere thanks to our generous sponsor, Alvarez & Marsal, whose contributions made the evening possible. Our thanks also to the HKVCA’s Wine Committee, namely Marcus Thompson, Alain Fontaine, Anthony Chan and Mounir Guen, for all of the efforts they have made this year.

The HKVCA held its monthly breakfast meeting at the Hong Kong Club on October 18, 2019. Hosted by our Executive Director, Wendy Zhu, the event was at full capacity with more than 100 members registering to attend. We were especially pleased to be able to welcome 13 new members to this month’s meeting, who were on hand to introduce themselves to their fellow members. This popular event continues to be a great opportunity for attendees to engage in networking, meet other Association members as well as their industry colleagues. The HKVCA would like to extend its thanks to all who participated, and a very special thanks to our sponsor, Ernst and Young (EY), whose support helped make the event such a success.

HKVCA 32 nd Annual General Meeting
6 September, 2019

The HKVCA’s 32nd Annual General Meeting was held on September 6, 2019. More than 60 members attended this year’s gathering, which saw the election of 24 Board members to a new term. Chin Chou, who was re-elected the Association’s Chairman, delivered his report summarizing the HKVCA’s work over the course of the last year. We would like to extend our appreciation to members of the Board of Directors and to all of our members who gave of their time to attend this important Association event.

HKVCA Luncheon Talk - Combating Fraud and Corruption: Identification and Mitigation to Enhance Portfolio Company Value
29 August, 2019

The HKVCA hosted another of its popular luncheon talks on August 29, 2019 at the China Club. The topic was combating fraud and corruption, with a focus on identification and mitigation to enhance portfolio company value. Steven Parker, of Berkeley Research Group’s Global Investigations and Strategic Intelligence Practice, provided a regulatory overview and discussed the evolving global anti-corruption landscape. He also stressed the direct risk to PE firms in terms of fraud, bribery and corruption violations as well as the risks associated with investments in portfolio companies. Finally, Parker spoke about the complexities involved in interactions with sovereign wealth funds and foreign pension funds, and the solicitation of such clients.

With nearly 60 delegates attending the luncheon, the event received much positive feedback. We would like to thank sponsors, the Berkeley Research Group, and all the participants who made the talk a success.

HKVCA Seminar with Cocktails: Unlocking the Greater Bay Area’s potential – a PE and VC perspective
22 August, 2019

The HKVCA's first ever seminar on the topic of the Greater Bay Area was held on August 22nd, 2019 at the offices of EY. More than 150 people registered to attend the event.

The first panel of the day discussed the types of investment opportunities that may arise in the GBA together with some of the anticipated challenges identified by investors. The second panel focused on regulation as well as taxation issues, including tax incentives for technology and R&D intensive companies and the formation of fund structures to attract capital from multiple sources, both in RMB and USD.

We would like to thank EY for their generous sponsorship and also the participants and eight speakers who contributed greatly to the success of this year’s event: David Chan, Managing Partner, Tax Hong Kong & Macau, EY; Peter Chan, Partner, Assurance, TMT Assurance Leader, HK-EY; Michael Chow, Managing Partner, Radiant Tech Ventures; Craig Dickinson, Director, Transaction Tax, EY; Jingjing Jiang, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons; Eric Lam, Partner, Transaction Tax, EY;  Alan Li,  China South Leader, Transaction Advisory Services, EY; and Jonathan Wu, Executive Director, China Merchants Capital,  EY.

HKVCA Brownbag Luncheon Talk: Hong Kong Startups and how WHub and Angelhub Work
23 July 2019

The HKVCA hosted another of its popular brownbag luncheon talks on July 23, 2019. Held at KPMG’s offices, the founder of WHub.io and AngelHub.io, Karen Contet Farzam, discussed the ways startups can collaborate with the venture capital and private equity industry and how angels differ from venture capital when investing in early stage ventures. Noting that Hong Kong was a leading global center for creating unicorns, she stressed how international partners can help local startups move toward their next phase of growth, with the ultimate goal of completing an IPO or other exit. Finally, she discussed the importance of the startup vetting process and the makeup of the investment committee.

With over 50 people attending the lucheon, we would like to thank all of the participants, and especially our venue sponsor KPMG, who helped make this event possible.

HKVCA Seminar: An Update on the Cayman Islands' Economic Substance Regulation
16 July 2019

The HKVCA hosted its latest seminar on 16 July 2019 at the offices of the Maples Group.  Anthony Webster, a partner and head of the firm's Asia private equity practice, discussed the Cayman Islands’ recently enacted Economic Substance Law and various solutions to manage the regulatory changes it has brought. The HKVCA and the Technical Committee were very pleased that more than 40 participants attended the seminar. We would like to thank our dynamic and knowledgeable speaker and the Maples Group, whose support made this event possible.

The HKVCA would like to remind members that two key dates for “Excluded Person” a) AML/CFT reporting forms are due by August 15, 2019; and b) the re-registration deadline is January 15, 2020. Please liaise with you advisors as soon as possible if your current structure has changed to fit the amended regime. The HKVCA will continue to share the latest developments related to the Cayman Islands’ economic substance legislation with our members in a timely manner.

HKVCA Brownbag Luncheon Talk: How to be stress-proof in a stressful world
12 July 2019

The HKVCA hosted a luncheon talk on July 12, 2019 at the Virtus Medical Tower on “how to be stress-proof in a stressful world”. Professor of psychiatry LEE Sing discussed with participants the reasons why people seem to have greater levels of stress today, which he said was largely due to digital products, bad habits and multi-tasking. He noted that the first step in managing stress is to recognize its symptoms, and encouraged participants to walk, breathe, engage with nature, embrace early morning daylight and meditate. With more than 30 people attending the event, participants agreed that the talk was extremely beneficial. The HKVCA would like to thank the Virtus Medical Group for helping to provide such an informative session for our members.

HKVCA Asia Venture Capital Forum 2019
8 July 2019

The HKVCA’s monthly breakfast meeting was held at the Hong Kong Club on July 5, 2019. Hosted by the Association’s Executive Director and past Chairman, Eric Mason, the always popular gathering saw more than 90 members registering to attend as it continues to be a great way to meet colleagues and network with fellow industry professionals. The Association would like to thank each of our members for their participation as well as our sponsor, Ernst and Young (EY), for making this event a real success.

The HKVCA’s Young Professionals Mixer 2019 was held on the evening of June 20, 2019. With more than 100 people attending, representing all sectors of the private equity and venture capital industries, this was the highest ever turnout in the history of the event. Rebecca Xu and Wendy Zhu, board members of the HKVCA and managing directors of Asia Alternatives and AlpInvest Partners respectively, spoke briefly to the participants about the important networking role these types of events represent and how they offer an opportunity to build friendships and relationships with younger professionals who will in the future become leaders of the industry. The HKVCA would like to extend its most sincere appreciation to the event’s sponsor, IHS Markit, to the Young Professionals Committee, and to all the participants who together made the evening one for the ages.

HKVCA ESG Brownbag Luncheon Talk:
The Evolution of CSR, ESG and the SDGs in Private Equity
3 June 2019

The HKVCA held its ESG Luncheon on June 3, 2019 at KPMG’s offices, with more than 60 people attending the event. The Luncheon was opened by Jie Gong of Pantheon Ventures and Chairman of the HKVCA’s ESG Committee. Steve Okun, CEO of APAC Advisors and EMPEA’s ASEAN Representative, then delivered a presentation discussing an investor’s role in CSR, EST and SDGs; the role of sustainable investment in LP decision making; embedding ESG in the PE lifecycle; and using a good governance checklist. A panel discussion followed, moderated by Jie Gong and joined by Pat-Nie Woo from KPMG, Alvin Lam from CVC Capital Partners, Dequan Wang from Governance Solutions and Elaine Ng from MSCI ESG Research. The panel discussed the latest trends and the different ways of measuring ESG, especially in terms of gender balance and China governance.

The HKVCA extends its gratitude to KPMG for its continued support and to our speakers and all of those who participated in the event.

HKVCA 18th China Private Equity Summit 2019
30 May 2019

The 18th China Private Equity Summit 2019, organized by the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA), took place on May 30, 2019. Attracting over 700 venture capital and private equity practitioners, leading corporations, and other industry professionals and participants from across the region, the Summit discussions focused on the latest developments and trends in the private equity market in China.

Held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the theme this year highlighted the “new normal” in China, represented by slower growth than has been the case in previous years and ongoing uncertainty over the trade war with the US. Against this backdrop, discussions focused on the many changes in private equity investing in China, as well as the impact of different sectors, including real estate, healthcare, education, Fintech, and AI. There were also discussions about the investment habitat and opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.

Distinguished guests at this one-day event included James Lau, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong SAR Government; Charles Li, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; Dr. Weijian Shan, Chairman & CEO, PAG; Prof. KC Chan, Chairman, WeLab Virtual Bank; Andrew Weir, Senior Partner, Hong Kong / Vice Chairman, China / Global Chairman of Real Estate and Construction, KPMG; and Ivo Naumann, Co-lead Private Equity Practice and Leader RTS service line in Greater China, McKinsey & Co.

In addition to the many insightful speeches and panel discussions, a very special addition to the full-day program was the book signing event hosted by keynote speaker Dr. Shan and featuring his bestselling book Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America. The HKVCA was honored to have hosted this book signing event and would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Shan, who made space in his very full itinerary to join us at this year’s Summit.

We would also like to thank our extremely knowledgeable audience of attendees who came from across the Asia region, making this year’s Summit a most profitable and valuable networking opportunity for participants. Thank you also to our PRC Committee led by Conrad Tsang and Rebecca Xu, our media partners and supporting organizations. Finally, the HKVCA would like to express our sincere thanks to our valuable sponsors, whose contributions and support made the event not only possible, but an unprecedented success.

Please view the event photos here.

The HKVCA held its monthly breakfast meeting at the Hong Kong Club on May 10, 2019. Hosted by our Chairman, Chin Chou, the event was at full capacity and the attendees had an opportunity to network and connect with their fellow members and industry colleagues. The Association would like to extend its thanks to all who participated, and our special thanks to Intertrust, whose support helped make this event such a success.

HKVCA Seminar: Women in Private Equity
30 April, 2019

The HKVCA’s 2nd annual Women in Private Equity seminar was held on April 30, 2019 at the offices of EY, with more than 120 people attending the popular event. The first panel of the day discussed the types of changes that could be made to the PE ecosystem to foster greater opportunities for women, while a second panel focused on the personal day to day experiences of female leaders within the industry. Among the highlights of the event was the high degree of interaction that took place between the speakers and the audience.   
   
We would like to thank EY for their participation and generous sponsorship. Our thanks also to our nine speakers who contributed greatly to the success of this year’s event: Wendy Zhu from AlpInvest Partners; Rebecca Xu from Asia Alternatives; Denise Mak from CVC Asia Pacific; Judith Li from Lilly Asia Ventures; Carol Liu from Kirkland & Ellis; Catherine Leung from MizMaa Ventures; Bonnie Lo from NewQuest Capital Partners; Jie Gong from Pantheon Ventures; and Lorna Chen from Shearman & Sterling.

HKVCA Private Equity Advanced Course: Directorship
Building Portfolio Company Board for Performance
16 April, 2019

The HKVCA held its Advanced PE Course on Directorship for senior and mid-level private equity and venture capital professionals on April 16, 2019. The two hour course, which was held at KPMG’s offices, featured a number of expert instructors.

Alice Au, from Spencer Stuart, discussed how directors add value and what drives board performance. Alice was joined by Robert Petty, Co-Founder of Clearwater, and both shared some actual case examples of “best practices”. Alice offered a number of suggestions on the issue of board structure and composition, including a sample board skills matrix.

Alva Lee, a partner and Head of Internal Audit & Risk Compliance Services at KPMG, discussed PE investment and its impact on governance and directorships, as well as pre and post-deal financial controls due diligence.

More than 30 members of the HKVCA attended the course with many indicating they found it extremely valuable. The HKVCA extends a very special thanks to our great sponsors, KPMG, for providing both the venue and lunch for the attendees.

The HKVCA hosted a technical luncheon talk on April 2nd, 2019. Anthony Webster, a partner and head of the private equity practice in Asia for Maples Group; and Xavier Le Sourne, a partner, and Charlotte Chen, a senior associate, at Elvinger Hoss Prussen, spoke on the latest issues involving the domicile of funds and the opportunities in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg. Anthony briefly discussed the economic substance rule recently implemented by the government of the Cayman Islands, while Xavier and Charlotte spoke about the advantages of having Luxemburg as a jurisdiction for private equity fund managers. Each of the speakers offered solutions to tackling the Cayman Island’s substance rule.  
    
More than 45 practitioners attended the luncheon and we received a great deal of positive feedback on the substance of the event. The HKVCA would like to thank all the attendees, the Maple Group and Elvinger Hoss Prussen for their support.

The HKVCA hosted another of its monthly luncheon talks on March 18, 2019 at the China Club. Highlighting the latest trends in cyber security, Ben Wootliff from global risk consultancy Control Risks, discussed the importance of cyber due diligence and how it can protect a firm’s information assets. He also discussed how hackers are able to infiltrate IT systems, what they can steal and how much real damage they can do. He also explored some practical solutions and what steps need to be taken to improve security.

With nearly 40 practitioners in attendance, the event received much positive feedback. We would like to thank all the participants, and especially our sponsor Control Risks, for helping to make the talk possible.

The HKVCA’s monthly breakfast meeting was held at the Hong Kong Club on March 8, 2019. Hosted by Board member Kent Chen, more than 70 HKVCA members attended the event, which continues to be a great venue for meeting colleagues and networking with fellow industry professionals. The Association would like to thank each of our members for their participation. We also extend a special thanks to our sponsor, KPMG, whose support made the breakfast meeting possible.

The HKVCA held its annual Golf Day on March 1, 2019 at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. Close to 90 people attended the event, including a number who chose to join their colleagues despite being non-golfers.

A total of 21 teams competed in the tournament, with each team comprised of various GPs, LPs, and professional services providers involved in the private equity and venture capital industry. More than 80 golfers teed it up on the day. The tournament was followed by a buffet lunch.
 
In addition to the tournament, the HKVCA also held two special events: a hole-in-one challenge and a lucky draw. The lucky draw top prize was a Hublot 40cm Wall Clock, which was won by John Cheuck from ANT Capital.  A total of HK$27,000 was raised through raffle ticket sales and the net proceeds were donated to the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children and the Hong Kong Golf Association's junior development program.

We would like to thank our generous sponsors, specifically our Platinum Sponsors Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and White & Case; our Gold Sponsors Ernst & Young and Lexington Partners; our Breakfast Sponsor, AON; our Wine Sponsors, Jebsen Capital and Jebsen Fine Wines; our official timekeeper, Hublot; and Lucky Draw prize contributors, The Golf Association, Jebsen and Lawrence Chu of BlackPine. We would also like to thank the HKVCA’s Golf Committee - Varun Bery, Chin Chou, Terrance Philips, Bob Partridge, Sunil Chandiramani and Adam Goern - for their wonderful support and leadership.

HKVCA Luncheon Talk: Solving the deal origination dilemma by leveraging big data and AI
21 February 2019

The HKVCA hosted a luncheon talk on February 21, 2019 at the China Club. The topic of the discussion was how to solve the deal origination dilemma by leveraging big data and AI. Presented by Tanguy Lesselin, CEO and a co-founder of Finquest, he spoke about how AI-powered data can dramatically enhance existing private company information and hence deal sourcing. He also provided a number of actual real case examples. With more than 60 people attending the event, the Association received a lot of positive feedback and would like to thank our sponsor, Finquest, for helping to provide such an informative session for our members.

HKVCA Brownbag Luncheon Talk: Debate on Carried Interest
18 February 2019

The HKVCA held a seminar and debate on the topic of carried interest on February 18th, 2019. The Association was pleased to have been able to invite Lorna Chen, a partner and head of Greater China from law firm Shearman & Sterling; John Levack, Vice Chairman of the HKVCA; and Patrick Yip, an international tax partner at Deloitte China, to speak at the event. The speakers helped to define potential scenarios for tax treatment of carried interest, namely, (1) as regular salaries tax; (2) as 50% of salaries tax; and (3) as capital gains. A poll of the attendees was conducted after the discussion, with more than 60% of those polled preferring a capital gains treatment and 40% preferring a 50% of salaries tax rate. No attendees voted to treat carried interest as income taxed at the normal salaries tax rate. A number of participants provided direct feedback and the HKVCA will be working to summarize the feedback and opinions for submission to the government. 

The seminar was oversubscribed with more than 45 members registering to attend. We would like to thank each of our members for their enthusiastic participation as well as Shearman & Sterling, who kindly sponsored this important luncheon and helped make it such a success.

The HKVCA’s monthly breakfast meeting was held at the Hong Kong Club on January 25, 2019. This was the Association’s first breakfast meeting of the year and it was hosted by our new Chairman, Chin Chou. Our monthly breakfast meetings are always popular, and this was the case this month as the event was significantly oversubscribed with over 90 members registering to attend. Our members took full advantage of this valuable opportunity for networking and connecting with industry peers and fellow practitioners.  We would like to thank each of our members for their enthusiastic participation as well as our sponsor, Berkeley Research Group (BRG), for making this event such a success. 

The Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association’s (HKVCA) annual Asia Private Equity Forum (APEF) was held on January 16, 2019 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The theme of this year's event focused on the many challenges - but also many opportunities - that exist for value creation within the industry, and featured more than 80 expert speakers and panelists representing general partners, limited partners and advisors. The Forum attracted over 750 delegates, of which more than half were senior level and C-suite executives.      
   
As it has in previous years, the 2019 Forum brought together a diverse and experienced group of private equity and venture capital practitioners who invest across all stages and geographies in Asia, including private equity real estate and private debt. The event program included robust discussion of the key issues emerging in fundraising, investor relations, venture capital investing, private equity real estate, co-investments, liquidity solutions, post-investment value creation and regulatory matters. There was also discussion on the current issues facing investors in China, India, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea
 
Distinguished guests at this annual flagship event included Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR, Paul Mo-Po Chan, GBM, GBS, MH, JP; Chang Sun, Managing Partner of TPG Capital; K.Y. Tang, Founding Chairman and Managing Partner of Affinity Equity Partners; and Frank Tang, Chairman and CEO of FountainVest Partners.
      
Feedback the HKVCA received proves once again that APEF has come to be seen as an indispensable platform for practitioners to meet not only their peers, but also government representatives and professional colleagues from other industry associations across the globe. We would like to thank all of the attendees, many of whom traveled from around the region and overseas. Our most sincere appreciation extends also to our valuable media partners and supporting organizations, and, finally, to our generous sponsors, whose substantial contributions and support made the event possible. 

Paul Chan's speech: http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201801/17/P2018011700497.htm
Media coverage: https://www.hkvca.com.hk/upload/APEF2018/Media-Coverage.pdf  
Photographs: https://www.hkvca.com.hk/en/APEF2018.aspx
Video highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eqk8ow8YRQ&feature=youtu.be

The HKVCA held its 2019 Gala Dinner on the evening of Tuesday, January 15 at the Hong Kong Bankers Club. Tickets were sold out for this popular annual event, with more than 200 attendees gathered at the Club to enjoy an evening of great food and excellent entertainment. Each dining table was decorated with colorful figures representing the upcoming year of the pig, part of the festivities associated with the Chinese New Year holiday. The evening’s entertainment was truly the highlight of the night, with a unique yet enthralling performance delivered by two young Hong Kong students playing the erhu, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. The HKVCA was also pleased to have been able to make some donations to a worthwhile charity, the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service, which provides needed outreach services to the elderly, youth and families across Hong Kong. And in what has become a Gala Dinner tradition, guests were treated to a slide presentation outlining the HKVCA’s 2018 activities and noteworthy achievements over the course of the previous year.

We would like to extend our special thanks to our cocktail sponsors, King & Wood Mallesons, Linnovate Partners and MVision, for supporting this very special event. Thank you also to all of our guests who helped to make our annual dinner another truly unforgettable evening.