 | | HKVCA Asia Private Equity Forum 2021 (Virtual Conference) | |  | The Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association’s (HKVCA) 11th Asia Private Equity Forum (APEF) was convened virtually on January 20, 2021. The annual event featured as many as 60 expert speakers and panelists representing general partners, limited partners and advisors. Its positioning as the region’s premier private equity forum was illustrated by the registration of close to 1,000 delegates, more than half of whom were senior level and C-suite executives.
The goal of APEF every year is to bring together a multi-disciplinary group of investment professionals, government representatives and industry peers to present and exchange cutting-edge ideas in private capital investment. It aims to promote top level strategizing through keynote speeches, fireside chats, panel discussions and presentations, focusing attention on recent developments and challenges, and engaging in both future gazing as well as substantive discussions around the current practical needs of our industry.
APEF 2021’s theme centered around the pandemic and deglobalization. As a virtual event without geographic limitations and barriers, speakers from all around the world were able to discuss live the latest opportunities arising within our industry as well as the lessons learned from the unprecedented challenges brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The event program was also designed to ensure vigorous discussion of the current issues that face investors in China, India, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea and Australia. Family offices, US LPs, and specialists in real estate and venture capital had discussions about their investment environment and portfolio allocations in Asia, while participants were provided with the very latest regulatory updates, in particular on the new LPF regime and climate change disclosures. This year also featured, for the very first time, discussions covering diversity, inclusion, and career advancement. APEF 2021 and the HKVCA were honored as well to have hosted a series of fireside chats with Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman & CEO of Sinovation Ventures, and Brian Gu, Vice Chairman & President of XPENG Motors, on the future of AI and autonomous driving in PE and VC investing, and likewise to have hosted Robin Xing, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley, who delivered a noteworthy keynote presentation on dual circulation, decoupling, and delisting.
We would like to thank all attendees, including the many who joined from time zones around the world. Our most sincere appreciation extends also to our generous sponsors, whose substantial contributions and support made this year’s event possible. We look very much forward to seeing all of you in person once again at APEF 2022. |
| | Consultation on ‘Management and Disclosure of Climate-related Risks by Fund Managers’ | |  |
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| | HKVCA Membership Renewal 2021 | |  | Dear Colleagues,
Warm greetings from the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA). I would like to cordially invite you to renew your firm’s membership in the Association for the coming year, 2021. This past year has been a difficult one filled with concern for Hong Kong and the world in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet against this backdrop, the HKVCA has still managed to grow, becoming bigger, better and more influential than it has ever been.
With the largest membership base among fellow industry associations in Asia, the HKVCA is a unique and singularly persuasive voice when it comes to representing the interests of the private capital markets in Hong Kong, Greater China and the Asia-Pacific region. We represent close to 480 local and international firms covering a broad group of private equity and venture capital practitioners. Nine of the top 10 private equity firms in the world are members.
With all physical events coming to a complete halt very early in the year with the outbreak of COVID-19, we had to rapidly shift our energies and resources towards organizing events virtually. We have since offered 30 webinars in the months March through October 2020, a move that has gone a long way toward ensuring that our members have been able to stay on top of the latest and most important industry developments.
The HKVCA has also continued to hold regular meetings with government officials so as to give voice to our members’ interests and concerns. Indeed, the government has acceded to many of our requests and implemented a number of polices that strongly benefit the private capital industry in general, and PE professionals in particular, including:
1. The unified fund tax exemption.
2. HKEx’s new chapters for pre-revenue biotech companies and new economy companies.
3. The new onshore limited partnership regime.
4. The concessionary tax rate for carried interest.
5. The Hong Kong Growth Portfolio.
I look forward to us working together to ensure the HKVCA remains the most influential regional body for our industry and it is in this spirit that I acknowledge how much we value your continued involvement. We are also pleased to confirm that the fee for membership in 2021 will remain at the same rate it has been for the past eight years. We so look forward to seeing you in person again very soon and thank you for your renewed commitment.
Yours sincerely,
H. Chin Chou
Chairman, Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Asia Limited |
| | | | Limited registrations available |  | | Webinar - A practical SPAC case study for private equity investors | On January 7, 2021 ACE Convergence Acquisition Corporation and Achronix Semiconductor Corporation jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement valued at approximately $2.1 billion, one of the more recent SPAC-related acquisitions made by a private equity firm. Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are an increasingly popular vehicle for structuring private equity deals, with SPAC registrations more than doubling in 2020 compared to 2019. One of the many advantages of leveraging a SPAC is that it broadens the potential investment base beyond institutional investors to public backers. Denis Tse, CEO of ACE Equity Partners International, will share his experience and practical examples on the use of SPAC companies and their importance for private equity investing, including: - Why companies see SPAC listings as attractive.
- Tactical aspects of pursuing a SPAC merger.
- key considerations for an Asian GP SPAC sponsor.
| | Speaker: |  | Denis Tse
CEO, ACE Equity Partners International Pte. Ltd.;
President, ACE Convergence Acquisition LLC |  | | | Date: | February 4, 2021 (Thursday) | | Time: | 10:00 - 11:00 (Hong Kong Time) | | Format: | Zoom Webinar* - link will be provided upon successful registration# | | Fee: | HKVCA Member
1 free pass per company
additional passes: HK$200 per person
Non-Member
HK$300 per person | | CPT: | 1 point | | *Be advised that a webinar recording of this event will not be available upon its conclusion.
#To avoid technical problems registrants should log in to Zoom webinars using the email address they provided when registering for the event. | | Registration deadline: February 3, 2021 |   |
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| | The Golf Day will be rescheduled to November 30, 2021 (Tue). |  |  | | Date: | March 12, 2021 (Friday) November 30, 2021 (Tuesday) | | Time: | Registration and breakfast: 7:30 am
Shotgun start: 8:15 am
Lunch: 1:00 pm | | Venue: | The Shek O Golf & Country Club
Address: 15 Shek O Road, Shek O, Hong Kong | | Format: | Scramble | | Fees*: | Members: HK$2,900
Non-members: HK$3,800
* Fee inclusive of light breakfast and lunch | | | Individual booking: | Team booking: | | | | |
| | |  | Over the past year we have continued to inform our members about changes made to the HKVCA’s logo, specifically, the addition of the byline “The Association for Private Capital in Asia”, which we believe reflects the way our industry has continued to innovate and develop. At the same time, however, we recognize the importance of our position as the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Accordingly, our logo will continue to reflect both our formal name as well as the byline representing the diversity of our members.
Our members today represent far more diverse types of asset classes than was true at the Association’s founding, and include private credit, real estate and illiquid private markets. Likewise, our membership is more diverse - in addition to our GP members, for example, we also have private capital investors from family offices, pension funds, endowments and insurance who invest in markets throughout Asia Pacific. Hence, the adoption of our new tagline was done in the sincere belief that it far more accurately reflects the nature of our industry and the aspirations of our membership. We hope all of our members are excited about this new change to our organizational identity. |
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| | | | | | | | Annual Report 2019/2020 |  | | Read the annual report here. | | |
| | New Members | | | | Corporate Full Members | | | | Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited | | | | IMS Digital Ventures | | IMS Digital Ventures is the venture building arm of IMS, Hong Kong’s leading digital transformation agency with over 300 employees in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Singapore. At IMS Digital Ventures, we build revolutionary new ventures with Asia's most influential corporations and disruptive entrepreneurs. | | | | Vista Equity Partners Management, LLC | | Vista Equity Partners is a US-based investment firm with offices in Austin, Chicago, New York, Oakland, and San Francisco, with more than $73 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2020. We focus exclusively on the large and growing enterprise software market across our private equity, permanent capital, credit and public equity investment strategies. We are a value-added investor, contributing professional expertise and multi-level support to help companies realize their full potential. Our sizable long-term capital base, experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques yield flexibility and opportunity for our companies. At Vista, our people enable our pursuit of excellence. We are technologists and engineers at our core, translating ideas into actions and embracing innovation. Our team’s extensive transaction, operating, and strategic expertise propels our companies forward and advances the global technology ecosystem. | | | | Corporate Associate Members | | | | Allen & Overy | | | | BMS Asia (Hong Kong) Ltd. | | BMS is a dynamic global broker that provides specialist insurance, reinsurance and capital markets advisory services. Established in 1980, today the company places $2.6 billion of premiums each year. Growing rapidly, it employs more than 450 people in 20 offices worldwide, including in such key hubs as London, New York and Bermuda. In Asia, it has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore from where its private equity, M&A and tax teams support the Asian M&A community by placing specialized insurance solutions to cover transactional risks. | | | | IHS Markit | | IHS Markit is a leading global provider of financial services technology, data and analytical services, supporting all participants in the capital-raising process, including sell-side professionals, finance officers at private and public companies, institutional investors and asset managers. The private markets division of IHS Markit serves over 700 LP and GP clients globally, and offers software and services around data collection, portfolio monitoring, valuations and investor reporting. IHS Markit solutions for private markets are the premier industry choice to address growing pressures for transparency and regulatory compliance. | | | | KOTRA | | KOTRA (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency) is a Korean government organization established in 1962. It provides business matchmaking and consulting services for companies seeking to cooperate with Korean companies. | | |
| | | | Event Reports | | | Webinar - A toolkit for Asian managers looking to tap into EU monies
February 2, 2021 |  | A toolkit for Asian managers looking to tap into EU monies was the subject of an HKVCA webinar held on February 2, 2021. Hosted by HKVCA Board member Varun Bery, he was joined by representatives from global offshore law firm Harneys - Maggie Kwok, Partner and head of Funds and Regulatory practice group in Asia, and Vanessa Molloy, Partner and Head of Funds in Luxembourg.
Chief among the discussions was the issue of why the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg remain attractive jurisdictions. In addition, the speakers examined parallel fund structures, the future of reverse solicitation, issues around the extension of the AIFMD passport to third country AIFMs and AIF, and the reasons why Cayman-Luxembourg fund structures generate significant interest.
With more than 70 people registering for the event, the HKVCA extends its sincere thanks to Harneys for their generous sponsorship, and to Varun Bery and both speakers for leading the event. | | | Webinar: Climate change best practices for GPs (No. 1 ESG topic of 2020)
January 28, 2021 |  | Climate change best practices for GPs was the topic of the HKVCA’s first webinar of the year held on January 28, 2021. The event proved to be immensely popular and more than 100 people registered to attend.
HKVCA Vice Chairman Jie Gong, a partner at Pantheon Ventures, was joined by Queenie Ho, a partner at Affinity Equity Partners; Alvin Lam, Principal at CVC Capital Partners; Ross Chiu, Director of Kerogen Capital; and Neil Macdonald, Head of Wealth and Asset Management at KPMG China.
The speakers on the GP side shared best practices in terms of how to begin measuring climate related issues for portfolio companies and when it becomes necessary to apply methodology and benchmarking. The speakers also agreed that climate changes is a vital challenge, especially for those countries and regions hardest hit, and identified how the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) may help. Finally, the panelists shared their own strategies on how to meet the demands of combating climate change, encouraging participants to include the issue in their due diligence and investment memos.
The HKVCA extends its sincere thanks to all the attendees and to KPMG for their generous sponsorship. Our thanks also to Jie Gong for hosting the event and to all the expert panelists for their participation. | | | Webinar: Recent regulatory developments in Hainan
December 22, 2020 |  | December 22, 2020 saw the HKVCA hold its final event for the year 2020. Hosted by Vice Chairman John Levack, the webinar examined recent regulatory developments in Hainan and featured speakers Zhen Chen and Flora Qian, partners with Fangda Partners; Nicole Zhang, Partner-in-Charge of Hainan Business and colleague Henry Wong, Partner, Tax, at KPMG China; and Huang Cui, Chief Representative, Beijing Office at Hainan IEDB. Much of the discussion focused on recent qualification requirements and application procedures for QFLP managers, QFLP/QDLD funds and investors. The participants also discussed QFLP fund structures, which they highlighted by illustrating foreign versus domestic LP models, and touched on the different ways foreign investors can participate in PIPE deals, specifically QFLP versus QFII versus FSI. Finally, the tax specialists gave their views on Hainan’s preferential tax polices, typical QFLP/QDLP structures and other tax considerations.
The HKVCA extends its warmest thanks to John Levack who has so generously given of his time and experience as host of our extensive webinar series this year. Our thanks of course also to all of our speakers at this event, and to Fangda Partners for their sponsorship. | | |
| | | | Industry News | | | | Hong Kong startup ICW eyes supply chain diversification demand amid trade war | | January 29, 2021 | | (Techcrunch by Rita Liao) - For American importers, finding suppliers these days can be challenging and not only because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. The US government’s entity list designations, human rights-related sanctions, among other trade blacklists targeting Chinese firms have also rattled US supply chains... | | (link to the full article) | | | | Lynk, a “knowledge-as-a-service” platform with more than 840,000 experts, raises $24 million | | January 27, 2021 | | (Techcrunch by Catherine Shu) - Lynk, a “knowledge-as-a-service” platform that connects clients with over 840,000 experts in a wide range of fields, announced today it has raised $24 million led by Brewer Lane Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, with participation from the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. The company uses machine learning... | | (link to the full article) | | | | Vista founder calls for investment in Asia tech infrastructure | | January 25, 2021 | | (AVCJ by Tim Burroughs) - Vista Equity Partners is keen to invest in Asia’s financial technology space, but founder Robert Smith stressed that governments must put in place the appropriate regulatory infrastructure.. | | (link to the full article) | | | | Kerogen Capital outlines net zero carbon strategy and achieves carbon neutrality across the fund and its two largest controlled portfolio companies | | January 22, 2021 | | Kerogen Capital (“Kerogen”), the independent private equity fund manager specialising in the energy sector, supports the goal of the Paris Agreement to achieve a net zero global economy and is pleased to announce the launch of its Net Zero Carbon Strategy... | | (link to the full article) | | | | Achronix to list on Nasdaq through merger with ACE Convergence | | January 7, 2021 | | (Press Release) - Achronix Semiconductor Corporation, a leader in high-performance field-programmable gate arrays and embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP, and ACE Convergence Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ACEV), a special-purpose acquisition company, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for a business... | | (link to the full article) | | | | More news in Industry News | | | | | Contact us at +852-2167-7518 or hkvca@hkvca.com.hk
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