People

Kok-Yew Tang, Chairman & Managing Partner, Affinity Equity Partners

Tang has been involved in private equity since 1989. He joined UBS Capital as chairman, Asia Pacific in 1999 before co-founding Affinity Equity Partners in 2002. Prior to UBS Capital, he was the chief executive for investment banking East Asia and the chief executive of Hong Kong UBS. In that role, he also had oversight responsibility for the bank’s private equity activities. Prior to UBS, he served as president and CEO of Banque Indosuez’s Asian investment bank and Chairman of WI Carr (Far East) Limited, one of the leading stockbroking firms in Asia. Tang began his financial career with Chase Manhattan and spent 17 years at the bank.

X.D. Yang, MD & Co-head Carlyle Group

Xiang-Dong Yang is a managing director focused on Asian buyout opportunities. He is based in HK. Prior to joining Carlyle, Yang spent nearly 10 years at Goldman Sachs, and was MD, co-head of private equity investments for Asia ex Japan, and a member of Goldman’s Asia Operating Committee. Yang has led a number of prominent private equity deals in Asia, including Goldman’s investments in Kookmin Bank of Korea and the China Netcom Corporation.

Simon Pillar, MD, Pacific Equity Partners

Pillar is a founder of PEP, an Australasian buyout house. Prior to founding PEP, Pillar was a vice president of Bain & Company. He has ten years of consulting experience in the US, Asia, and Australasia. Pillar has been active in Australia and Asia since 1990 and was company head of Bain & Company’s Singapore operation between 1995 and 1997. Pillar received a BSc(Eng) in Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, where he received the Institution of Civil Engineers Award and an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was a Thouron Scholar and George Washington Business Scholar.

Andrew Yan, managing partner, SAIF Partners

Andy Yan joined SAIF in October 2001 and heads SAIF as the managing partner. Prior to joining SAIF, Yan was managing director & head of Hong Kong Office of Emerging Markets Partnership which is the Principal Advisor to AIG Asian Infrastructure Funds. He has held the position of director for strategic planning & business development at Sprint International Corporation. Prior to this he was an economist with The World Bank – Policy, Planning, and Research Division and he was a Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute Washington, D.C. as well as a Research Fellow at the State Commission for Economic Restructuring of the State Council of China. He has also worked as Chief Engineer with Jianghuai Airplane Corporation.

John Ehara, Partner, Unison Capital

John Ehara co-founded Unison Capital in 1998. He has been an active member of the Investment Committee and providing overall leadership in growing the firm. He co-led investments in Cosmos Initia, Media Leaves and Orient Credit. In 2005, he became the first Chairman of the Private Equity Association of Japan. Prior to founding Unison Capital, he spent sixteen years as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs building its franchise in Japan. He was selected to be the first Japanese General Partner of Goldman Sachs in 1988.

Anna Cheung, Partner, 3i

Cheung joined 3i in 2001 as a founder member of the Hong Kong team. She currently works in Hong Kong and has spent time in the 3i offices in London and New York. Cheung’s main geographical focus is China and her sector experience is consumer, media and healthcare. Key deals include CJ CGV, GST, Yellow Brick Road, PCD Stores, Little Sheep and John Hardy. Prior to 3i, Cheung worked for Intel Capital and JH Whitney focusing on telecommunications and IT investments in North Asia. Before that, she worked in investment banking with Salomon Brothers, New York and Bankers Trust, Hong Kong in the areas of corporate finance, capital markets and M&As.

Larry Li, MD, DFJ Dragonfund China

Dr. Larry Guangxin Li was born in China and has spent his entire career in China. Li was a co-founder and managing director of SHVC – Shanghai DJ Venture and has been a managing director of Shanghai VC (International) since 2000. He has over 18 years of operating, R&D, business incubating and investing experience. Li has made investments in Actions IC, MicroPort Medical, Alchip, EDDA, Yuhua Tech and eBao Tech. He started out his career as an engineer at the National Die & Model CAD Research Institute. He began his technological transfer path as director of Shanghai JinQiao Hi-Tech Innovation Center in 1993. For the next five years, more than 20 startup companies were incubated at this center, of which three achieved prominent exits. He worked as a research fellow and contract researcher at the University of Michigan and Daimler-Chrysler in 1998. Li holds a Ph. D. degree in Applied Mechanics from Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Neil Shen, Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China

Neil Shen is a Founding Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital, he served as president & CFO of Ctrip.com International Limited, an online travel company in China which he co-founded in 1999 and where he remains as a director. Neil is also a co-founder and co-chairman of Home Inns, an economy hotel chain in China. Previously, Shen was a director and head of debt capital markets for China at Deutsche Bank where he worked from 1996 to 1999. Prior to 1996, he worked at Chemical Bank, Lehman Brothers and Citibank in various investment banking positions. Shen is a director of China Entrepreneur Forum and a member of Young Presidents’ Organization.

Piau-Voon Wang, partner, Adams Street Partners

Wang is a partner who joined Adams Street Partners initially in the London office in 1999 to research the Asian markets and has been involved in formulating Adams Street’s private equity fund investment strategy for Asia. He opened Adams Street Partners’ Singapore office in 2006. He actively participates in all fund investment decisions at Adams Street. Prior to joining Adams Street Partners he worked for Brinson Partners/UBS Global Asset Management; Arthur Andersen; Nikko Capital Singapore and Indosuez Asset Management Singapore.

Melissa Ma, co-founder and MD of Asia Alternatives Management

Melissa Ma is a co-founder and managing director of Asia Alternatives. Ma leads Asia Alternatives’ San Francisco office, which serves as the Firm’s base for investor services, marketing, and corporate financial management. Ma is on the Firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to launching Asia Alternatives, Ma was a director at Hellman & Friedman, a San Francisco-based private equity firm with US$8 billion of committed capital. Ma was involved with sourcing and monitoring H&F’s investments in financial and professional services. She also managed H&F’s relationships with its investors and had a leading role in its fundraising activities. Previously, Ma worked at McKinsey & Co., in the Hong Kong and San Francisco offices and Goldman, Sachs & Co. From 1995-2000, she worked in the Hong Kong office of McKinsey in the Corporate Finance Practice and the Financial Institutions Practice. Ma was also a financial analyst in the Financial Institutions Group in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

John Zhao, CEO, Hony Capital

John Zhao is the founder, CEO and managing director of Hony Capital. Mr. Zhao sets strategy for Hony Capital, and leads the senior management team in the execution of Hony’s investment programs. Zhao plays an active personal role in each of Hony’s portfolio companies, working directly with the CEOs to formulate expansion strategy, realign their businesses, and conduct international and domestic M&A.Prior to launching Hony Capital Zhao held numerous CEO and chairman roles. He was CEO of eGarden Ventures, CEO of technology company Infolio, chairman and CEO of Vadem and general manager of U.S. Robotics. Zhao continues to serve as vice president of Hony’s sponsor firm, Legend Holdings, one of China’s best known companies and the parent of Lenovo, acquirer of the IBM personal computer business. Zhao also continues to hold director and chairman roles in several Hony portfolio companies.

YanPing Xu, CEO & fund manager, Ginger Capital Management

YanPing has over 17 years’ experience in a broad range of financial markets. During this time, she developed extensive connections with key individuals in organizations across the region, particularly in Greater China. From 1998 to 2003, she was at Goldman Sachs as an Executive Director in its Investment Management Division. At Goldman, she managed more than US$500 million assets for ultra-high net worth individuals and institutions. From 1993 to 1997, as the Head of China Investment Banking Division for SBC Warburg (now, UBS Investment Bank), she helped the Chinese government develop the B-share markets in Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as led the first China B-share IPO. She also assisted in several H-share listings in Hong Kong and ADR listings in the US such as Yizheng Chemical (HK1033) and Harbin Power (HK1133). Prior to that, she was a stock analyst for 3 years with ABN Amro and Bankers Trust. She is a graduate of Beijing University and Eastern Michigan University.