Asia Alternatives, the largest independent, Asian private equity fund-of-funds, today announced the final close of Asia Alternatives Capital Partners, LP (the “Fund”), with US $515 million of committed capital. The Fund closed meaningfully above its original target of $350 million and was significantly oversubscribed. Asia Alternatives is one of the first independently-formed private equity fund-of-funds. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Asia Alternatives has 10 professionals representing one of the largest teams solely dedicated to making Asia private equity fund investments. The firm was founded in 2006 by Melissa Ma, Laure Wang, and Rebecca Xu.
The institutional and strategic individual investors in the Fund represent a global pool of private capital sources including state and corporate pension funds, foundations, university endowments, insurance companies, and family offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. They include the California Institute of Technology, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), Comprehensive Financial Management, Mass Mutual Asia, Mass Mutual Japan, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, OHIM Asia Investors, LP, an affiliate of Oak Hill Investment Management, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, F. Warren Hellman, founder of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC, and Arthur Rock, a leading venture capitalist.
The Fund is focused on building a diversified portfolio with an emphasis on top-performing local Asian fund managers. Its primary geographic focus will include Greater China, Japan, Korea and India. Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand will also be considered on an opportunistic basis. The Fund is currently invested in over 10 leading Asian funds, investing across 12 countries in Asia.
The firm has a proprietary database of local fund managers in these markets. To date the firm has reviewed and continues to track over 450 Asia focused private equity managers.
Melissa Ma, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Asia Alternatives, said, “We see a tremendous number of opportunities in the Asian private equity space and are excited to invest in such an active and evolving market. Our team, with a combined over 25 years of investment experience in Asia, has the local presence and knowledge to effectively and efficiently identify attractive investment opportunities for our investors.”
Mr. Joncarlo Mark of CalPERS, a Limited Partner in the Fund, said, “We are very excited about our new partnership with Asia Alternatives. As a result of their direct experience working in Asia as well as their deep industry relationships and expertise, the principals of Asia Alternatives are very in tune with the local markets and provide CalPERS with additional insight into the ever-changing investment landscape in the region.”
Mr. Richard Hayes of Oak Hill Investment Management, a Limited Partner in the Fund, said, “The three founding partners not only have extensive experience in Asia private equity, but their strong local reputations in this market enhance their ability to identify and gain access to attractive investments, thereby creating value for their partners. We view Asia Alternatives as a perfect opportunity for us to grow our presence in the Asian private equity space.”
“I have a lot of admiration and respect for the team at Asia Alternatives,” said Arthur Rock, a Limited Partner in the Fund. “Asia Alternatives brings a unique perspective to manager selection, deep regional knowledge and investment acumen at a time when picking the right managers in Asia has never been more important to ensuring investment success.”
C.P. Eaton Partners, LLC acted as exclusive placement agent for Asia Alternatives, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP served as legal counsel.
Source : Earth Times