Emerging Markets Investment Guide

Great interview, quite thought provoking. I especially like the part where he mentioned "Foreign venture capital shops tend to do better than foreign private equity shops in China these days. Their card is not so much “I have 5 million dollars from New York”, as much as it is “I have a 15 year history in Silicon Valley technology deals”."

Good companies, even with China's highly distorted capital markets, have various options to access financings. To get the best quality deals foreign investors need to bring more than just money to the table.

I can't stress how important being local is --- sometimes a dealmaker from shanghai won't even trust another from beijing...

15-20 years ago, the dilemma for investing in China is too much risk, uncertainty, therefore opportunity, but too little capital.

Nowadays, the dilemma has come, too many closet billionaires, too much capital, but a lack of quality prospects to invest in. Due diligence, credibility, factual experience, and a "patriotic" Chinese national is almost a must to form any type of feasible start-up team.

Chinese companies can copy most Western technologies in about 6 months

What is the best way for an analyst/associate to get involved investing abroad in emerging markets? Most EM positions I see now prefer foreign nationals. Do you have to invest in learning a specific language?

I was in PE in China from 2005-2010. As a foreigner.
I raised $2bn and worked for one of the top firms in the country. Feel free to ping me with questions.

I think what was said above is all fairly accurate. And I can tell you all the foreigners (except 4) have left the PE scene. It's a place for locals only, and by locals I mean mainlanders, not Taiwanese or Hong Kong ppl, and certainly not foreigners and ABC returnees.

Worked in REPE shop in China from 08'-12', I'd say most of what he's saying is true, particularly the brain drain from foreign firms which are really training grounds for smaller domestic outfits where the cash is made.

So the post is about EM, but everyone is drooling over China. Remember C is only one of the BRIC letters, and that's not even mentioning the millions of other EM countries out there. Opportunities on the African continent, Dubai, South East Asia, ex-USSR, etc...

Someone did an analogy about a Chinese kid trying to work for the Nets; if he is passionate about it, learned everything he could about it while doing his studies in the US, was water boy for 4 years. I'd take him in a heart beat. Now with China - it's true that not being Chinese is a massive issue, but that is very specific to China: EM is not all about China.

Bottom line is, if you are a young graduate, you most likely have nothing to offer. If you worked 2-3 years in banking already, NOW that's interesting as you have skill$. If you worked hard enough to get into a BB you might even start on the EM desk with a bit of luck, with no language skills.

edited