Q&A: Head of PE at Asian SFO

1. We invest across the asset classes, but I can speak to PE/VC. We have invested in the US, China, HK/SG, Europe, Australia, India, SE Asia, etc. No LatAm or Africa. The Europe and Australia investments were rare and special situations. We don't actively cover/track/source in these markets.
 

2. I think it depends on the family office. There are very sophisticated family offices that run like medium-sized instituion, with very clear investment decision-making processes. Clear segregation of private and public investment teams. Dedicated structured finance/private credit professionals. Dedicated real estate investors. Some FOs' key principals still wield all the power, so even if you are his right-hand man, you still need his/her sign off on everything and may lack discretion in your investment decision making. This could be annoying if you are trying to introduce new styles/regions/deal-types to the decision maker, and it's something that they are not familiar with....it will take a while (think years) to get them to warm up to something new. There may be seemingly autonomy on the public side, but you can bet that the principal(s) will watch over the large/key positions like a hawk. Multi family offices have a completely different dynamic from single family offices. I personally don't like MFOs. Not all MFOs are principal investors. Some source deals and then market the opportunities to the families in the MFO, almost like a syndication process to see which ones opt-in to invest. So, if you consider a MFO, I'd suggest understanding whether there is balance sheet capital at the firm to deploy....or is it deal-by-deal....because if it's the latter, you will feel like a deal broker/advisor (sell-side) than an investor. Politics in families, especially Asian families, will require a whole different thread. Actually, you could write an entire book on it. So, I'd rather not get into that. If you are facing a particular situation and want my input, please DM me. Ultimately, politics vary depending on the FO. If you work for a multi-generation old money family, and there are many different family members involved in managing family capital (as well as family business(es)), obviously, it will be 20x more complicated than working at a small firm with just 1-2 family members involved. Hard to comment. Track record is important though. Principals would rather lose money investing in something they are familiar with than lose money investing in something new. So, if you are introducing something new to the firm, you better make sure the first couple investments are at least somewhat decent, and no matter what, don't lose the principal. Or else, you will find it a hard time pushing for your new agendas. 

3. Yes and no. There are people who do banking and then go to a FO, then back to banking or transition to a HF/PE. There are also older generation professionals that have institutional careers in PE/HF, and transition to a FO. I don't want to give a broad answer here, because PE firms in Asia differ a lot in strategy and approach. FOs differ even more. It's very case-by-case. I think for both, ultimately, it depends on the team that you work with, and the mentorship you will receive from either the gatekeeper (typically the right-hand man of the principal(s) and highest ranking/power individual at the FO who is not a family member) or the principal directly. Financial savyness of the principals also vary drastically, and depends on how they generated their wealth. The firm I work at, the principal generated his wealth completely through investing his own capital and making complex direct investments, so the mentorship I received was tremendous. If you work at a FO where they run 60/40 portfolios, and make more fund  than direct investments, then obviously the job will be less exciting (at least to me). PE offers more predictable visibility on your total comp than a FO, in my opinion, at least broadly speaking. This is definitely a plus. But, when you make it past the VP level at a PE, it's same as anywhere, you really need to differentiate one way or another to continue progressing. The uphill battle only gets steeper. Some FOs work you like a dog, similar to a PE. Other FOs have an amazing WLB (get in at 9, clock out at 6), but if you are looking to become a savvy dealmaker/investor then WLB isn't something that you should be factoring in to begin with. Again, it depends on the FO and their style. The range is too large. PEs will work you like a dog for the most part, no matter where you go, at least at the associate to VP levels. Happy to try answer if you can be more specific with your question. 

Hope this is helpful.