Family Offices: Investment & Philanthropy in 2022
Our first session of the day looks at broad themes currently affecting family offices in Asia, including inflation and global conflict, rising trends in PE and direct investing, climate change and green investments, and best practices for investment decision-making.
Session 2: Deep dive into Asia investment strategy
David Harland and Johnson Cheng pick up where our previous session left off, taking us on an in-depth tour of the Asian investment landscape. Tune in as they cover the most important investment considerations for family offices while sharing their own approaches.
Session 3: What does modern-day philanthropy look like?
Philanthropy is no longer an afterthought for family offices, but something that is increasingly integrated into the fabric of how they do business. Our final session looks at how philanthropy is being redefined, and how it has become central to legacy creation.
Speakers
Gaurav Patankar
Alternative Investments
Bloomberg Intelligence
Gaurav Patankar is an investment and fintech executive with a track record of leading and transforming investment organizations, portfolios and products building important institutional relationships globally. Over his 22-year career, Gaurav has invested and allocated capital globally and across multiple asset classes including equities, alternatives, fixed income, infrastructure and real/operating assets. Presently, he serves as the Head of Strategy - Alternatives & OCIO Solutions at Bloomberg Intelligence with a keen focus on building and triangulating Bloomberg’s value proposition within pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices and asset managers. Gaurav previously served as the OCIO of a multi-billion family office –Atharva A&C. Prior to his OCIO journey, Gaurav was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Mellon Investment Management where he managed the global emerging markets research and portfolio teams across multiple strategies. He also led key strategic dialogues with UHNW, SWF and Endowment & Foundation clients as the thought leader on emerging markets. Prior to Mellon, Gaurav was a Portfolio manager of Global absolute-return strategies at the Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co (Pension Plan) where he successfully turned around the firm’s alternative portfolio and built out the firm’s managed account platform. Before that, he served as a Vice President and Sector Head of Emerging-Markets and Global Financials at Millennium Management, LLC, as an equity research analyst at SuNova Capital and Citigroup Investment Research covering large and mid-cap banks. Prior to his investment career, Gaurav was a Corporate Strategist at M&T Bank and an entrepreneur in India where he co-founded Information Interface India Ltd (promoter of Niyogin Fintech Limited BSE: NIYOGIN_IN). In 2016, Gaurav led prominent investors to reverse merge the firm with a listed NBFC working closely with key stakeholders and regulators to create India’s first listed fintech company. Gaurav helped put together a high quality board, institutional investors and a top notch management team.
David Harland
Head, Harland Family Office & Executive Chairman
FINH
David Harland is the Executive Chairman of FINH. He established the company in 1994 using his skills gained through a background in the investment banking industry and wide experience in business valuation. David also heads his family investment firm where he oversees the financial administration and reporting as well as implementation of investment strategy. As a member of the investment committee, he works with non-family professionals in building capacity of family members. David is a member of CPA Australia, the previous Chairman of the Australian Indonesian Business Council QLD, Chairman of CPA National Business Valuation Forum Group and holds both Australian and International Accreditation in Family Business Advising with Family Business Australia and the Family Firm Institute.
Johnson Cheng
Founder
Voyager Capital
Johnson Cheng is the founder of Voyager Capital. He has extensive experience in innovation, corporate strategy, negotiations, change management, lean agile product development, and deal-making. He has worked on multi-million-dollar deals and projects in real estate, healthcare, private equity, financial services, and technology across the globe. Prior to founding Voyager, he ran csc86.com, a B2B industrial goods and MRO e-Commerce platform under China South City Holdings. During Johnson's tenure, he transformed the company and grew Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) from naught to 186 M RMB. The platform had 160 employees, 800,000+ members, over 3 M SKUs, and a strategic partnership with Ping An Bank and JD.com. Prior to his work at China South City, Johnson founded Chi Fan Group, his family investment firm, and was a Strategy & Operations consultant at Deloitte Consulting(New York). He is a member of the Advisory Board of FiscalNote, a member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), Regional Chair (HK) of the Family Business Network (FBN) Asia, and a member of the Cornell EMI Advisory Council. Johnson received his B.S. and MBAfrom Cornell University.
Vandna Ramchandani
Regional Head of Corporate Philanthropy Asia Pacific
Bloomberg
Vandna Ramchandani is Regional Head of Corporate Philanthropy for Asia Pacific at Bloomberg. Based in Singapore, she oversees corporate philanthropy across the region, focusing on addressing unmet needs in communities, and leveraging Bloomberg’s unique insights in data, news and innovation, to ultimately improve lives. Her team spearheads Bloomberg’s industry-leading employee volunteer programmes and rallies regional financial leaders and the community through philanthropic initiatives. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, having held leadership roles across various departments in Bloomberg including data management, human resources, and sales and customer support. Ramchandani is on Bloomberg’s Diversity & Inclusion Council for Asia Pacific. She is also a member of Bloomberg Singapore's Office Committee and is a frequent speaker at conferences on leadership and talent. Diversity, equity and inclusion are topics close to her heart.
Dr Mary Ann Tsao
Chairman, Tsao Foundation
Council Member, Tsao Family Office
Mary Ann is a member of the Ambassador Circle and former Board Director (2008-2020) of FBN (Family Business Network) Asia. She joined her brother, Frederick Chavalit, in establishing the regional, non-profit association of family businesses committed to business practices that serve as a model of sustainability. Mary Ann is also the current Chairwoman of the Tsao Family Office. IMC - the Tsao family group of companies that include shipping and logistics, real estate, hospitality and other businesses - was started in the late 1800’s in shanghai by her great grandfather. Additionally, Mary Ann is the Chairwoman and Founding Director of the Tsao Ng Yu Shun Foundation, a Singapore-based but regionally oriented non-profit operational foundation dedicated to aged care and ageing issues that was chartered by her grandmother in 1992. She has served on numerous boards and committees of local governmental and non-profit organisations as well as academic institutions. She has also served as technical advisor and resource person for various multilateral agencies, such as WHO Geneva office’s Ageing and Life Course unit, UNESCAP (UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific), as well as on the boards of various international agencies on ageing. For her work on ageing, she received from the government of Singapore the Public Service Medal (PBM) in 2000, Public Service Star (BBM) in 2004 and Public Service Star (Bar) – BBM(L) – in 2015. Mary Ann is frequently invited to speak about family business and family offices, philanthropy as well as ageing and longevity.
James Macdonald
Communications Manager
Beacon Collaborative
James is responsible for communications, content and community engagement at Beacon Collaborative. Beacon Collaborative is a collective impact movement which exists to grow philanthropy in the UK. Before coming to Beacon, James ran strategic projects and communications for the social enterprise Escape The City, coordinating the development of the Top 100 Organisations To Work For annual awards. He has BSc and MA degrees in Human Rights and wrote his thesis on the use of American propaganda during the Korean War. James has also been involved in developing and organising events and films related to music and mental health. Beyond work, James plays guitar and enjoys travelling and running.
Steven Yankelson
Head of ASEAN
Bloomberg
Steven Yankelson is Head of Sales, ASEAN at Bloomberg, the global business and financial data, news and analytics leader. Based in Singapore, he oversees business development and key customer relationships across 11 markets in the ASEAN region. Prior to relocating to Singapore, Steven spent three years in London as Head of Enterprise Sales for Bloomberg in emerging markets across Europe, including Eastern Europe, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Russia and the CIS. In this role, he was responsible for a 50-strong sales team, serving 2200 firms, across 37 countries. Steven has held various roles with Bloomberg since joining the company in 2007. He started his career in Global Customer Support and Analytics, prior to moving to the sales organization, and has supported numerous clients over the years, ensuring that they have the best experience with Bloomberg.