Over the past 25 years Asia’s financial markets have exploded. Equity and bond flows are big and growing, M&A volumes continue to rise, and trading volumes rise on an almost annual basis in every major country. For our 25th anniversary Asiamoney has highlighted 25 individuals that we feel have played particularly important roles in this development.
When choosing these individuals Asiamoney’s editorial team analysed the key market developments over the past 25 years, including equity issuance, bond market maturation, the rise of private equity in Asia, and the increasing the region’s institutional investor market. We also conducted extensive consultations with a selection of veteran senior market participants, asking them to nominate individuals who stood out for market influence, personal leadership qualities, and the trailblazing impact of their actions.
Asiamoney has compiled the following list from this analysis. This is by no means the definitive list of influential financial market individuals in Asia, but it does contains many of the most impactful individuals within the region’s financial markets history.
Jack Wadsworth, honorary chairman, Asia, Morgan Stanley
Wadsworth was the key Morgan Stanley figure behind the creation of China International Capital Corp. in 1995, the first joint venture between a Chinese institution and international investment bank. It gained access to China’s capital market years before its rivals and it participated in roughly 50% of the country’s privatisations in the 1990s and gained 20% of the fees earned. In 2002 Wadsworth began work on the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s International Advisory Council (IAC) at the behest of Zhou Xiaochuan, then the regulator head. The IAC was officially established in 2004.
Liu Hongru, consultant,
Shenzhen First Capital Group
The first chairman of China’s newly created China Securities Regulatory Commission in 1992, Liu helped modernise the country’s capital markets, approved the creation of CICC, China’s first modern joint venture investment bank, and directly engaged in the privatisation of the country’s businesses. Liu was formerly deputy head of the Agricultural Bank of China. Now a consultant or director in multiple Chinese companies, the 75-year old remains an active figure.
Liu Ming Kang, former head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC)
A former deputy governor of China Development Bank and then the People’s Bank of China (1998-1999), Liu was the chairman of Bank of China between 2000 and 2003. During this time he oversaw Bank of China (Hong Kong)’s corporate restructuring so it could list. Upon becoming the first chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) in 2003 Liu used his experience to prepare China’s big four state banks for IPOs, restructuring them and scooping out their bad debts. Liu latterly ensured the health of the banking system during the global financial crisis, before leaving the CBRC in 2011.
Charles Li, chief executive, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing
The first mainland Chinese head of the operator of Hong Kong’s bourse has played a pivotal role in ensuring its good relations with Beijing since his appointment in 2009. He drove the HKEx’s acquisition of the LME Group for $2.15bn in December 2012, which offers it the opportunity to expand into commodities. Li also helped pioneer the pilot direct trading link between Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges last month, which allows for cross-market stock investments by mainland and Hong Kong investors, capped at Rmb10.5bn ($1.68bn) a day into China and HK$13bn ($1.68bn) a day into Hong Kong.
Francis Leung, senior adviser, CVC Capital Partners
The co-founder of Asian investment bank Peregrine was also the force behind its deal-making during the pre-Asia financial crisis. Leung was dubbed ‘the father of red-chips’ for his work bringing companies with mostly Chinese operations to list in Hong Kong during the 1990s, such as Shanghai Petrochemical’s $342.68m IPO in 1993. After Peregrine’s collapse in the Asia financial crisis Leung reinvented himself as a tech banker and helped many internet companies list, including raising $1bn for PCCW in February 2000. Leung joined CVC in 2007.
Raghuram Rajan, governor, Reserve Bank of India
Asia’s most recent central bank governor quickly made his presence felt since being appointed in August 2013. He raised rates to defend the currency and is offering a new round of bank licences, which could potentially revitalise the sector. Formerly the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund from 2003-2007, Rajan is famous for predicting the global financial crisis three years before it took place. He brought much-needed credibility to India’s financial market during a time when it looked particularly vulnerable as a result of the country’s current account deficit.
Li Ka-Shing, chairman of
Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa
Asia’s richest man has ensured the region’s bankers enjoy a steady stream of work. The 85 year-old’s Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa conglomerates constantly seek to acquire assets where appropriate across their property, retail, power, energy and utility businesses. The 3G investments of Hutchison have consumed billions of US dollars of investment and taken years of work, but the conglomerate now operates mobile networks in nine markets, and it is one of Asia’s most active capital markets users.
Zhu Rongji, former prime
minister of China
Zhu was integral to the privatisation of the country’s assets in the 1990s, but his financial influence extends further back. As mayor of Shanghai from 1987, Zhu helped develop the Pudong district into a financial centre. He became vice-premier of the State Council in 1991 and was concurrently made governor of the PBoC in 1993. The self-confident official dismantled failing state owned enterprises and pushed through the privatisation of others, such as China Telecom. China can largely thank its World Trade Organisation entry to his efforts. Zhu became premier in 1997.
Hugh Young, head of global emerging markets, Aberdeen Asset Management
Young is the head of Asia at one of the region’s most established asset management companies. An employee of Aberdeen since 1985, he moved from London to co-found Aberdeen Asia in Singapore in 1992. Young has greatly expanded the company’s regional presence since, establishing offices in eight countries other than the Singapore regional headquarters, and was pivotal in Aberdeen’s purchase of 80% of Indonesian fund manager NISP Asset Management early this year.
Stuart Gulliver, group chief
executive, HSBC
The head of HSBC joined the bank in 1980 and became HSBC’s Asia head of treasury and capital markets in 1996. He then grew the division’s profits 20% a year, leading to his promotion to head of global markets in 2002. In 2003 Gulliver became co-head corporate and investment banking, then sole head in 2006, at which time he narrowed the division’s focus to emerging markets and financing. Since becoming group CEO in 2011 Gulliver has pushed investment banking and markets to cooperate better with commercial banking, which has led the bank to noticeably improve, particularly in Hong Kong.
Naina Lal Kidwai, country head
of HSBC, India
Kidwai regularly breaks through glass ceilings. The 57-year old was the first female Indian graduate from Harvard Business School, the first woman to work at PriceWaterhouse, the first to run a foreign bank in India and, in December 2012, the first female president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Observers say Kidwai can pick up the phone and talk to any chief executive in India. Morgan Stanley poached her from ANZ Grindlays to launch its investment banking operations in India in 1994. HSBC in turn stole Kidwai to run its securities and capital markets team.
Fang Fenglei, founding partner and chairman, HOPU Jinghua (Beijing) Investment Consultancy
The 62-year old helped Goldman Sachs create a joint-venture in China through a partnership with securities house Gao Hua, which was established in 2004. Before than Fang was a vice president at CICC, and he was also the chief executive officer at BOC International Holdings, Bankers credit Fang with helping push through the equity listings of China Mobile and PetroChina. He is regarded as one of China’s best-connected bankers.
Zhou Xiaochuan, governor,
People’s Bank of China (PBoC)
The Chinese central bank governor since 2002, Zhou has been pivotal to the country’s economic liberalisation in the past few years, including the internationalisation of the renminbi. Previously Zhou was the head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission from 2000 to 2002, and governor of China Construction Bank from 1998-2000. In 2012 Beijing changed its retirement age rules to give the 64-year old another term at the PBoC.
Gary Coull, co-founder of CLSA
The joint founder of CLSA in 1987 established the brokerage with fellow journalists. He ensured CLSA offered investors entertaining, thought-provoking views and independent stock picks in its research, while gaining most its revenues from broking commissions, not underwriting. Coull led CLSA’s growth across the region, and its credibility led it to be voted the best brokerage multiple times in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll. Coull succumbed to a long battle with cancer in 2007 at the age of 52.
Canning Fok, Frank Sixt, Susan Chow, respectively group managing director, deputy managing director, group finance director, Hutchison Whampoa
Investment bankers say it’s hard to single out an individual from Hutchison’s management team. Fok and Chow have overseen Hutchison’s strategic growth through acquisitions such as its lead of a consortium to buy the UK electricity networks of Electricite de France for $9bn in 2010 and last year’s purchase of Wales & West Utilities for $3.04bn. Meanwhile Frank Sixt has led Hutchison Whampoa in ground-breaking capital markets deals such as a $5bn three-tranche bond in 2003 that remains the region’s largest deal.
Morris Chang, founder and
chairman, TSMC
The man behind arguably Taiwan’s best known company and a global chipmaker, Chang’s tireless efforts to grow the company he founded in 1987 have led it to become a relatively frequent user of the international capital markets. The company was the first Taiwanese business to list on the New York Stock Exchange, and it has since conducted several vanilla equity offerings and convertible bonds. It also issued a $1.5bn bond in March 2013, a rare deal from a country whose borrowers rarely conduct dollar bonds.
Joseph Bae, managing partner, Asia, KKR
Installed by KKR co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts as head of Asia when in 2005 when he was just 33 years old, Bae managed the US private equity firm’s rise to become a leading player, despite it possessing a shorter track record in the region than rivals. In 2011 Bae helped KKR raised a $6bn fund, Asia’s largest to date. Observers credit the Korean-American as an excellent manager. In January KKR and Affinity Partners sold Oriental Brewery for $5.8bn, $4bn higher than the $1.8bn they paid to buy it in 2009.
Tim Dattels, co-head of Asia, TPG
Observers credit Dattels with enjoying strong client relationships in Asia. TPG appears to agree, and promoted him to co-head of the private equity company’s Asia business in November last year, relocating him back to the region. Dattels worked on some of TPG’s highest profile investments in Asia, including hospitals operator Parkway Holdings and Bank Tagungan Pensiunan Nasional. Before joining TPG in 2000 Dattels ran Goldman Sachs’ Asia investment banking operations, helping it execute big deals in the late 1990s, such as China Mobile’s $4.23bn IPO in 1997.
Hemendra Kothari, chairman, DSP BlackRock
Kothari founded DP Financial Consultants in 1975 and in 1995 joined with Merrill Lynch to create joint venture (JV) DSP Merrill Lynch, with him as chairman. Landmark deals he oversaw while at the firm include the $2.36bn follow-on offering of ONGC, Tata Consultancy Services’ IPO in 2004, and Punjab National Bank’s $713.88m listing in 2005. Kothari sold his 47% stake for almost $400m in 2005, and then formed another JV with New York fund manager BlackRock in 2008, in which he holds a 60% stake. It now has $7bn in assets.
Gao Xiqing, former president, China Investment Corp.
As one of China’s first people to be sent overseas to be educated in the US, Gao worked on Wall Street and upon returning in 1988 helped establish the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Gao’s outspokenness and independence are believed to have stymied his political career, but he was made the founding president of China Investment Corp. (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund, in 2007. Along with former CIC chairman Lou Jiwei, Gao drove its investments. Gao left CIC in January after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60 years old.
Mark Machin, president, CPPIB Asia
Formerly the head of investment banking for Asia at Goldman Sachs, Machin worked in the US investment bank’s Asia equity capital markets division in the late 1990s and became its head in 2001. He worked on several key deals, including China Mobile’s secondary offering, MTR Corp.’s HK$10.69bn listing in 2000 and Bank of China (Hong Kong)’s stock debut in 2002. Machin became head of investment banking in 2005, but left Goldman in 2012 to become president of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s Asia division.
Ho Ching, executive director and CEO, Temasek
The head of Singapore’s state investment firm since January 1, 2004 has led its rise from a locally-focused investor with S$90bn in assets in 2004 to the owner of S$215bn of international assets as of March 31, 2013. Singapore assets account for one-third of Temasek’s portfolio, and it invested S$20bn and divested S$13bn in the year to June 30, 2013, making it one of Asia’s leading active investors. Before joining Temasek in 2002 Ho was CEO of Singapore Technologies Group.
Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor, Bank Negara Malaysia
Malaysia’s central bank governor since 2000, Zeti has ensured the country’s stability over some trying periods, and wearing her additional hat as chairman of the International Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia has helped ensure Malaysia’s rise to become a global hub for Islamic finance and the busiest country in the world for sukuk bond issuance. Formerly Bank Negara Malaysia’s chief economist, Zeti joined the central bank in 1985.
Stephen Williams, head of capital financing, Asia-Pacific, HSBC
The longstanding man responsible for debt capital markets at HSBC since joining in 2001, Williams has overseen the bank’s rise to become the undisputed leader of debt origination in the region across G3 and local currency bonds. He has played a key role helping the bank become the strongest bookrunner of offshore renminbi bonds too. He now heads all capital raising activities at HSBC’s investment banking arm.
Ratan Tata, former chairman, Tata Group
The chairman of one of India’s best-known conglomerates for 21 years, Tata made some big acquisitions amid India’s liberalisation, including Tata Tea’s purchase of Tetley for $450m in 2000, steelmaker Corus for £6.2bn ($10.46bn) in 2007, and Tata Motors’ purchase of Land Rover and Jaguar for $2.3bn in 2008. The latter has proven a smart trade. A renowned philanthropist, Tata retired on January 28, 2013. AM