Regional fund placement veteran Ed Greene has established Diamond Dragon Advisors as the first independent general partner advisory and fund placement firm headquartered in Asia with global distribution and product sourcing capability in the alternative assets space.
The firm aims to play an integral role in the development of the alternative investment landscape throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Adopting a highly selective approach through intensive due diligence, Diamond Dragon Advisors represents a small number of top-tier alternative asset managers (general partners) across private equity, real estate, real assets and hedge fund structures seeking to raise global institutional capital.
The firm also operates a general partner advisory function providing customised fundraising preparatory services to position a manager to raise global institutional capital effectively.
Diamond Dragon Advisors is headquartered in Hong Kong and licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission. The firm has a total of nine staff at present and a representative office in Shanghai. It is currently in process to open in Sydney.
Diamond Dragon Advisors is the Asia Pacific partner in a global alliance of regional fund placement firms that include Threadmark in Europe and Madison Williams Private Capital Solutions in North America. The partners of both firms worked previously with Greene at C.P. Eaton Partners.
Diamond Dragon Advisors will serve both Asian and Western general partners, while developing local relationships with emerging and established limited partners throughout Asia Pacific.
“Diamond Dragon Advisors fills a real void in Asia,” says Greene. “As the Asia alternative eco-system has grown, the need for an Asia-dedicated professional capital raising firm became evident. We are fully aligned with the region and its needs. With the growth of both Asian GPs and LPs, including foreign LPs opening offices in Asia, Diamond Dragon Advisors will serve them as a value-add resource while being at the vortex of institutional capital flows into alternative assets in Asia.”
While Greene leads Diamond Dragon Advisors as chairman, Dennis Montecillo has joined the firm as chief executive and senior managing director, based in Hong Kong. Montecillo was formerly chief executive of Fidelis Holdings, the Hong Kong-based regional real estate investment vehicle of the Ayala Group. Prior to this, he was with Morgan Stanley in its regional investment banking group as head of financial sponsors coverage.
Linda Lee joins the firm as chief financial officer and managing director. Lee was previously a founding partner of Capital Today, one of the first independent private equity fund managers in Greater China.
Joan Tan heads the Shanghai office as managing director. Tan was formerly with New Access Capital, a Shanghai-based corporate advisory firm. She previously held roles with American Express, JP Morgan and Paine Webber.
Alex Edwards leads the firm’s Australasia coverage as managing director and will head the firm’s Sydney office. Edwards previously worked with Greene at C.P. Eaton Partners and prior to this was with Franklin Templeton Investments and Credit Suisse First Boston.
