The APAC Committee of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI) has elected Ted Lee of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) as its new Chairman, and Danny Yong of Dymon Asia Capital as Vice-Chairman, in line with the existing rotating chairman system.
The SBAI is the global standard-setting body for the alternative investment industry, supported by approximately 200 alternative investment managers and institutional investors who collectively manage USD3.5 trillion.
The SBAI’s APAC Committee was established in June 2016 with APAC-based representatives from Albourne, CPPIB, Dymon Asia Capital, Future Fund, GIC, LIM Advisors and PAG. The Committee directs the SBAI’s activities in the Asia-Pacific region, including assisting with the SBAI’s dialogue and relationships with regulators, managers and investors, and ensuring that Asia-Pacific regional and local issues and needs are addressed as the SBAI develops standards and guidance.
The outgoing Chairman Chris Gradel of PAG, who has run the Committee for two years and will remain a member of the Committee, says: “It has been rewarding to work with such a capable group of colleagues who galvanised our efforts in the region. With the Committee’s participation, the SBAI held 15 events in the region, including roundtables and seminars on topics, ranging from institutional investor priorities, big data & artificial intelligence to cyber security. Many of these events were supported and co-hosted by the local regulators and sovereign wealth funds.”
The newly elected Chairman Ted Lee says: “It has been a pleasure to work with Chris and we count on his support in this new phase of the APAC Committee.”
Last year the APAC Committee put together a working group consisting of legal and compliance specialists from Albourne, CPPIB, GCM Grosvenor and Springs Capital to conduct a gap analysis between the SBAI’s Alternative Investment Standards and the current Chinese regulation. The purpose of this analysis was to help foreign investors understand the similarities and differences between onshore China and global industry standards as well as help Chinese fund managers seeking foreign capital, understand global standards of practice. The findings of the working group were presented last month to the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
Since the establishment of the APAC Committee, the SBAI has welcomed 17 new signatories and five Investor Chapter members from the APAC region. This is the largest number of stakeholders joining the SBAI from one given region in such a short period of time. Today APAC-based alternative investment managers account for 17 per cent of the SBAI’s signatories; up from 3 per cent in 2015.
Lee is a Senior Portfolio Manager at CPPIB, overseeing their Asia Pacific hedge fund exposure. Prior to CPPIB, he was MD at Blackstone in the Funds of Hedge Fund Solutions team (Hong Kong). He also served on BAAM’s Investment Committee. Prior to that, Ted was the Senior Portfolio Manager for SPARX Asset Management’s fund of funds (Hong Kong). In 1997-2001, Ted was CFO of Legacy Advisors in Hong Kong. Also he was Asia’s Regional Controller for Philips Electronics. Ted began his career at KPMG (New York) as an auditor. He received a BS in Accounting and International Business from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant.
Yong is the CIO and Founder of Dymon Asia Capital. Established in 2008, the alternative investment management firm has assets under management of approximately USD5 billion (as of August 2018) across hedge funds, private equity and venture capital strategies. Danny has traded FX, fixed income and futures for over 22 years. He was an MD at Citadel Investment Asia where he ran the Asia Macro trading business from 2005 to 2007. Prior to Citadel, he was Goldman Sachs’ Head of Trading for South East Asian FX and Derivatives from 2000 to 2005. Danny started his trading career at JP Morgan in 1997.
