Director, Senior Portfolio Manager
Allianz Global Investors
Total years of experience :18 years, 10 Months
Business Expansion and Investment: Establish and expand business operations in Asia, sourcing investments for private credit, sustainable, and impact investment funds.
Conduct due diligence on potential investments, lead commercial & legal negotiations,
Collaborate with sales teams to drive product knowledge and optimize strategies.
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Portfolio Management: Co-manage two global private debt funds, specializing in infrastructure, energy transition, and commercial real estate lending.
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Team Management: Supervise the work of two associate portfolio managers, providing guidance and direction to achieve investment objectives.
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Process Enhancement: Play a pivotal role in setting up standard operating procedures (SOPs), policies, and processes to enhance controls and systems within the team.
Steer the sustainability and ESG initiatives within the platform, ensuring alignment with global standards and frameworks.
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Fundraising: Lead fundraising for the entire platform in Asia, covering direct lending, private debt secondaries, private debt co-investments, infrastructure and energy transition, and real estate credit across key Asian markets.
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Sustainability Initiatives: Serve as the representative of the firm in climate change initiatives such as GFANZ, WEF, etc. in the Asian region.
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Built platform awareness in the market from inception to active late-stage discussions with potential clients for substantial sized separately managed accounts.
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Secured USD 500 Mn for infrastructure and energy transition strategy in 2023, raising the target fund size from EUR 500 Mn to EUR 750 Mn.
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Established a robust fundraising pipeline of USD 200 Mn in Asia.
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Achieved impressive returns, with infrastructure and energy transition fund returning gross internal rates of return (IRRs) reaching 12.7%.
Investment Strategy: Led the investment strategy for Allianz's balance sheets in Asia across 20 operating entities in 11 countries, surpassing investment income targets while effectively managing constraints of accounting and asset liability management.
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Private Debt Investment Program: Developed Allianz's multi-billion-dollar Private Debt investment program in Asia, growing from inception to multi-billion dollars in commitments Diversified investments across various credit sectors, generating strong risk-adjusted returns exceeding EUR 12% IRR across the Asian private debt portfolio.
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Risk Management: Navigated local operating entity balance sheets during periods of severe economic stress, including sovereign defaults, resulting in zero credit losses for Allianz and safeguarding the company's financial stability.
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Investment Governance: Introduced enhanced investment governance frameworks in local entities. Facilitated the development of long-term economic perspectives while meeting investment income targets.
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Sustainability Agenda: Contributed to furthering the group agenda of climate change and gender diversity in investments across the region.
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International Representation: Represented Allianz in climate-related investment dialogues such as WEF, GFANZ, and ASEAN Taxonomy, fostering collaboration with asset managers and industry peers.
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Achieved and surpassed investment income targets across the balance sheets, even during challenging periods such as the Covid-19 crisis.
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Steered Allianz's Asia balance sheets during times of severe stress, including instances of local government sovereign defaults, with zero losses incurred.
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Applied robust risk management strategies to safeguard assets and maintain financial stability amidst economic uncertainties.
Entrepreneurial Leadership: Co-founded a SaaS startup and secured angel funding, demonstrating strong entrepreneurial leadership and strategic vision.
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Product Development: Led development of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and crafted an effective go-to-market strategy to drive product adoption and market penetration.
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Innovative Marketing: Implemented successful guerrilla marketing campaigns, achieving zero customer acquisition costs (CACs) and increasing brand visibility and customer engagement.
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Financial Management and Growth: Implemented financial strategies that resulted in turning the business cash positive within 14 months of launch, showcasing adept financial management skills and driving sustainable growth.
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Strategic Planning and Execution: Developed and executed strategic plans to steer the company towards its long-term objectives, ensuring alignment with market trends and customer needs.
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Team Leadership and Development: Built and led a high-performing team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence to drive business success.
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Stakeholder Management: Established and maintained strong relationships with stakeholders, including investors, partners, and customers, to ensure continued support and alignment with company goals.
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Market Expansion and Diversification: Identified opportunities for market expansion and product diversification, driving business growth and enhancing the company's competitive position in the market.
Investment Department: Established the firm as a founding member and spearheaded the development of a world-class investment department, implementing governance framework.
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Strategic Portfolio Management: Co-managed three high-performing strategies, including the Balanced Fund, NAV Guarantee Fund, and Equity Absolute Returns.
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Regional Leadership and Recognition: Achieved recognition as a regional outperformer at HSBC Life, Asia, leading to additional responsibilities overseeing investment governance for balance sheets in Malaysia and China.