Three Decades of VC/PE Investments in Asia – with Axiom Asia Founding Partner Edmond Ng

Summary: Hi everyone, welcome back to the Harbinger VC podcast. Today we have joining us Edmond Ng, who is a founding partner at Axiom Asia, one of the top performing private equity fund-of-funds (FoF) that invests across venture, growth equity, and buyouts in the greater Asia region. Axiom has had a stellar run since 2006, recently closing $1.8 bn for their Fund 6 (managing $7bn AUM overall), so they’re well capitalized to continue backing growth in the region. Edmond shares with us his formative experiences, including what it was like to join GIC at the height of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and lessons learned. Edmond describes the founding of Axiom Asia, what it took to survive in the early days, and some of Axiom’s best investment decisions. At the same time, Edmond discusses challenges and tough decisions that FoFs must make with regards to their managers, as well as the differences in PE investing across stage and region. Finally, we cover some of the shifting market dynamics in China, from key technological and commercial trends to financial liberalization and the growing attractiveness of Chinese stock exchanges. Link to write-up: https://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/edmond-axiom-asia-1