Axiom Asia Private Capital has completed the final closing of Axiom Asia Private Capital Fund I, a fund of funds focusing on private equity investments in the region, with USD440m in commi
Axiom Asia Private Capital has completed the final closing of Axiom Asia Private Capital Fund I, a fund of funds focusing on private equity investments in the region, with USD440m in committed capital, well above the original target of USD350m after the fund was significantly oversubscribed.
Axiom Asia, founded by Chihtsung Lam, Yewhong Goh and Edmond Ng in April last year, is a Singapore-based independent investment firm focusing on investments in buyout, venture capital and growth capital opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.
The firm’s founders, who were subsequently joined by Marc Lau, have more than 30 years of investment experience at GIC Special Investments, the private equity arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
The two managing directors of Axiom Asia, Lam and Goh, held a variety of senior positions at GIC SI. Lam was an executive vice-president and a member of the management and investment committees, while Goh was one of its senior investment professionals and a one-time representative in Hong Kong.
Axiom Asia was founded with the vision of offering limited partners interested in Asia the experience of a senior team of private equity professionals who have worked together at one of the region’s leading institutions. All members of the team combine experience in Asian and global private equity, and have worked on both fund and direct investment transactions.
‘We realised there was an opportunity for someone to become the market leader in a new space, the independent Asian private equity fund of funds segment,’ Lam says. ‘We observed in the 1990s the emergence of the European fund of funds segment, and believed that there was a similar opportunity for Asian fund of funds today.
‘We realised that we were fortunate to be in a fairly unique situation, as a senior team who had previously worked together in one of the region’s leading private equity institutions.’
Investors in the fund include leading endowments, foundations, pensions, financial institutions and family offices in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The fund’s lead investors are the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, established by one of the founders of IT giant Hewlett Packard, and Comprehensive Financial Management of Los Gatos, California.
‘A significant proportion of our LPs are endowments and foundations who do not typically invest in a fund of funds, but are making an exception for Asia,’ Goh says. ‘Our strategy is to be a bridge between our LPs and GPs in Asia, leveraging on our global private equity experience and understanding of the Asian private equity market. We adopt an open and transparent approach with both our LPs and GPs, and seek to establish long-term relationships with them.’
Adds Lam: ‘We believe this is an attractive proposition for our Asian general partners, as an investment by Axiom would often place that fund on the watch list for our LPs in their own capacities as well. We aim to be one of the key influencers in the Asian marketplace, considered a validating presence by other LPs performing due diligence on a fund.’
San Francisco-based Probitas Partners acted as exclusive placement agent for the fundraising. Says principal Jack Wills: ‘Chihtsung, Yewhong and their colleagues at Axiom built an exceptional reputation in their years with GIC SI, and they bring an impressive depth and range of experience to their new endeavour. We look forward to their success as an independent firm.’
