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Doug Coulter to speak on Southeast Asia and India panel at the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association conference
Doug Coulter, Partner at LGT Capital Partners, will attend the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association conference on 15 January 2025. He will speak on a panel exploring private equity opportunities in both India and Southeast Asia. Doug believes it is important for an Asian private equity portfolio to be well diversified across the entire region.
Alongside Japan, India is the Asian private equity market that is currently attracting the highest level of investor interest, according to Doug. However, it is a structurally expensive market, particularly for high-quality assets. There is also some concern that too much capital is being raised, given the relatively short track record of some emerging managers and the size of the market opportunity.
Regarding Southeast Asia, Doug will highlight the fragmented nature of its submarkets during the panel discussion, explaining that this makes it challenging for private equity managers to operate across the region as a whole. While opportunities exist in the form of attractive single assets, few managers have a proven track record across cycles.
Given the comparatively small size of the Asian private equity universe, Doug considers a well-diversified portfolio across both emerging and developed Asia to be key. Investors should not just focus on the hot markets but should instead invest across the entire region to capture the best opportunities and reduce risk – including in markets that may currently be out of favor, such as China. Local market knowledge, longstanding relationships with high-quality managers and access to the best direct investment deal flow are vital to invest successfully as an LP.
