DR Alyce Su Cover Story

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rior to starting her own investment management agement (Traditional Investment).


company in 2006, China Queen Capital, backed 2003-2006, UBS/GAM (China), Investment Manage-
by Dr. Lee R. Thomas III, a US$ centi-millionaire, ment (Alternative Investment).
who was formerly top 5 of Pimco, Chief Investment In this period of time, Dr. Alyce Su, in 2005 was se-
Officer of Pimco’s international business, now runs his own lected as The First Chairwoman of Asia Private Equity Panel
hedge fund management company, Flint Rock Global Inves- at the 7th China Venture Capital Forum; in 2006 and 2007
tors, LLC, where Dr. Alyce Su acted as a senior portfolio selected as Global Young Leader of the 21st Century by the
manager and a member of the investment committee, Dr. Boao Forum for Asia; in 2008 selected as one of the Top
Alyce Su’s family, education, and professional investment 80 Chinese Financial Leaders in the publication <Global
management and corporate finance experience is as follows: Chinese Financial Leaders – Interviews with 80 Chinese Fi-
1972 January 1st, Taiwan born to a family of minister- nancial Leaders> published under <The State Council of the
leveled senior government officials. People’s Republic of China>; and in 2009, she was invited to
1988-1992, National Taiwan University (Taiwan), BS appear on the cover of <China Economics & Trade Herald>,
in Physics. the official magazine of China’s National Development and
1992-1998, California Institute of Technology (USA), Reform Commission (NDRC), with cover calligraphy done
PhD in Biotechnology and Physics. by Mr. Wu Bangguo, China’s current #2.
1998-2000, Pacific Investment Management Company
(Pimco) (USA), Financial Engineer. II. Investment Experience: Pimco, McKinsey,
2000-2001, McKinsey (China), China Corporate Fi- Goldman Sachs, UBS/GAM
nance and Strategy. Dr. Alyce Su was trained at world-class investment in-
2001-2003, Goldman Sachs (China), Investment Man- stitutions:

I. Professional Background
Dr. Alyce Su specializes in investment manage- 1998-2000, Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) (USA), Financial Engineer.
ment, managing portfolios consisted of investment
opportunities originated from China’s growth and Graduating at 25, Dr. Alyce Su’s PhD thesis from Mother, Dr. TungKuei Hung, Vice Minister of Overseas
internationalization, both outbound and inbound. California Institute of Technology was Computational and Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC), a vice-minister-
Experimental Protein Design (United States Patent: Ap- leveled government official in Taiwan then, also introduced
Dr. Alyce Su is also the youngest female PhD paratus and Method for Automated Protein Design, Patent Brian Baker, Pimco’s current Asia Pacific CEO, to Chair-
in Taiwan’s entire history. Number US 6,269,312 B1, by Mayo et al.), which was used men of the board for Taiwan’s leading pension funds, such as
as the intellectual foundation for Xencor, a leading drug Taiwan’s Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF).
discovery company in the States. She learned about an op- Pimco has a highly-disciplined investment culture,
portunity at Bill Gross’ Pimco, after a finance graduate, Dr. starting each trading day at 5:00 am, if not earlier. Every
Oleg Bondarenko, a former Russian World Math Olympiad Monday 5:00 am, in the weekly investment meeting chaired
Champion, turned down an offer by Pimco for an academic by Bill Gross, each investment professional must summa-
faculty position. rize his/her market outlook, indicating the biggest risk in
Dr. Alyce Su was hired into Bill Gross’ Pimco in 1998 after the market, in 1 to at most 3 sentences. Dr. Alyce Su has
Pimco gave her the book <Hull and White on Derivatives> and since developed a habit of scanning research reports offered
asked her to come back for a test, in a week. She aced the exam, by major Wall Street investment banks over weekends and
which used Chicago Business School’s final exam questions. writing her own investment outlook.
As a Financial Engineer in Pimco’s Portfolio Manage- 1999 May, Bill Gross published his Monthly Invest-
ment Group, she was put into the trading room, alongside ment Outlook, hinting interest rate may be range-bound
portfolio managers, on the Treasury desk, building valuation within a 2% band, but market has not fully priced yet; if this
and risk management models on Treasury Derivatives, Col- scenario were correct, range floaters can be a good invest-
lateralized Mortgage Obligations, and International Fixed ment instrument. From Gross’ article, she built a model

China’s Investment Leader –


Income, aiding portfolio managers making investment deci- to quantify his investment hypothesis based on Black and
sions. She sat next to Dr. Changhong Zhu, now Chief In- Scholes option pricing framework, with parameters he could
vestment Officer at China’s State Administration of Foreign tune to control the model. Gross liked the model, so asked

Dr. Alyce Su
Exchange (SAFE). her to explain the model to all Pimco’s senior portfolio man-
In this period of time, she was often sent to Wall Street, agers, and install the model onto his own personal computer.
learning then porting back the newest financial models us- Dr. Alyce Su decided to move to China, after a Wall
ing advanced mathematics and computational techniques, Street visit with her boss to a leading investment bank which
by discussing with leading investment houses, such as Gold- no longer exists today. The investment bank was selling
man, Salomon, and Bear Stearns. She also published in credit derivatives, and if Pimco decides to buy, she will need
Investment & Pensions Europe, offering a novel framework to build valuation models, so she asked a simple question,
valuing International Inflation Protected Securities. Her what if everyone defaults at the same time? No answer.

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talent from the world. It opened her eyes to diff erent hedge
fund investment styles and strategies. GAM was also where
2000-2001, McKinsey (China), China Corporate Finance and Strategy. she was named part of the World Economic Forum's Private
Equity Core Team, and Board of Director, Head of Banking
2000, McKinsey selected 10 Chinese PhDs from the Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan (ii) Post merger integra- Industry Cooperation, of the Monte Jade Science &
entire America, for its China business, Dr. Alyce Su was one tion of the world’s largest agrochemical company’s Asia Pa- Technology Association of Hong Kong.
She has off ered investment strategies to Taiwan’s cur-
of them, working next to newly-minted Harvard MBAs. cific business, a 3 people team integrated 3000 employees in
rent President Dr. MA YingJiu, then Taipei’s Mayor, for
Besides receiving MBA-equivalent trainings offered by 13 countries in 5 months (iii) Designing M&A strategy and
developing Taipei into a wealthier city, and assisted Mr. JI-
McKinsey, she worked on three corporate finance and strat- post-merger integration plan for Taiwan’s then largest finan-
ANG XiaoYan, grandson of the Late President Chiang
egy engagements spanning the entire Asia Pacific, includ- cial holding company. McKinsey experience gave her access
Kai-Shek, helping Taiwanese businessmen listing their
ing (i) Hong Kong’s leading conglomerate’s acquisition of a to and insights to understanding how Fortune 500 CEOs
businesses in Hong Kong.
Chinese publishing business, acquisition targets scanning in make strategic corporate decisions.
Larry Ellison invited her to visit him in San Francisco
early 2005 and flew her back in his private jet. UBP, then
the world’s 3rd largest fund of hedge funds, invited her to its
2001-2003, Goldman Sachs (China), Traditional Investment Management hedge fund investment conference in UAE. Thomas H.
Lee introduced her to the late Bruce Wasserstein. These US$
billionaires would often consult her China investment strategy.
On the 3rd day joining Goldman Sachs, Dr. Alyce Su transaction needs and co-investment needs from private one- She is grateful to Steve Fink, elder brother of Black-
was dispatched to New York to host the Asian Institutional on-one discussions. She would then refer them to other
Investor Conference, where she met Mr. Fang Fenglei, cur- divisions within Goldman Sachs. She also completed a fea- rock’s Founder Larry Fink, who introduced her to the Larry
Ellison, and has constantly given her valuable ideas and
rent Chairman of Goldman Sachs GaoHua Securities, the sibility study of Goldman Sachs joint-venture with a leading advice throughout the years.
legendary Chinese investment banker who orchestrated Chi- Chinese insurance company.
na Mobile’s listing opening the entire China State-Owned On thought-leadership, she has organized week-long III. Entrepreneurial Success: China Queen Capital,
Enterprise (SOE) privatization wave, who now runs Hopu training courses for Asian Institutional Investors, brought Flint Rock Global Investors, LLC
Investment, the private equity fund backed by Goldman Goldman Sachs industry experts from America and Europe Since 2006 March, founding the company China Queen
Sachs. to share global market outlook and transaction opportunities Capital with backing from US$ centi-millionaire, Dr. Lee R.
Dr. Alyce Su was in charge of the China business of with Chinese Business Leaders. Thomas III, with strategic partners including Finet Group
Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management Division, manag- Dr. Alyce Su has also helped Goldman Sachs secure a (8317.HK) founded by Dr. George Yu, a former Goldman
ing US$ 10 bn of assets raised from leading institutions and US$ 550 mm convertible bond offering by China Develop- Sachs trader, Roth Capital Partners, CCG Investor Relations
ultra-high-net-worth-individuals from China. ment Industrial Bank (CDIB), together with Mr. David (IR) Strategic Communications Firm, founded by Crocker
“Always make money for clients”, is what Dr. Alyce Su Chang, then CEO of Goldman Sachs’ Taiwan Office, 3 Coulson, the company has accomplished the following:
abides by. years after Goldman Sachs began pursuing this deal.
“Trust, is most important.” she says. 2002 June, when Mr. Larry Ellison, once the world’s
Dr. Alyce Su used the strategy of capital leadership and richest man, visited Beijing, she hosted him a private dinner Sino-Foreign Private Equity Hedge Fund Investment Management
thought-leadership, to add value to her clients, delivering attended by Mr. Fang Fenglei and other Chinese Business (i) 2008 the fund returned double-digit after fees.
resources from the entire Goldman Sachs. Most of her insti- Leaders. Later Mr. Larry Ellison invited Dr. Alyce Su to his (i) Secured Sinosteel’s 2nd uranium mining contract in
the Sinosteel-Monaro MoU, signed in Beijing 2008 Janu- (ii) 2009 the fund returned double-digit after fees.
tutional clients are leading Chinese State-Owned Enterprises San Francisco home, where he played guitar and was accom-
(SOEs), private clients leading Chinese Entrepreneurs. panied at the piano by her. ary, to jointly develop uranium mines in Kyrgyz, owned IV. Value Proposition for her Clients
On capital leadership, besides satisfying their asset 2001-2003 she honed her skills dealing with the world’s ASX-listed Monaro. China Queen Capital was retained by
Monaro’s Chairman Warwick Grigor. Dr. Alyce Su welcomes the opportunity to be retained
management needs after understanding well and design- most influential figures, understanding the key to gaining globally by listed family-owned businesses, somewhat short-
ing customized solutions, she was also able to identify their their trust and delivering investment results. (ii) Merchant Banking arm of ASX-listed Washington
H. Soul Pattinson, retained China Queen Capital, to secure handed, or temporarily facing succession issues, seeking to
Chinese buyers for its clients’ natural resources assets. temporarily outsource its China growth or strategic partner-
(iii) An Italian family, leader in the meat processing ship or investment expertise to a well-trained and trusted
2003-2006, UBS/GAM (China), Alternative Investment Management business, retained China Queen Capital, to handle its joint- China hand. Dr. Alyce Su will also be able to co-invest up
venture stake with the China’s Shineway Group. to US$ single-digit million per deal, alongside the invest-
(iv) Partnered with Mr. Fang Fenglei’s family members, to ment opportunities she helped create, to fully align the in-
have introduced UK’s top 3 sports lottery company into China’s centive between her client and her.
2 0 03 when D r. A l- than GAM back then. Dr. Alyce Su will also be able to help clients sourcing
yce Su joined GAM, then Asset under management sports lottery industry; introduced China’s top 3 oil company to
invest in a Chinese nuclear special tube manufacturing business. and investing in China investment opportunities, manag-
owned by the UBS Group, was US$ 5 bn. Besides ultra- ing an absolute-return hedge fund portfolio for clients’ own
it was the largest fund of high-net-worth-individuals, (v) Partner with a former Pimco partner to have in-
vested and exited in Chinese real-estates. capital, alongside her own capital of up to US$ single-digit
hedge funds in the world, her clients included the top million per fund.
arguably the undisputable insurance companies, pension (vi) Invited China Citic Group’s private equity invest-
ment arm to join bid for a sports craft company owned by To better understand Dr. Alyce Su’s investment strategy
global leader in alternative funds, telecom companies, and critical thinking, she currently writes weekly a Chinese col-
investment. She wanted to from the entire Asia Pacific. the late Bruce Wasserstein.
(vii) Helped Geely Auto Chairman Li Shufu’s Hong umn for the Finet Group (8317.HK), and may begin an English
further her understanding GAM platform offered column with CCG Investor Relations (IR) in the near future.
of hedge funds, and there is her plenty of opportunities to Kong capital market partners Mr. He XueChu and Mr.
Zhou Teng, to have invested in a Chinese language-teaching You can reach Dr. Alyce Su at [email protected].
no better place in the world access alternative investment
software company.
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