Experience

Rachel Lau is Chief Investment Officer  at RHL Ventures. RHL Ventures is a Southeast Asian-based private investment firm that focuses on growth capital investments in the Southeast Asia and the US region.

Rachel was previously Vice President at Heitman Investment Management in HK and Australia. Rachel helped managed USD$4bn of global long-only and absolute return equity strategies, focused on the APAC region. Prior to this, Rachel worked as an investment analyst with Dutch investment manager, NN Investment Management, which manages USD$225bn.

Rachel serves on the board of directors for GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) and as President of the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation. Previously, she served on the Leadership Team of the Hong Kong chapter of Ellevate (formerly 85 Broads); and sits on the Program Committee of EMpower, a global not-for-profit organization that supports at risks youths in developing countries.

In 2018, Rachel was named as 50 People who are Redefining the Way We Live by Business Times Singapore and was selected as Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle.

Rachel graduated from Australian National University with a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction and received a Master of Law from the University of Sydney. In addition, Rachel represented Malaysia in rhythmic gymnastics internationally.

Philosophy

Rachel sets herself apart by thinking creatively. She believes in hard work and conducting detail due diligence on a company before investing.

In the process of translating grand transformational themes into an investment portfolio, Rachel seeks to understand the underlying drivers of the business and stress tests a range of outcome before making an investment decision. She believes that in forming an opinion, it is most important to understand the unknowns and risks that comes with each investment. She believes that returns are not only generated by identifying companies with good growth, but also by avoiding pitfalls. That is really more an art than a science, the key is to capitalise on local contacts and rigorous due diligence.

Rachel likes investing in simple, predictable, free cash flow generative, resilient and sustainable businesses. These businesses should ideally have strong growth opportunities and scarcity value. Where possible, she looks to invest in high-quality businesses at a price that is not reflective of the intrinsic value of the business as it is.

Rachel believes that mispriced assets are emerging because of the mismatch of expectations between financial capital holders and business needs. Financial capital holders are constantly pressured to look for quick profits and therefore, exerting a similar pressure for businesses to compromise on investing for long term growth. Great companies are not built in a day and therefore, she believes that RHL will be able to counter that pressure by providing patient capital that provides partnership in connecting entrepreneurs with the resources, connections and capital know how.

Raja Hamzah is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RHL Ventures. RHL Ventures is a Southeast Asian-based private investment firm that focuses on growth capital investments in the Southeast Asia and US region. Hamzah brings his vast experience in various investment roles to advise companies and startups in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Prior to founding RHL Ventures, Raja Hamzah was a Director in Rasma Corporation, a boutique mechanical and electrical engineering services firm based in Malaysia, focusing on infrastructure projects including railroads, stadiums and hospitals. He focused on building and developing partnerships with government-linked companies, listed and private corporates and local authorities, and helped the company secure cornerstone projects for the national stadium and national rail projects.

Prior to Rasma, Raja Hamzah was a Principal Investment Analyst with Guoco Management Company, a multi-billion US-dollar fund based out of Hong Kong. He used a fundamental, bottom up approach to investing, focusing on listed equities, IPO and pre-IPO investment opportunities across Asia and the U.S. He was also a Senior Analyst in the institutional coverage team of Goldman Sachs Asset Management based out of Singapore. GSAM has more than USD1 trillion dollars of assets under management there, he worked extensively with various institutional funds across Southeast Asia, recommending investments across private equity, hedge fund and other asset classes for clients which include Temasek, GIC, Bank Indonesia, the Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia and Khazanah Nasional.

Raja Hamzah graduated from the University of Warwick, UK with a first-class honours degree in Accounting and Finance. He was awarded as one of the ‘Top 50 people who are redefining the way we live’ by the Singapore Straits Times in 2018, ‘Top 40 under 40’ by Prestige Magazine in 2017, and was shortlisted as a Young Fellow of the World Islamic Economic Forum in 2019. Hamzah is one of the mentors for Endeavor’s Scale up Program, a global NGO that supports entrepreneurs with potential for economic and social impact in their regions. Hamzah is currently an Exco member of the Malaysian Manufacturer’s Association, focusing on mentoring young companies. Hamzah is also on the Board of Advisors of Indonesia-based Alami, a P2P financing company focused on Shariah compliant loans and economic empowerment for small and medium sized enterprises in Indonesia.

Hamzah has a strong passion for sports – he is the treasurer of the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation, and an Ambassador for the Football Association of Selangor’s Little Giants programme.

Jo Jo Kong started her career at Nirvana Asia – the largest integrated death care service provider in Asia – where she was overseeing the group’s regional expansion plans and operations in Malaysia, China and Singapore. In her role as director at KHK Development, Jo Jo managed the development of JV residential projects in Australia, including a luxury residential tower in Melbourne’s central business district and luxury apartments in the city’s Ivanhoe suburb.

Jo Jo is passionate about the development of FinTech businesses in Malaysia and the region, particularly in relation to insurance tech, payment systems, lending or mortgage platforms as well as the Blockchain. With RHL, Jo Jo hopes to utilise her rich experience and expertise to provide different insights into investment decisions and operations, with an eye on monetisation.

A front-end developer who has years of mobile and web development experience under her belt, Lisa Lau holds a strong passion for Robotics and Machine Learning. She is currently enrolled in Udacity’s Robotics nanodegree programme as a part-time student.

Dato’ Zainal Abidin was appointed as a Board member for Khazanah effective 16 November 2020. Dato’ Zainal is currently the chairman of several companies including Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad, Land & General Berhad, Tokio Marine Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad and Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd. He also sits on the board of Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Berhad, as well as the boards of several private limited companies.

Dato’ Zainal brings with him decades of extensive experience in audit, having worked as a practicing accountant throughout his career covering many principal industries including banks, insurance, energy, transport, manufacturing, government agencies, plantations, properties, hotels, investment companies and unit trusts. He also has good knowledge of taxation matters and management consultancy, especially in the areas of acquisition, takeovers, amalgamations, restructuring and public listing of companies.

Dato’ Zainal is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, as well as a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

He is a past president of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants, former chairman of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board and Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad, as well as a former member of the Malaysian Communication & Multimedia Commission.

Tan Sri Kong Hon Kong , is the founder of Nirvana Asia Group and has been the Executive Chairman since October 1990. He was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in February 2009. As the founder of the Group, Tan Sri Kong has been the driving force of Nirvana Asia Group’s development, growth and expansion, and is primarily responsible for formulating its overall development strategies and business plans.

Tan Sri Kong is the honorary advisor of a number of organizations in Malaysia, including the Federation of Chinese Association of Malaysia. Tan Sri Kong has also been the honorary chairman of NV Foundation since July 2007.

Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai is the Chairman and Founder of the Top Glove Group which, under his leadership, has become as the world’s largest glove manufacturer, capturing 25% of the global market share, producing up to 47 billion pairs of gloves yearly which exports to over 185 countries.

He has received numerous awards as a testament to his success over the last 30 years including the prestigious Master and Country Entrepreneur of Malaysia for the Year, by Ernst and Young in 2004; Entrepreneur of the Year at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2008; The BrandLaureate Brand Icons Leadership Award in 2011; The BrandLaureate Manufacturer Man of the Year (2012 to 2013) and The Malaysian Leadership Excellence Award, by The Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) in 2016.

Tan Sri Lim serves on the board of directors of Employee Provident Fund of Malaysia (EPF) under the Ministry of Finance and the board of University of Malaya under the Ministry of Education. He is a council member of the East Asia Business Council (EABC) since 2011.

He also currently holds the roles of Honorary President of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce and Honorary Advisor of the Klang Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

 

Dato’ Seri Utama Raja Nong Chik is Chairman of Rasma Corporation, a leading mechanical and electrical contractor in Malaysia which has completed millions of dollars of public works projects for various government ministries and private sector clients. Under his leadership, the company has grown into a nationwide conglomerate and is currently venturing and expanding into the Malaysian rail and property development industries.

Datuk Seri Utama Raja Nong Chik was born into a family of renowned and distinguished civil service officers. His grandfather, Dato’ Mustapha Albakri, was the Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal and the first Chairman of the Elections Commissions whereas his father, Dato’ Raja Zainal Abidin was the former Chief Secretary of the Health Ministry. In 2009, Datuk Seri Utama Raja Nong Chik was sworn in as a Senator in the Malaysian Upper House of Parliament and served as the Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing.

His other previous ventures included founding OYL which was successfully listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1984. He also founded the brand ACSON, which is now a well-known air conditioner brand in Malaysia. His love for entrepreneurship has seen him being a member of the National Innovation Council of Malaysia, a committee member of the Selangor Federation of Malaysian manufacturers, President of the Bumiputera Manufacturers and Services Industry Association Malaysia as well as President to the Malay Mechanical Contractors Association Malaysia.

Marlon Sanchez is Head of Global Prime Finance Distribution, Asia Pacific, at Deutsche Bank. Hestarted his career in 1994 at Morgan Stanley, working in debt capital markets origination where he initially focused on US and Euro medium-term notes for banks and corporates. He later moved to Hong Kong where he joined equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley in 1996, focusing on convertible bond origination.

He started business school in 1998 at the Wharton School, where he graduated in May 2000 with an MBA and a specialisation in emerging capital markets.Marlon moved back to Hong Kong in 2002 and specialised in sales trading to hedge funds by tailoring his coverage efforts to the long/short, convertible arbitrage and risk arbitrage specialists at hedge funds within the Asian context.

Later in 2006, he joined Deutsche Bank’s sales trading team, where he was responsible for mapping, servicing and tailoring the firm’s approach to absolute return accounts in Asia. Marlon’s responsibilities in account coverage diversified in 2008 to encompass the gamut of institutions active in the region. Marlon became Head of Sales Trading in 2009, responsible for regional sales trading and execution efforts in North Asia. He then moved from the execution business three years ago and is now responsible for global prime finance sales efforts in the Asia Pacific.

Francesco Barrai is Senior Vice President with DE Shaw – a global investment and technology development firm with more than USD40 billion in investment capital and possesses offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. He is responsible for Asia Pacific Equity Linked portfolio and is a Responsible officer for the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Prior to the role, Francesco was the CEO of DE Shaw India and the Head of Brokerage, Proprietary Trading and New Business departments. Francesco has been with DE Shaw for the last 16 years.

He received a Masters of Mathematics of Finance from Columbia University, US and a Bachelor of Economics from Bocconi University, Italy.

Dr. Kevin Lu is Partners Group’s Chairman of Asia, a member of the Global Executive Board and Head of Partners Group’s Singapore office. Additionally, he chairs the PG LIFE Impact Committee and leads the development of relationships with key strategic clients in Asia.

Kevin has been with Partners Group since 2014 and has 22 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he served as Asia Regional Director and Chief Financial Officer at the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), overseeing MIGA’s finance, investments, portfolio management and risk analytics functions.

He has also served on the advisory board of the World Bank’s Global Infrastructure Facility, Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Centre Advisory Panel, the International Experts Advisory Committee of Insurance Asset Management Association of China, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on China. Dr. Kevin Lu has furthermore published commentaries in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Financial Times and the Straits Times. He is a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD, Singapore.

 

Syuhadah Zanuddin is an Executive Administrator at RHL Ventures.

Previously, as a research assistant at the University of Malaya, she conducted primary research with relevant stakeholders, collected, analysed and produced technical reports for her data. She had undertaken various studies on Mosques and Tourism-Related Attractions, Hydrological Studies to Evaluate Ecosystem Changes in Malaysian Rivers, and Assessment and Characterization studies of Plant and Animal Resources in Rural Peninsular Malaysian Communities.

Syuhadah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Environmental Management from the University of Malaya.

Kevin is an Investment Associate at RHL Ventures. He focuses on screening and conducting research on potential investment opportunities in SEA. Prior to joining RHL, he was at a value engineering consultancy in Kuala Lumpur.

He is a dual-degree holder with a Master’s degree in Management from Imperial College London and a Masters of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the University of Bath.

Jimmy is a part-time venture analyst at RHL. He focuses on screening and conducting research on potential healthcare investments. Based in Cambridge's Biomedical Campus, he is a junior trainee in Neurosurgery at the University Hospital.

Outside of work, you will find him working on his own early stage venture or planning his next food adventure in Asia.

He is a Chicago Booth Scholar (deferred MBA), holds an MBBCh from Queen’s University Belfast, and an M.S. from London Business School.