WEALTH BUILDERS

From bankers and venture capitalists to leaders in intech, the money managers shaping the future of inance in Asia

KENT HO

Founder and general partner, S28 Capital

Asia’s Most Influential 2021

Over the course of a decade in venture capital, Kent Ho has invested in more than 70 pioneering companies, backing such successful companies as Palantir, Jd.com, Coupang and Zoom. As founder of the multistage technology VC fund S28 Capital, Ho calls himself “a generalist investor”, focusing on areas where traditional industries can be revolutionised through software. While the fund is focused on western markets, particularly the United States, Ho keeps the door open, hoping to ind technology leaders wherever they may emerge.

Ho sits on the boards of Grace Vineyard, and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. He was formerly a member of the innovation and technology advisory committee of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and an executive director at Sing Tao News Corporation.

LAU A CHA

Chair, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

Asia’s Most Influential 2021

In 2018, Laura Cha made history as the irst woman appointed chair of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing in the organisation’s 127-year history. When she took up the post, Cha was the only woman among the chairmen of Hong Kong’s 50 top irms—a great honour, she told Tatler in an interview at the time, though she “hopes that my past experience has something to do with the appointment”.

She was previously the chairman of the Financial Services Development Council, and has also occupied a senior role at Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and was vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

“I think one should never be complacent,” she said. “We have done well in the past but the world is evolving and we need to be up there in front.”

CINDY CHOW

Executive director, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Hong Kong Fund

Asia’s Most Influential 2021

As the executive director of the non-pro it HK$1 billion Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Cindy Chow has been in charge of Hong Kong’s most valuable source of start-up funding since it was set up in 2015. The fund has backed some of Hong Kong’s best-known tech companies, including Airwallex, digital insurer Onedegree, digital bank Welab and Prenetics.