24 DATUK SERI CHEAH CHENG HYE

Flagship: Value Partners Group Net worth: RM2.473bil THE 63-year-old Penang-born Cheah has been called the Warren Buffett of the east.

He is the chairman and co-chief investment officer of Hong Konglisted Value Partners Group, the asset management company he co-founded in February 1993.

With an estimated net worth of RM2.473bil, through his 21.8% indirect and 9.3% direct stakes in Value Partners, Cheah was ranked the 24th richest Malaysian in 2017.

Value Partners employs a bottom-up approach to stock selection, one that is based on its value investing discipline and focuses on intensive fundamental research.

Cheah is in charge of Value Partners’ fund management and investment research, business operations, product development and corporate management. He sets the group’s overall business and portfolio strategy.

Cheah played a key role in the listing of Value Partners on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2007. The group was the first asset management company to be listed in the country.

Last year saw Value Partners’ shares gaining 36.6% to close at HK$8.30 at end-December.

Cheah has been serving as an independent non-executive director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd since April 2017.

He has also been a member of the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC), a high-level, cross-sector advisory body established by Hong Kong since 2015, following a two-year term as a member of the new business committee of FSDC since 2013.

In addition, he has been a member of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School Advisory Council since June 2011.