Kalyan Krishnamurthy

It was a privilege to meet the Honorable Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government, Mr. Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong SAR Government, and Dr. Ma Jun, Chairman and President of HKGFA at the Hong Kong Green Finance Association (HKGFA) Annual 2025 Forum last week. Themed “Navigating Climate Finance and Geopolitics: Strategies for Transition” the event highlighted Hong Kong’s commitment to green finance, with the sector issuing more than US$80 billion in sustainable debts in 2024, reflecting Hong Kong’s leading role in Asia’s green finance market. Beyond fulfilling its domestic commitments on carbon neutrality by 2050, Hong Kong has much to offer the world as an international financial center, such as facilitating green and transition finance, participating in international standard settings, and mobilizing more capital across the public and private sectors to support green transition. Despite ongoing challenges, with technologies such as AI driving decarbonization there are vast opportunities for green transformation globally. #ClimateFinance #GreenFinance #Sustainability #NetZero #TransitionFinance

74

I have been critical of the SGX and how it lacks luster both in liquidity and diversification of choices. But I have to commend one measure that is impressive and bold - The requirement for new family offices to invest 50m SGD into approved Singapore-exchanges. For too long, family offices have treated Singapore as a base for their global assets, without considering putting investments into Singapore's economy, except property. Family offices cannot just benefit from Singapore's financial hub status but also need to support Singaporean companies, which are no slouches as regional and international ones. Will it affect the flow of family offices? Not really. Only this time, family offices need to commit and support Singapore back by investing into its public equities market. Imagine just 20 new family offices established, it will inject 1b SGD into the SGX. No longer can they be selfish and consider their own needs but also include the Singapore public equities as a factor. Based on my multiple conversations with international families seeking to build a family office, Singapore is a safe haven and transparent place to operate. They will still come in to invest, except the new median of AUM will be SGD200m. We should expect a good rally of SGX stocks in the coming days, but it is likely centered around the blue chips. It is a start to get SGX moving. Hopefully more measures will be done to invigorate the other categories of stocks. I will reserve comment on the other measures, but I can see the winds of change for the family offices being integral to Singapore's financial DNA. Looking forward to seeing Singapore Exchange becoming the roaring 90s once again. #singaporexchange #sgx #familyoffice https://lnkd.in/guG3G7cU

73

1 Comment

Illuminate Financial leads $70m round in Singapore-based wealth management platform Endowus to support expansion and AI-driven capabilities. The round was led by Illuminate Financial, alongside Prosus Ventures, Citi Ventures, and several leading Asian family offices. Over the past year, the company has achieved remarkable milestones across its core markets: 💲 Client assets have surpassed US$10 billion, marking a major milestone for the Endowus Group. 🚀 Hong Kong has been a standout growth driver, with 150% growth in client numbers and a 3x increase in client assets year-on-year. 💰 Alternative investments on the platform have grown more than 3x to over US$500 million (S$650 million), as Endowus continues to democratize access to private market opportunities previously reserved for institutions. We are excited to partner with Samuel Rhee, Gregory Van, Dominic Ong, Deepak Sarda, Hugh Chung, Jason Huan and the rest of the Endowus team on their next phase of growth. Read more about why we invested from my colleague Konstantin Koenig: https://lnkd.in/emai_esj cc: Luca Z. Rezso Szabo Mark Beeston Charlton Hook, CFA Rachel Townend Peter Hung Alex Gheorghe Hugo Hazon Julie McCrimlisk Andrew Patey Oliver Hickinbotham Esther Muschamp Molly Day Emma Dearden Daria Dmytrenko Rosie Zehtab Crystal Tan Richard Blundell, ACA

90

6 Comments

'Temasek’s investments in early-stage companies dropped from $4.4bn in 2021 to $509mn last year, according to data provider Tracxn, with just $70mn committed so far this year. Over the same period, Temasek cut the number of first-round investments it made in unlisted companies from 82 in 2021 to 11 last year. Temasek will continue to invest in start-ups indirectly through venture capital funds, but its direct investments have shifted to making bigger commitments to a smaller pool of companies that are closer to going public, according to people with knowledge of the approach.' https://lnkd.in/gX2nagSE

77

Martin Lau, Managing Partner of FSSA Investment Managers, shares his views with Ming Pao on why he believes that domestic revival in mainland China is gaining traction despite external headwinds. The team remain confident that quality companies should perform well in the long run, as they have in the past.

34

I had the opportunity to attend AVCJ Singapore this week and hear from some of the region’s leading GPs. A recurring theme across panels was the urgent shift in investor mindset — “Is DPI the new IRR?” With tougher fundraising cycles and exit pressure mounting, realised outcomes are taking centre stage. Anand Prasanna and Mohanjit Jolly shared Iron Pillar’s distinct approach to opportunity, scale, and durability in India’s growth-stage tech ecosystem. 📍 India Tech x Global Capital | Iron Pillar’s Playbook 🔹 Selective Capital > Spray and Pray We focus on profitable or near-profitable companies in enterprise tech and high-margin consumer — not trend-led, high-burn models. 🔹 Scaling India to Global We help founders expand beyond India — with active interventions in the Middle East and the US. 🔹 Founders Who Compound Quietly As Anand put it: India cycles between 18 months of hype and 18 months of fear. Our edge lies in backing disciplined founders who build through both. 🔹 Consolidation is Heating Up Mohanjit spotlighted growing momentum in platform roll-ups and synergistic M&A — especially across B2B and infra-led tech. Global PEs and crossover funds are leaning in. 🔹 Don’t Bet on AI & 10-Min Delivery FOMO There’s space for moonshots. But Iron Pillar is built for repeatable success, not hype cycles. We invest where fundamentals drive outcomes. 🔹 India’s Edge is Execution Mohanjit reminded us: India is not just about scale — it’s about resilience, capital efficiency, and grit. The best Indian founders are masters at making capital work harder. 🧭 At Iron Pillar, we believe India’s next wave of global tech champions will be profitable, cross-border, and durable— not just well-valued, but well-built. Ashok Ananthakrishnan Ashish Shah Raj Chinai Sajid Fazalbhoy Samay Kala Sanjna Tulsiani, CFA Kratvesh Pandey Rohit Sujanani Sowmya Pachipulusu #AVCJSingapore #IndiaTech #IronPillar #GrowthCapital #EnterpriseTech #CrossBorderScale #EmergingMarkets #PE

48