Alumni Collaboration

Even in the data-heavy world of high finance, personal relationships are still key, explains Daniel Wong, Senior Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions, with Pacific Century Group, and alumnus of the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA program’s KH13 cohort.

“When it comes to investment a lot of things can’t be written down on a piece of paper,” Wong says. “It’s all about trust.”

What’s more, he also believes the sort of bonds that are formed on the Kellogg-HKUST program are impossible to replicate in one-off meetings at business or social events.

In the KH program you have a group of very ambitious and like-minded people who are going to spend 18 months studying and team-building together. During the program you work with your classmates on projects, and through these you not only get to know each other, you come to understand each other’s approach to business.”

One of Wong’s fellow students on KH13 was Kenny Man, now Head of International Investment with Ant Financial (Alipay). “Daniel and I met in the EMBA sessions and we have been close friends ever since,” Man explains.

Though they also later developed a highly-valued professional relationship, when they were studying together their business interests were less closely aligned.

“He was from Alibaba, I was from PCCW,” Daniel recalls. “We didn’t have much overlap at that time.”

Opportunities arose, however, when Kenny made a 2012 career move to a private equity fund, Vision Knight Capital (VKC). Set up by ex-CEO of Alibaba, David Wei, VKC focuses on internet and digital investments.

“I introduced my boss to Daniel’s boss, Richard Li,” Man says. “Daniel and I liaised with each other and made the introduction, and the two guys had a good chemistry and clicked.  Mr Li then invested in my boss’s fund.”

Man believes the fact he and Wong already knew each other, and had met through such a well-regarded program, gave Mr Li and Mr Wei extra confidence when they got together.

David Wei is now also a PCCW board member. “We (PCCW) were the first Hong Kong investor in VKC and this proved to be a very profitable investment,” Wong points out.

During Man’s time at VKC, he and Wong were in frequent contact over investment opportunities. One such opportunity concerned 91.com, an application download site. “At that time VKC wanted to invest but they were also looking for someone with a strategic angle to invest as well,” Wong explains. “So Kenny gave me a call and we got a deal done within 24 hours. Within nine months, we received a six-times return on our investment.”

The opportunity to develop a high-caliber network of contacts was a key motivating factor when Man applied for a place on the EMBA program. He says the quality of the connections he’s developed, the degree to which they’ve been so fruitful professionally, and the investment returns that have resulted from them, have all surprised him. “The reality exceeded my expectations and the network has been really helpful. Daniel and I also still exchange views on investment opportunities from time to time.”

In an era when investment capital is in abundant supply, Wong strongly believes personal connections are vitally important. “The question is which pocket do you want to tap into and who do you want to work with. A lot of the time it depends on the personal relationship or the chemistry you have with your counter party,” he says.

“Kenny and I were both in the same class, we did business together based on the strong bonding and trust within the classroom. We know each other’s approach to business and I know I can trust him.”

The appreciation Wong’s company has for the power of the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA program, and for the value it can add, takes a very concrete form these days.  “We now try to sponsor one qualified candidate to the program every year.”