News
Inaugural launch of COPFA
On 10 April 2024, saw the opening ceremony of the Chinese Overseas Private Funds Association (COPFA) a new body, established to support the internationalization of the Chinese Overseas Private Funds industry.
The opening ceremony took place at King & Wood Mallesons office in Hong Kong, attended by fund industry practitioners including alternative investment managers, professionals and representatives from industry bodies. A number of industry bodies and international organisations also participated the launch of COPFA virtually.
COPFA is a non-profit industry-driven initiative and is the first industry body focusing on Chinese overseas private fund industry. COPFA consists of representatives from different sectors of the industry. Initial founding members include significant private fund industry executives from OP Investment Management Limited, GROW Asset Management (HK) Limited, Golden Nest Capital, Prospect Avenue Capital, Allbright Law Offices, Simmons & Simmons, CLSA Fund Services (Asia) Limited, Linnovate Partners, the Hong Kong LPF Association and the Singapore Fund Directors Association.
COPFA connects Chinese managers with international allocators, service providers and other relevant parties in the overseas private fund industry. COPFA represents the voice and interest of the Chinese overseas private fund industry and advocate for high standards in regulation, innovation, ethics, governance and investor communication.
“I am excited and honoured to announce the launch of COPFA.
The establishment of COPFA reflects the desire and needs of the Chinese alternative fund managers to expand in the international market. International fund allocators have also expressed their interest to COPFA in ensuring that they have accurate information on the Chinese markets and to have direct dialogue with Chinese GP’s. Moreover, other stakeholders, such as professional service providers and industry associations, have been enthusiastic in supporting COPFA and its members in their internationalisation pursuit.”,said David Lau, honorary chairman of COPFA and former CCO of Springs Capital.
“Born in a bear market, COPFA is a generational opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in China’s asset management industry, and I couldn't be more thrilled to represent a new generation of global talent from one of the largest economies in the world.”, said Alvin Fan, CEO of OP Investment Management Limited, founding director and co-chair of the Promotion and Advocacy Group of COPFA.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. I am very honoured to be part of the passionate COPFA committee members with a mission of globalisation of Chinese alternative asset management industry, said William Ma, CIO of GROW Investment Group and co-chair of the Promotional and Advocacy Group of COPFA.
“We are excited to announce the launch of the COPFA, an industry association dedicated to fostering collaborations and interactions among fund managers, allocators, and professionals. As the industry evolves, it calls for higher standards and a more institutionalized approach when going abroad. COPFA aims to play a vital role in facilitating dialogues, experience sharing, and helping the Chinese overseas private fund managers to grow. We are committed to providing a platform where East can meet the West, GPs and LPs can come together, exchange ideas, and enhance their capabilities to navigate global markets successfully, said Yuan Zi, COO of Golden Nest Capital and secretary of COPFA.
“Historically, global asset allocators relied on their individual China fund managers to understand and explore opportunities in China. The establishment of COPFA will systemically present the truth of the China market, bridge the knowledge gap and serve as an effective communication channel. We look forward to industry gatherings, seminars, and knowledge bootcamp by COPFA to better serve the global asset allocators in the near future.”, said Ming Liao, Managing Partner of Prospect Avenue Capital and co-chair of the Allocators and LP Group of COPFA.
“COPFA is a unique industry initiative that aims to elevate the standards and reputation of the industry. It is a great knowledge sharing platform for industry practitioners to learn about industry sound practices and exchange information.”, said Howard Ching, Director of asset management at KPMG China and co-chair of the Competency, Ethics and Governance Group of COPFA.
“We stand united in our commitment to the Chinese Overseas Private Funds industry. The establishment of COPFA is a pivotal moment, symbolising the collaborative spirit and dedication to excellence that characterises our industry. Together, we bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to promote international standards, and advocate for a regulatory environment that embraces openness and innovation.”, said Ivy Yam, Partner, Simmons and Simmons (Investment Funds and Regulatory) and executive member of COPFA.
“Increasingly complicated legal and regulatory environments are undoubtedly a challenge to Chinese overseas private funds. COPFA is committed to promote compliance culture and good practice, and communicate the voice of industry to the regulators”, said Carl Miao, senior partner of Allbright Law Offices and co-chair of the Policy group of COPFA.
“As a founding member of COPFA, we aspire to support Chinese private fund managers on their overseas operations in all perspectives, including existing and prospective ones ”, said Chunhua Wang, head of CITIC Securities Fund Services (Asia) Limited and co-chair of the Infrastructure, Innovation and Tech group of COPFA.
“We are honoured to join COPFA as one of the founding members. Together with COPFA, Linnovate Partners will actively develop industry best practices and promote automated and precise innovations within the private fund industry.”, said Nancy Jiao, Director of Linnovate Partners and co-chair of the Infrastructure, Innovation and Tech group of COPFA.
As a superconnector between Chinese private fund professionals and the international market, COPFA collaborates with various industry associations in the APAC region and strengthen industry-wide collaborations.
“The Hong Kong LPF Association (HKLPFA) is pleased to be a founding member of COPFA. As a platform aiming to connect the best fund managers, allocators and professional service providers, I firmly believe COPFA will play an important role in shaping the landscape of the private fund community for Chinese fund managers looking for growing their international businesses. HKLPFA will work closely with COPFA to further enhance the connectivity between Chinese fund managers and international market”, said Jingjing Jiang, founding president of the HKLPFA and co-chair of the Policy group.
Martin O’Regan, founding chairman of the Singapore Fund Directors Association (SFDA) and co-chair of the COPFA Competency, Ethics and Governance group (CEG). “SFDA is keen to promote and develop best practise initiatives in the industry. The launch of COPFA and the CEG working group is the first step in fostering long-term success through advocacy and standards-setting in corporate governance, as well as professional development for this association.”
Following the opening remarks is a keynote speech delivered by Yidong Zhang, the Global Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Research at Industrial Securities Co, Ltd where he shared his insights about the capital markets and investment outlook in the region.
Following the keynote speech is a ribbon cutting session by the executive committee members of COPFA. The launch of COPFA represents a pivotal milestone for the Chinese Overseas Private Fund Industry.
The launch event was capped off with a dynamic networking session where hundreds of participants from the fund ecosystem actively mingled during the session.
COPFA has five working groups that will focus on different aspects of the Chinese Overseas private fund industry contributing to achieve COPFA mission and objectives in promoting higher standards, information dissemination, tech enabling and GP-LP community.
COPFA is open for memberships and more information can be found on the COPFA website at www.copfa.org or please contact: info@copfa.org