Thomas Hugger's guest appearances

Thomas Hugger

The Big Question Podcast

China Money Podcast - Video Episodes

Citywire: Thanks, I quit

Mark Yusko

Jim Rogers

David Ji

Howard Marks

Stephen Roach

Tracy Shuchart

Julian Brigden

Jared Dillian

Todd Harrison

Raoul Pal

Chris Mayer

Erik Townsend

Tim Draper

Chris MacIntosh

Yukon Huang

OwlTail

Thomas Hugger is CEO of Asia Frontier Capital and formerly worked at LGT and ZKB. He describes the dangers, both physical and financial, of investing in Iraq and Pakistan, how Swiss investors are building frontier markets exposure, and why the Uzbek stock market is Asia’s hidden gem.

From ZKB to Iraq fund impresario: Thomas Hugger’s frontier markets journey

Thomas Hugger is the CEO and fund manager at Asia Frontier Capital and a veteran of investing in frontier markets and Asia.Thomas and I talk about why investors should think twice before investing in India and why he's not so bullish about Sri Lanka at the moment. Thomas also discusses 2 countries he thinks have the most potential, and we also touch upon China's 'One Belt, One Road' policy and what does it mean for Asia.If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure to receive future Big Question conversations right in your inbox: capitalistexploits.at/signup/

Thomas Hugger is the CEO and fund manager at Asia Frontier Capital and a veteran of investing in frontier markets and Asia. Thomas and I talk about why investors should think twice before investing in India and why he's not so bullish about Sri Lanka at the moment. Thomas also discusses 2 countries he thinks have the most potential, and we also touch upon China's 'One Belt, One Road' policy and what does it mean for Asia. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure to receive future Big Question conversations right in your inbox: <a href="http://capitalistexploits.at/signup/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">capitalistexploits.at/signup/</a>

BQP 036: Thomas Hugger On Investing In Emerging And Frontier Markets

In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Thomas Hugger, CFO of Leopard Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in Asian frontier markets, discusses the successes and failures of his firm's investments in Cambodia, the impact on frontier markets from a slowing Chinese economy, and why frontier markets offer better risk-return profiles than emerging markets.Listen to the full interview in the audio podcast, watch the shortened video version or read an excerpt.Q: First give us a brief introduction of Leopard Capital?A: Leopard Capital was founded in 2008. Our general goal is to make private equity investments in frontier markets. We've raised two funds so far. In March 2008, we raised our first private equity fund to invest in Cambodia. Another fund was raised to invest in Haiti. We are hoping to launch two additional funds to invest in Bangladesh and Bhutan this year.We've met hundreds of potential institutional investors or high-net-worth individuals. They are extremely interested in Asian frontier markets, but they are concerned to invest their money for ten years in a private equity fund in a single country like Cambodia. They want more diversification and more liquidity. So earlier this year, we launched a fund to invest in listed equities in Asian frontier markets, including Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Myanmar. This is our Leopard Asia Frontier Fund, which I manage at the moment.Q: How much capital do you have in these funds?A: The Cambodia fund has US$34 million. The Haiti fund has US$20 million. For Leopard Asia Frontier Fund, we start with money from family and friends, and we are going on road shows to raise more money. At the moment, we are at US$2 million.Q: There is certainly lots of interest in frontier markets now. When you talk to potential investors, what's the biggest concern that they have?A: Their biggest concern is liquidity and execution of investments. Their question is: Are these countries ready for private equity investments?We try to tell them that it's possible to make private equity investments in these markets. For our Cambodia fund, we are in our fourth year. We are fully invested and had two exits. So we are convinced that it's possible.Q: Can you give us more background on the two exits you achieved in Cambodia?A: One is a pre-IPO deal in Laos (Cambodia funds normally invest in the Mekong region). We invested a couple of months before an electricity stock was listed. The other is a structured deal in a telecommunications company in Cambodia, which is supposed to run for two years, but we exited at one year and three months.We source these deals through our own relationships. We have about 20 shareholders in Leopard Capital. Our chairman is Marc Faber. So we get a lot of referrals.Q: For the Cambodia investment, how did you exit, exactly?A: In this particular case, the deal was financed by a Chinese bank. There are a lot of interests from the Chinese on Cambodia's telecommunications sector. In general, when we invest, we don't assume we can exit through an IPO. We will normally do a trade sale.Q: What kind of deal volume is there every year in these markets? How does valuation compare with other markets like China and India?A: Don't forget our fund is only US$34 million. We want to have a diversified portfolio, not only by industries, but also by investment styles. The average deal size is anywhere from US$1 million to US$5 million. And it's 100% our own equity.It's difficult to compare valuations because some of our investments in Cambodia are bordering venture capital. Some are green field projects (meaning you start a business on a green field where nothing is there). We did one mineral water project and one beer brewery called Kingdom Beer in Cambodia.We also invested in a very small microfinance company when everyone was chasing Indian microfi...

In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Thomas Hugger, CFO of Leopard Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in Asian frontier markets, discusses the successes and failures of his firm's investments in Cambodia, the impact on frontier markets from a slowing Chinese economy, and why frontier markets offer better risk-return profiles than emerging markets. Listen to the full interview in the audio podcast, watch the shortened video version or read an excerpt. Q: First give us a brief introduction of Leopard Capital? A: Leopard Capital was founded in 2008. Our general goal is to make private equity investments in frontier markets. We've raised two funds so far. In March 2008, we raised our first private equity fund to invest in Cambodia. Another fund was raised to invest in Haiti. We are hoping to launch two additional funds to invest in Bangladesh and Bhutan this year. We've met hundreds of potential institutional investors or high-net-worth individuals. They are extremely interested in Asian frontier markets, but they are concerned to invest their money for ten years in a private equity fund in a single country like Cambodia. They want more diversification and more liquidity. So earlier this year, we launched a fund to invest in listed equities in Asian frontier markets, including Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Myanmar. This is our Leopard Asia Frontier Fund, which I manage at the moment. Q: How much capital do you have in these funds? A: The Cambodia fund has US$34 million. The Haiti fund has US$20 million. For Leopard Asia Frontier Fund, we start with money from family and friends, and we are going on road shows to raise more money. At the moment, we are at US$2 million. Q: There is certainly lots of interest in frontier markets now. When you talk to potential investors, what's the biggest concern that they have? A: Their biggest concern is liquidity and execution of investments. Their question is: Are these countries ready for private equity investments? We try to tell them that it's possible to make private equity investments in these markets. For our Cambodia fund, we are in our fourth year. We are fully invested and had two exits. So we are convinced that it's possible. Q: Can you give us more background on the two exits you achieved in Cambodia? A: One is a pre-IPO deal in Laos (Cambodia funds normally invest in the Mekong region). We invested a couple of months before an electricity stock was listed. The other is a structured deal in a telecommunications company in Cambodia, which is supposed to run for two years, but we exited at one year and three months. We source these deals through our own relationships. We have about 20 shareholders in Leopard Capital. Our chairman is Marc Faber. So we get a lot of referrals. Q: For the Cambodia investment, how did you exit, exactly? A: In this particular case, the deal was financed by a Chinese bank. There are a lot of interests from the Chinese on Cambodia's telecommunications sector. In general, when we invest, we don't assume we can exit through an IPO. We will normally do a trade sale. Q: What kind of deal volume is there every year in these markets? How does valuation compare with other markets like China and India? A: Don't forget our fund is only US$34 million. We want to have a diversified portfolio, not only by industries, but also by investment styles. The average deal size is anywhere from US$1 million to US$5 million. And it's 100% our own equity. It's difficult to compare valuations because some of our investments in Cambodia are bordering venture capital. Some are green field projects (meaning you start a business on a green field where nothing is there). We did one mineral water project and one beer brewery called Kingdom Beer in Cambodia. We also invested in a very small microfinance company when everyone was chasing Indian microfi...

Thomas Hugger: Only Frontier Markets Offer Uncorrelated Returns From A Troubled Global Economy