Water Cheung, Sr Partner and CEO, StormHarbour Securities
Water Cheung has close to three decades of extensive global investment banking experience. He is currently the Senior Partner and CEO, Asia Pacific, at StormHarbour Securities.
Podcast
Overview
Today on our show, we have an Investment Guru with us, in conversation about the growth and evolution of the financial market over the last years, Water Cheung. Water is the Senior Partner and CEO of StormHarbour Securities, he is also the chairman of Carbon Care Asia. He is an avid Fintech Investor and a member of the prestigious Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
Water spent most of his professional life as an investment banker and he shares his experience and wisdom of many years with us. He begins by sharing the meaning of Fintech with us and tells us why it has become so popular today. He tells us that the growth of technology, the emergence of mobile phones was a big impetus to the fintech sector.
Water speaks on the common debate that goes around Bitcoin. “Bitcoin is going to say,” Water tells our viewers by explaining that the general worldview around digital investments is changing and people are keeping their money in cyberspace now, because of the trust it has built over the years. He also enlightens us that REITs, another form of investment, are the hybrid between bonds and equities. Water is concerned about how technology is killing jobs for young people.
Water believes that if you do something good it will come back and help you. He advises young people to stay curious and learn new things every day. He shares his amazing views on what success means to him. Tune in!
“If you don’t have a massive capital and a fundraising capability, it is actually very difficult to survive.”
Profile
Water Cheung has close to three decades of extensive global investment banking experience. He is currently the Senior Partner and CEO, Asia Pacific, at StormHarbour Securities. StormHarbour is an independent merchant banking partnership with offices in New York, London, Lisbon, Madrid, Hong Kong, Dubai and Tokyo. The firm had been awarded “Boutique Investment Bank of the Year” by The Banker Magazine.
Cheung presently is also the Chairman of Carbon Care Asia (CCA), a leading ESG consultant in Hong Kong. He is instrumental in developing the green finance business in CCA. CCA currently is working with a number of PRC financial institutions to launch the world first Asia Green Bond Fund. CCA also partnered with Solactive, a leading global index developer, to launch the first Asia Sustainability Bond Index.
Cheung is a well-respected veteran in restate financing, having ran DBS’ Debt Capital Markets globally. DBS is the leading bank in the regional REIT market. During his tenor, the Bank IPO-ed close to 20 REITs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and China. The Bank is the financial advisor and joint bookrunner of GZI REITs, the first PRC property REITs, listed offshore and Fortune REITs, the first Hong Kong property REITs listed in Singapore.
In 2007, Cheung joined The Royal Bank of Scotland as the Head of Emerging Markets and Regional Treasurer in Asia. After RBS led a consortium to acquire ABN Amro Bank, Cheung headed up the integration of the two banks’ market businesses in Asia which at the peak represented more than GBP 1 billion revenue.
Cheung joined DBS in April 2000 to build the Bank’s global derivative and credit product businesses. In 2003, after DBS acquired Dao Heng Bank in Hong Kong, Cheung was made the Managing Director in charge of Global Financial Markets, Greater China, which encompasses all Investment Banking and Treasury products.
DBS Hong Kong is a pioneer in offering structured wealth management products to the mass market. The Bank also manages the largest credit-linked retail bond program “Constellation” in Hong Kong. On the capital market side, the Bank focuses on bringing mid-cap companies to the public market.
Prior to DBS, during 1995-2000, Cheung was Managing Director in CIBC World Market, Singapore. He was a founding member of the Bank’s global financial product initiative and set up its derivative operation in Singapore from scratch. Prior to that, Cheung was Vice President, Head of Derivative Trading – Asia Local Markets, for Chase Manhattan Bank.
Cheung started his investment banking career in 1987, Canada, working for Bank of Montreal, followed by Burns Fry in Toronto. Cheung, a Hong Kong native, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Civil Engineering) degree from the University of Toronto and a MBA degree from York University, Canada. He has written in numerous journals, including Risk Magazine – a leading derivative publication.
Cheung is also an Executive Board Member of Treasury Market Association (TMA), an industry body sponsored by Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and a member of the Young President Organization (YPO) – Hong Kong Chapter.
Cheung is an active participant in the social enterprises community in Hong Kong and is a director in SVHK Capital Limited. Cheung is also a regular columnist in Hong Kong Chinese newspapers including Apple Daily, Ming Pao and Hong Kong Economic Journal.
– An avid fintech investor who lately very involved in the tokenization of financial assets.
