Impact investor LGT Venture Philanthropy (LGT VP) has strengthened its Asian presence as part of its increasing commitment to the region. The firm hired En Lee and Raya Papp in August as Co-Heads for the Asia Pacific region. Its new leadership team is based in Singapore and “will be focused on educating families, philanthropists and investors on venture philanthropy”, according to Raya.
The firm now has a team of 24 investment professionals globally across five continents. Of these, six investment managers and five fellows are based in Asia Pacific, in the cities of Bangkok, Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Jakarta, Manila, Shanghai and Singapore, with three additional investment managers in India. LGT VP’s Asia Pacific team manages eight investments, six of which are in its Accelerator Program—a two-year program aimed at building promising, early-stage social enterprises with market-based solutions to scale their positive impact. The firm currently supports more than 25 portfolio organisations and aims to significantly increase the size of its Asia Pacific portfolio over the next few years. Both En and Raya have led several successful impact investments across in Asia across sectors such as education, renewable energy and inclusive finance. LGT VP’s 6-year track record, the depth and breadth of its offering and its close interest alignment with its investors and portfolio organisations attracted the two to the firm. En has been involved in impact investing in Asia for almost 4 years, following a 15 year career working with investment funds at Goldman Sachs and advising on private equity and corporate finance transactions at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Raya, on the other hand, has been in impact investing and asset management for more than 4 years, building on a 15 year career in corporate finance with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Thomson Reuters. Learn more about LGT Venture Philanthropy here.
