ASEAN Fintech Group (AFG or the Group), is very pleased to announce today that it has appointed Frank Au as a new member of its Board of Directors.
Frank is a renowned former investment banker who was instrumental in bringing many of the first wave of Chinese Internet unicorn IPOs to the US capital markets (NYSE/NASDAQ). He has over 20 years of experience covering the technology and Internet investment banking sector in China and has more than 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur.
Pioneer in Asian Internet Investment Banking Scene Amongst Frank’s previous positions in investment banks, he was the President of China Renaissance Holdings (1991.HK) and former CEO of Cowen and Company Asia (NASDAQ:COWN). Frank has successfully led capital markets and advisory transactions in the e-commerce, online search, mobile services, online gaming, social media, live streaming, IT services, software, and telecom equipment sectors.
Prior to his roles as President of China Renaissance and CEO of Asia at Cowen and Company, Frank co-founded Latitude Capital, a boutique China investment bank that was later acquired by Cowen. In addition, Frank started his investment banking career at Lehman Brothers and worked in both Lehman’s Hong Kong and New York offices where he headed the Greater China Internet investment banking team.
Highly Regarded and Successful Chinese Investment Banker Frank was an underwriter on some of the most prominent China Internet IPOs, including JD.com, Qunar, Weibo, Qihoo360, DangDang, and China.com, with China.com being the first-ever Internet IPO out of the region.
Frank also advised on the majority stake sale of Zhenai.com, China’s largest online dating and matchmaking business, to PAG, one of Asia’s largest investment firms. Besides his investment banking experience, Frank is a successful investor and is presently a Managing Partner of investment firm PacificPine Group, which he co-founded. He sits on the Boards of PacificPine Sports, PGA Youth Academy, Five-Star Sports, Zhenai, Nuance Biotech, Westyle, and YouYao, all portfolio companies of PacificPine Group. Frank also currently sits on the Advisory Boards of Venturous Group and Homaer Financial.
Value-Add to ASEAN Fintech Scene
“Having built a career in raising capital and helping to bring Chinese tech unicorns to the public markets, I am excited about the prospects of using my experience and skills to accelerate the growth of outstanding companies in the ASEAN fintech space. Global and regional investors are just starting to recognize the enormous potential in the ASEAN Internet market, with more funding than ever before,” Frank commented.
“When AFG approached me, I was captivated by their vision, passion, and dedication to build a multi-vertical fintech business in ASEAN. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of the explosive growth in ASEAN fintech and that AFG is the ideal platform to take advantage of this unique market opportunity,” Frank further explained.
ASEAN Fintech Group Gets into HighGear
“Frank brings with him a wealth of experience in capital markets, M&A, and investments with extensive global connectivity. Frank’s expertise will be invaluable to AFG’s next phase as we look to broaden our investor base and identify potential strategic acquisitions. We are extremely excited to work with Frank to build AFG into Southeast Asia’s pre-eminent fintech group as we kick it into high gear for 2022!” said Douglas Gan, Executive Director and Co-founder of AFG.
“AFG is positioning itself as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing integrated multi-vertical fintech groups that is aggressively making strategic investments across the ASEAN market.”
About ASEAN Fintech Group
AFG was founded in 2017 with a thesis to create accretive value by digitizing money and commerce flow across one of the fastest-growing fintech geo-markets in Asia. AFG is built on the next-gen expertise of founders, serial entrepreneurs, and management executives from some of Asia’s most successful technology companies. AFG operates an Integrated Multi-Vertical Fintech Value Chain through innovation and network across four verticals: Payments, Lending / BNPL, Insurtech, and Digital Wealth Management.
With ready financial licenses and quick market access to millions of middle-class consumers in ASEAN, AFG increases interoperability of its current and future fintech businesses through efficient capital provision, tech, and infrastructure support.
