Singapore ReDefined

Dr Beh Swan Gin was appointed Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) on 1 December 2014. He also chairs the Boards of Directors of EDB Investments and EDBI.

Dr Beh was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Law from 1 July 2012 to 30 November 2014. Prior to the Ministry of Law, he had been Managing Director of EDB from 1 August 2008 to 30 June 2012. He joined EDB in November 1992 and held various portfolios over the years including leadership roles in the development of Singapore’s Biomedical Sciences industry cluster, as well as overseas assignments in EDB’s North American operations.

In 2006 and 2007, Dr Beh also held concurrent appointments as the Executive Director of the Biomedical Research Council at the Agency for Science, Technology & Research, as well as the Director of the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s Energy Planning Division.

Dr Beh is a medical doctor by training and graduated from the National University of Singapore. He is also a Sloan Fellow with a Master of Science in Management from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, and completed the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School.

He is a Board Director for Enterprise Singapore, Human Capital Leadership Institute Pte Ltd and Singapore Exchange Limited. He also chairs the board of Ascendas Funds Management (S) Ltd. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board for the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation.

Session:
In Conversation with Dr Beh Swan Gin: Singapore – Journeying into the Future

Chew Sutat, Head of Global Sales and Origination, leads SGX’s equity and debt capital market teams in developing private-to-public capital raising solutions for companies globally. He is responsible for SGX’s international offices and oversees specialist sales teams in 10 cities, serving all client segments with the full spectrum of SGX products and services across asset classes. Sutat joined SGX in June 2007 and was appointed to the Executive Management Committee in May 2008. He is also the Chairman of SGX’s Bull Charge CSR initiatives.

Prior to SGX, he had senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, OCBC Securities and DBS Bank, where he held varying portfolios in strategic planning and business development for institutional banking and private clients.

Sutat sits on the boards of CapBridge, a private capital platform, and iSTOX, both of which are supported by SGX. Outside of SGX, he is a Fellow of Singapore Institute of Directors and the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF). He serves as Chairman of the IBF’s Sub-Committee for Corporate Finance, Securities & Futures. In the social arena, he serves in various National Council of Social Service (NCSS) Committees including Community Chest as Vice-Chair and is a Member of NCSS Member Services Committee and Leadership Selection Panel. He also chairs Caregivers Alliance Limited (Charity) and is Immediate Past Chair of Kaki Bukit Citizens’ Consultative Committee.

Sutat graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) degree in Philosophy Politics & Economics (PPE) from Oxford University and also holds a Master of Arts degree from Oxford.

Session:
Innovation: Catalyst for Success

Eli Lee is Head of Investment Strategy at Bank of Singapore and he plays a central role in developing asset allocation and thematic strategies across global asset classes for the Bank.

He is a key member of Bank of Singapore’s investment committee, which determines the Group’s overall investment strategy and direction, and serves as a member of the OCBC Group Wealth Panel. He also previously led the Special Situations Research team at OCBC Investment Research. As an investment thought leader, Eli’s independent perspectives are often sought after by international media, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and CNBC.

With close to two decades of industry experience, Eli began his investment career at the Wellington Management Company in Boston. He graduated from Harvard University with an MA in statistics.

Session:
Innovation: Catalyst for Success

Foo Peng Er is Vice President for Group Sustainability at CapitaLand Group, one of Asia's largest real estate companies.  CapitaLand is listed in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations Index, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and Asia-Pacific Index, Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Global Sector Leader, Diversified- Listed, FTSE4Good Index Series, MSCI Global Sustainability Indexes and The Sustainability Yearbook.

Peng Er works closely with the strategic business units as well corporate teams in the CapitaLand Group to implement the CapitaLand 2030 Sustainability Master Plan, as well as the CapitaLand Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Management System which is globally audited externally to ISO 14001 & 45001 standards.. She spearheads the publication of the CapitaLand Global Sustainability Report, providing transparency and assurance to the group’s environmental, social and governance strategy and performance. She ensures that it is benchmarked against international standards and frameworks, such as GRI, UNGC, SDG, TCFD. She was also part of the team that helped CapitaLand secure Asia’s 1st and largest sustainability linked loans as well as the 1st sustainability linked loan referencing SORA in Singapore.

She is a member of the GRESB Asia Benchmark Committee, and Singapore Tripartite Oversight Committee on Workplace Safety & Health Sub-committee 2, and chairs the Strategic Communications and Outreach Committee at the Singapore Green Building Council. She has been a panelist and speaker at various sustainability related events, on topics ranging from sustainable developments and innovation, gender diversity and parity, to social returns on investments and governance.

Session:
The Green Agenda

Frank Phuan is the co-founder and CEO of Sunseap Group, a Singapore-based clean energy regional player in one of the fastest-growing industries that is shaping the future of our planet. In the last decade, he has turned a “sunset” business of manufacturing solar equipment in Singapore into a thriving clean energy solutions provider operating in 12 countries.

Frank has over 20 years of experience in the solar industry, and possesses an Honours Degree in Applied Science in Materials Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Prior to setting up the company, Frank spent time in his family business, manufacturing solar panels and learning the ins and outs of the business. An experienced entrepreneur, Frank also spent time delving into advertising, IT and F&B. Frank also serves as a member on the Board of Enterprise Singapore (ESG).

Session:
The Green Agenda

Ms Helen Wong was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of OCBC Bank on 15 April 2021. She joined OCBC Bank in February 2020 as Deputy President and Head of Global Wholesale Banking.

Ms Wong has more than 36 years of banking experience, having started out as a Management Trainee in OCBC Bank and was its first China Desk Manager, based at the Hong Kong Branch. She has vast experience in Greater China, covering a wide range of roles in capital markets, syndicated finance and corporate banking. Before returning to OCBC Bank, Ms Wong spent 27 years at HSBC, where her last role was as its Chief Executive for Greater China, which she was appointed to in 2015. She became the President and CEO of HSBC China based in Shanghai in 2010, and was promoted to be Group General Manager in 2011 to recognise her responsibility for the business operations and strategic expansion in China. She also held non-executive directorships at Baoshan Iron & Steel from 2012 to 2015, and at Bank of Communications from 2016 to 2019.

Ms Wong holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Hong Kong.

Sessions:
Welcome Address, In Conversation with Dr Beh Swan Gin: Singapore – Journeying into the Future

As Head of PMRO, Jean Chia is responsible for formulating Bank of Singapore’s house views, including its Investment Strategy for FX, Equity and Fixed Income Research, as well as Discretionary Portfolio Management (DPM) and Advisory Portfolio Management (APM). She has over 20 years’ experience in Private Banking and Asset Management.

She was previously Head of Equities Advisory and Sales at the Bank, and Head of Client Advisory Services for Equities, Investment Products and Services at UBS Wealth Management, Singapore.

Prior to UBS, she was a Vice President at Allianz Dresdner Asset Management (now known as Allianz Global Investors).

Jean graduated with an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from University of Oxford, UK. Jean also serves as a member of the SGX Advisory Committee.

Session: The Green Agenda

Kay Lim joined Nanofilm in 2019 as Business Adviser, where he was responsible for managing and executing the mergers and acquisitions strategy, general corporate affairs, managing engagements with appointed external financial advisers and advising on fund raising activities involving strategic investments. He was promoted to Senior Financial Controller (Corporate) in March 2020 and was subsequently re-designated as Chief Financial Officer on 1 August 2020. He provides leadership in financial management, corporate finance and corporate affair matters, and his roles include strategic financial planning, reporting and analysis as well as budgeting.

Kay graduated from the Singapore Management University with a Bachelor of Business Management, Summa Cum Laude and a Bachelor of Accountancy, Summa Cum Laude. He is a member of the CFA Institute and was a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore.

Session:
Innovation: Catalyst for Success

Wai San is the founder and Managing Partner of Novo Tellus Capital Partners, a Singapore based lower middle market private equity firm focused on the industrials and technology sectors in Asia.  Wai San is also the Chairman of SGX listed AEM Holdings, a company that Novo Tellus invested in 2011 and worked with management to transform into one of the world’s top 3 semiconductor test handler companies by revenue.

In 2011, AEM Holdings had a market cap of under $25m and was on the SGX watch list due to poor performance.   With investment and leadership from Novo Tellus, AEM restructured its business units and reinvested in R&D, application engineering and operational excellence.  In 2020, AEM Holdings generated over $500 million in revenue and over $100 million in EBITDA.  In 2020, AEM was named to the Forbes Asia’s 200 Best Under a Billion list, and is listed as one of the top 50 traded stocks by turnover on the SGX for 2020.  AEM continues to invest in R&D to develop state of the art test handlers for increasingly complex ICs for future 5G and AI applications. 

Prior to founding Novo Tellus, Wai San was a Managing Director with Baring Private Equity Asia in their San Francisco and Singapore offices.  While at Baring Asia, Wai San focused on technology investments in enterprise software, IT hardware and IT services.  Prior to Baring Asia, Wai San was a senior manager at management consultants AT Kearney in their High Technology practice.  Wai San started his career as an R&D engineer at Motorola Inc, in their Cellular Infrastructure Group.   Wai San holds an MBA degree from the University of Chicago, and a BSEE from Lehigh University. 

Session:
Innovation: Catalyst for Success

Matthew Song is currently a Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate and Institutional Client, across Equities, Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities. Corporate Client coverage includes listed companies on the SGX and global fixed income issuers. Institutional Client coverage includes asset managers, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and private banks and family offices.

Matthew was formerly an investment banker with more than 16 years of experience across Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. He was the Head of Southeast Asia, Equity Capital Markets, Investment Banking for HSBC. Prior to HSBC, Matthew was a Director, Global Markets, Asia Pacific at Merrill Lynch. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Matthew was a Vice President, Equity Capital Markets at Deutsche Bank.

Matthew also served as Managing Director of the Sinar Mas Group and Executive Director of an Asian Infrastructure Fund.

Matthew holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University College London and is a Columbia Business School Alumni.

Session:
The Green Agenda

Rachel Teo is the Head of Futures Unit in the Economics & Investment Strategy Department and she is also a member of the Sustainability Committee in GIC. 

The Futures Unit looks at long-term trends that have a material impact on the GIC total portfolio.  The team is also leading research on climate change to identify sustainable investment themes and help integrate climate change considerations into GIC’s investment processes.  The Sustainability Committee in GIC oversees the firm’s sustainability policies and implementation.  

She was recently named as the Top 50 Women in Investment Management by Institutional Investor in recognition of her investment research expertise and driving the industry through diversity of thought. 

Rachel joined GIC in 2005 as an economist and investment strategist.  Before heading the Futures Unit in 2016, her role was in global macro research and strategy.  Prior to joining GIC, Rachel was with the Monetary Authority of Singapore working in economics research as well monetary management roles.    

Session:
The Green Agenda

Yvonne Chan is a multi-hyphenate – a versatile presenter who has taken on a gamut of roles during her career at CNA; these include helming the prime time morning belt, First Look Asia, and business news bulletins, among others. Beyond her role as a news presenter, Yvonne also fronted CNA’s Lifestyle programme, LuxeAsia, - she is a natural in front of the camera, witty and eloquent and is comfortable hosting in both Mandarin and English, often being able to adlib on the spot.

With a decade of news writing and critical thinking skills honed in the newsroom, Yvonne brings to the table a wealth of experience and is adept at moderating and hosting a wide variety of live and virtual events, ranging from ministerial forums, health or finance seminars to luxury events. She has been described as a lively and engaging host, someone who is quick on her feet and reacts fast to circumstances around her, this very much attributed to her 18 years of hosting experience.

Yvonne handles live interviews with aplomb and has a knack for bringing out the best in her interviewees and panelists, with her sunny and easy banter. Prior to joining Channel NewsAsia, Yvonne was a management associate at HSBC Singapore, before moving on to work at HSBC London. She graduated with a degree in Economics (Hons) from the National University of Singapore.

Moderator for sessions:
Innovation: Catalyst for Success
The Green Agenda