The next chapter of AI : from Infrastructure to Inference

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šŸ”“ The next chapter of AI : from Infrastructure to Inference

šŸ“ˆ The AI investment story is evolving. The first phase was about building infrastructure and training models. The next phase is about “inference”: deploying AI at scale, powering AI agents and humanoid robots, turning intelligence into economic value.

šŸŒ In our latest Market Insights, we explore why memory, semiconductors, and Asia’s technology ecosystem may become some of the key beneficiaries of this transition.

(Available in English & French version)

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Feifei LIU

Portfolio Manager, based in Hong Kong.

She has over 9 years of experience in the financial industry. She started her career at Morgan Stanley equity derivatives trading desk in Hong Kong, working on Asia index & single stock options and structured products. Prior to joining Syncicap Asset management, she was an analyst & trader at a hedge fund focusing on China A/H equity markets. She joined Syncicap Asset Management in the early 2023 as fund manager in charge of the Asia EM ex-China strategy.

She holds a masterā€™s degree in Finance from CUHK business school and bachelorā€™s degree in Computer Science in HKUST. She is a CFA charter holder since 2022.

She is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English.

Ruiyue (Melissa) ZHANG

Senior Vice President (Sales & Business Development) at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

She has over 10 years of experience in the financial industry of Hong Kong, dedicating in buy-side and sell-side. She is an enthusiastic institutional sale with comprehensive knowledge of financial products and passionate about building the long-lasting strategic relationships and creating a breakthrough client experience with Asia investors, including Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Prior to joining SYNCICAP Asset Management, she was a senior account manager at two top-tier Japanese Asset Management and Securities firm and served the institutional clients from APAC region since 2014.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Yunnan University in Asia Economics and Japanese Literature (China) and an advanced diploma of Business Management from Purdue University (USA).

She is an MBA graduate of the University of Hong Kong focusing on Finance, Economics and Marketing Strategy.

She is a multi-language speaker (Mandarin, Japanese, English, and Cantonese).

Susana LAI

Office Manager at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

She has over 20 years of experience as Office Manager and Personal Assistant. Prior to joining SYNCICAP Asset Management, Susana was Office Manager at AIF Capital Limited for 7 years overseeing General Administration, Human Resource and IT sectors. Before that, she works as Manager, Administration of BEA Union Investment Management Limited which is a joint venture asset management company between The Bank of East Asia, Limited and Union Asset Management, which is the investment arm of DZ Bank Group in Germany.    

She holds a bachelorā€™s degree in environmental science from University of Greenwich, London. She is fluent in English and Cantonese. 

Shirley TANG

Operations Manager of SYNCICAP Asset Management Limited. Prior to this, Ms. Tang was Operations Manager at two other asset management companies in Hong Kong. 

Ms. Tang has over 10 years of Asset Management experience specializing in fund operations.

Ms. Tang holds a masterā€™s degree from the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong and a bachelorā€™s degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) since 2017.

Weiyi ZHANG

Equity Analyst specialized in the industrial sector at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

She has over 3 years of experience in the financial industry. She started her career in Investment Banking for 6 months. Then she decided to join DPAM in 2020 as an Equity Analyst to cover Asia Industrials sector as well as auto/auto parts and renewable energy. In early 2022, she relocated to SYNCICAP in Hong Kong.

She holds an undergraduate / masterā€™s degree in Engineering Science from University of Oxford (UK) and another masterā€™s degree in Management from London Business School.

She is fluent in English and Chinese.

Xiaofang YAN

Equity Analyst specialized in consumer sector at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

She has over 6 years of experience in financial industry. She started her career at Quilvest Private Equity as an investment analyst in Paris working on Real Estate Private Equity (REPE) deals for its Pan European and Asian Funds. Prior to joining Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM), she was an REPE investment associate at Resolution Property in London focusing on mid-large size European Real Estate deals. She joined DPAM in 2021 as Equity Analyst.

She holds a masterā€™s degree in finance from ESCP Business School (France) and bachelorā€™s degree in Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (China).

She is fluent in English and Chinese.

Yixia ZHANG

Buyside fixed income Analyst, based in Hong Kong. She covers financials in Pan-Asia market. 

She has 8 years of experience in the financial industry in mainland China and Hong Kong. She started his career at S&P Global Ratings as a credit analyst covering financials and real estate sector. She joined PAG Consulting Ltd in 2021 as an investment manager working on private credit and debt restructuring transactions for China property developers. 

She holds a masterā€™s degree in Finance from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and bachelorā€™s degree in Economics from Renmin University of China. She is a CFA Charter holder since 2023. 

She is fluent in English and Chinese.

Yixin GUO

Equity Analyst specialized in technology sector at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

She has over 6 years of experience in financial industry. She started her career at Deloitte as an auditor in Paris. She joined DPAM in 2020 as Equity Analyst.

She holds a masterā€™s degree in finance from ESCP Business School (France) and bachelorā€™s degree in Jinan (China).

She is fluent in English and Chinese.

Rachel XU

Buyside fixed income analyst at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong. She focuses on the non-financial corporate companies from the emergency market countries in Asian. 

She has over 10 years of experience in credit analysis. She started her career as a credit rating analyst at S&P Global Ratings Inc. She covered a portfolio of Chinese bank and non-bank financial institutions in 2014 to 2018. After that, She worked as the rating advisor in the debt capital markets function at CMB International, a fully owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, advising the international debt transaction for Chinese companies. 

She holds a masterā€™s degree in finance from the R.H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland in the US and a bachelor’s degree in financial services from the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong. She is a CFA Charter holder.

Pierre-Emmanuel HUBERT

Portfolio Manager at Syncicap Asset Management, specializing in investment strategies within global emerging markets. 

He started his career in 2018 with AXA Investment Managers, where he focused on high-yield credit opportunities in China and the ASEAN region. Before joining Syncicap, Pierre-Emmanuel was Portfolio Manager at Candriam, overseeing the management of assets exceeding 6 billion dollars spread across 13 money market and short-term credit funds. 

Pierre-Emmanuel holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, complemented by a degree in Chinese languages from National Taiwan University.

Peggy LI

Portfolio Manager at SYNCICAP Asset Management, Based in Hong Kong.

She has over 10 years of experience in the financial industry in Hong Kong. She started her investment career at sovereign wealth fund as equity analyst covering global financial technology sector. Prior to joining SYNCICAP Asset Management, she was senior analyst at regional hedge fund, and assistant portfolio manager at Chinese asset manager focus on global equity markets. She joined SYNCICAP Asset Management as Fund Manager in 2021.

She holds a masterā€™s degree in economics from the University of Hong Kong, and bachelorā€™s degree in economics and finance from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

She is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Eric MIMOUN

Chief Operating Officer at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

He has over 10 years of experience in the financial industry and was previously Corporate Development Manager at Ofi Invest Asset Management.

He started his career at EY as a Financial Services Consultant, serving top-tier French banks, including BNP Paribas, Natixis and BPCE.

He holds degrees in Finance from EDHEC Business School (FR) and in Law from University of Essex (UK) and UniversitƩ Paris Nanterre (FR).

He speaks fluent English, French and Greek.

Rizal WIJONO

Head of Business Development & Sales at SYNCICAP Asset Management.

Based in Hong Kong, Rizal Wijono is an accomplished Asset Management Professional with a proven track record of 26 years in growing traditional Asset Management and Private Equity platform businesses successfully.

In his most recent initiative, Rizal Wijono helped Micro Connect founded by Mr. Charles Li (HKEx former CEO) and Gary Zhang (Oriental Patron Group) establish the Private Equity business and led the platform in obtaining HK SFC licensing as its main RO (Responsible Officer) and OMO Manager-in-Charge (Overall Management Oversight) to successfully launching the fund. In Tongfang Wealth Management (affiliated to Tsinghua University), he founded Fusion Asia Advisory that is affiliated to Fusion Partners, a Private Equity Fund ultimately acquired by Capricorn NV, a leading European PE platform investing in Europe and China.

Rizal Wijono held senior Directorship roles with various subsidiaries at Sun Hung Kai Financial Group where he led the alternative asset management business (peak AuM approx. US$ 1 billion). Prior to that he was a Regional Director at Deutsche Asset Management and ING Investment Management Asia Pacific over the course of 10 years. At ING he helped strategize the product development of its Asian product suite and in the later years focusing on its institutional and wholesale business development to see INGā€™s business grow from US$ 2 billion AuM to approximately US$28 billion throughout 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Rizal Wijono grew up and is educated in Belgium. He graduated at the University of Antwerp in Applied Economics and obtained an MBA from the Xavier Institute of Management. He serves as an independent Advisor to the Board of reputable Family Offices and a large European NGO. He speaks 6 languages including English, Dutch, German, French, Putonghua and Bahasa Indonesia.

Xinghang LI

Head of Portfolio Management at SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

He has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry in Europe. He started his career at Rothschild & Co as an investment banker in Paris working on Private Equity and debt restructuring transactions for European and Asian clients. Prior to  joining Ofi Invest Asset Management, he was an analyst and fund manager at two top-tier French hedge funds focusing on the Asian equity and convertible bond markets. He joined Ofi Invest Asset Management in 2011 as Emerging Markets fund manager and became Head of Emerging Markets in 2016.

He holds a masterā€™s degree in finance from ESCP Business School and bachelorā€™s degrees in Economics and French Literature in Wuhan University (China). He is a CFA Charter holder since 2008.

He is fluent in French, English and Chinese.

Jean-Marie MERCADAL

Chief Executive Officer of SYNCICAP Asset Management, based in Hong Kong.

He is also a Senior Investment Strategies Advisor for Ofi Invest. He has over 35 years of experience in asset management.

Jean-Marie joined Ofi Invest Asset Management in 2003 as deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer. In his previous roles, Jean-Marie was a portfolio manager of balanced and asset allocation funds for more than 25 years and he has been a strategist and supervisor of portfolio managers and analysts.

He began his career at BFT in 1987 in fixed-income and equity arbitrage before joining Banque du Louvre in 1989 as CEO of Louvre Gestion.

He is a graduate of Toulouse Business School and speaks French and English.