Daniel Jim: “It’s time to showcase the best of Hong Kong”

As hedge fund industry veteran Daniel Jim takes on a new challenge at Chartwell Capital in Hong Kong, the Hedge Funds Club’s Stefan Nilsson checks in with Daniel to talk about his new role, impact investments and the future of Hong Kong.

Daniel Jim is a well-known professional in Hong Kong’s alternative investment industry. Over the past three decades, he has built a solid reputation and network through his own firm Tripod Management and also working with organisations such as OP Investment Management, Nomura and the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute.

Tell us about your new role at Hong Kong-based investment firm Chartwell Capital.

Having seen quite some engagement funds at work in the West and Japan over the years, I would like to take that experience and apply it somewhere closer to home. Rather than playing the devil’s advocate, we will be working together with like-minded company management in order to better serve their stakeholders and Hong Kong at large, while further enhancing shareholders’ value in the long run. My new role will be to unite our co-investment partners’ network at home and abroad to augment Ronald’s efforts in engaging with the home-grown and mostly family-owned enterprises.

You will be working with Ronald Chan at Chartwell. How long have you known the Chartwell founder and why have you decided to join him now?

Having known Ronald for more than ten years via the introduction of a common family office friend, we rekindled our relationship two years ago at a private event held by yet another family office and have been discussing since then how we can work together to run an engagement strategy that can contribute to the betterment of Hong Kong. As Hong Kong reopens and now moving on to a new chapter after years of challenges, we believe this is now high time for us to help showcase the best of Hong Kong Inc. and the true colours of this dynamic city.

What does impact investing mean for you?

Being involved as a youth delegate to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio back in 1992, working alongside policymakers and business leaders on the issue of sustainable development, it was very clear to me even at my young age back then that it takes the private sector’s whole-hearted commitment in order to make public policies work. From then to ESG and now ‘Common Prosperity’ and beyond, being able to mobilise and apply private sector resources to crucial areas of society and its economy is the only way forward for the further development of mankind. We are all in this together.

Will you still be involved with the local and global hedge fund industry?

Most certainly and in fact, the family office side of Chartwell has been very active in investing in alternative investment funds all along. Leveraging the newly formed unit called Chartwell Family Partners, involving the Chan family as well as a few other prominent families all having their roots in Hong Kong, we will continue to play a big part in supporting the local and global hedge fund industry, with extra efforts to be put in nurturing and empowering Hong Kong home-grown investment talents.

In recent years, you have successfully been running the Tripod Alpha Academy’s Hedge Fund Masterclass in conjunction with the HKSI Institute. Will you still have time to run this now that you have a new role?

At the risk of dating myself, I have actually been a guest lecturer at the HKSI and several other institutions for more than two decades now, seeing it becoming more and more relevant over the years, helping to nurture the next generation of Hong Kong’s investment talents. One can always find time for things closer to heart and with a meaningful cause.

How do you think Hong Kong will bounce back after its challenges in recent years?

As the border reopens and the rest of the world revisits us, seeing it for themselves with their own eyes, I trust that a lot of the myths and misunderstandings will be debunked in no time. Adaptability and the spirit to overcome are our hallmarks, as proven time and again in our history. With that, I am very confident that Hong Kong will not only bounce back but reach yet another summit never seen before.