CHIP ZHU
Suite ****, One Wellington Plaza, *** West Huaihai Rd, Shanghai, China
*******@***************.** 138-***-*****
Qualification Highlights
Visionary and strategic thinker: made many decisive choices ahead of turning points (e.g. 2008 Chinese stock meltdown, 2008 global financial crisis, 2010 global solar energy industry crash).
Dedicated and accomplished investor with strong work ethic, and with consistent track record of success and delivering high investment returns.
17-years investment experience across broad spectrum of markets: U.S. and Greater China, stock markets and VC/PE, TMT and traditional industries/sectors (e.g. energy, agriculture, consumer goods, and transportation).
Extensive deal and operation experience with sound business judgment and investment killer instinct, able to identify potential road-blocks and to distinguish winners from losers.
Senior corporate executives at start-ups as well as at established companies (founder, member of boards of directors, CEO, President, CIO, CFO, CTO, advisor, project manager).
Exceptional quantitative and analytical skills with superb educational background.
Professional Experience
Keystone Capital Inc. (China registered company), Shanghai China 2008 Present
Managing Partner (2008 Present)
Designed and structured the innovative funds, helped legal counsel prepare documentations; Setup front and back ends operations to ensure asset safety, transparency and compliances for global investors; Set investment philosophy, strategies, processes and risks control.
Stock market examples: short solar stocks and long nuclear stocks in 2010, long US and short China real estate stocks in 2009-2011, long defense and consumer goods industries.
Deal experience:
PE/VC deals: Babymore, Jiazhang100 (children market); Our Inifinity, KTI, Jiule, LifeWatch (technology market).
M&A deals: (i) Kelun Industry Group (SZ”002422”) acquiring Lijun Pharmaceutical (HK”002005”, now called Shijiazhuang No. 4 Pharmaceutical). Orchestrated and executed the transaction; Sourced the deal; Engaged the acquirer and the target with proposals; Negotiated with shareholders on tailored deal structures; Supervised share transfers; Arranged HK$300 MM in financing; Facilitated application for approvals from regulatory agencies; Controlled potential risks. (ii) Aptus Holding/China Vanguard Group (ticker: HK”008212” and HK”008156”) acquiring natural gas distribution assets of China Hua You Group. Performed due diligence, financial modeling and evaluation; Participated structuring and negotiating investment of HK$234MM; Reviewed closing documents.
Advisor: (i) China Power New Energy Development (HK”00735”). Authored growth strategy; Developed strategy of maximizing shareholder value; Designed optimal capital structure. (ii) ChinaNet Online(NASDAQ “CNET”). Chaired the redesign of business plan; Persuaded and supervised the management team to comply with regulatory requirements and to minimize risks; Formulated strategy to enhance investor relation with action plans.
US Sunergy Inc. (U.S. registered company), Beijing China and Washington DC USA 2008 2011
Executive Director and CTO (2008 2010), CFO and Liaison (2010 2011)
Analyzed global alternative energy market: drivers, technologies including clean energy and technologies reducing emissions, major companies along value-chain; Established key matrix and models to track and evaluate the dynamics of global market and the performance of major companies.
Deal experience:
M&A: (i) Structured, negotiated and presided the transaction of selling US Sunergy. (ii) Spearheaded the effort to acquire China Hydroelectric (NYSE “CHC”); Conducted internal audit and due diligence on CHC; Formulated acquisition strategy; Persuaded full board of directors and shareholders’ approval; Engaged investment bankers and legal counsel; Presented and negotiated with CHC management and major shareholders.
PE/VC: Raised US$300MM investment from IFC (International Finance Corporation), ADB (Asian Development Bank) and global private equity funds, of which US$150MM was line of credit.
Spearheaded and implemented corporate restructuring, internal control, corporate governance, tax optimization and management incentive plan; Championed the development and deployment of infrastructure for accounting, budgeting, cost control, financial analysis, and reporting; Established the trust of board of directors and shareholders in the management by demonstrating the competency and professionalism of decision-making and communications, and by providing the transparency through structured and regular financial reports and the financial control systems.
Tiger Venture Advisors LLC (U.S. registered company), Shanghai China 2006 2008
Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager (2006 2008)
Set up back office (trading, clearing, reconciliation, risk monitoring and management, IT infrastructure) and front office (office, employees, broker coverage, research tools such as Wind and Bloomberg); Raised money and filed legal documentations; Setup equity trading strategy.
Built models for stock screening, asset allocation, portfolio construction and optimization, and risks monitoring.
Leveraged relationship and conducted macro (political, economic, regulatory and industrial, including fiscal and monetary policies), top-down and bottom-up research; Filed monthly and ad-hoc reports to global clients, advising potential impacts on their respective market or area of interests, and presenting co-investment opportunities.
Performed due diligence (e.g. potential pre-IPO opportunity of Wuxi Seamless Steel), workout (e.g. a pawn shop listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange) and investment monitoring at clients’ requests.
Gartmore Goup Ltd., Conshohocken PA U.S.A. 1999 2006
Lead Portfolio Manager (2004 2006), Portfolio Manager (2003), Sr. Analyst (1999 2003)
Conducted fundamental research on technology stocks (TMT); Presented investment theses and made stock, industry, and sector exposure recommendations tailored to various fund managers according to their styles and mandates.
Designed, launched and managed absolute return fund focusing on TMT sector in October 2004; Achieved annualized return of 45+% with volatility under 16%.
Helped design, back-test (on Factset, Bloomberg, MarketIQ platforms) and launch quantitative portfolio in 2003. The fund had consistently delivered expected returns and risk profiles, and reached $1.3 billion AUM in March 2006.
Led cross-disciplinary team (corporate development, investment, legal, finance, sales & marketing, etc.) and spearheaded Nationwide and Gartmore China Initiatives; Architected business plan (market entry strategy, product design, sales and marketing strategy, business strategy, financial projections, human resources, legal); Brought Gartmore top 5 executives to China in February 2004 for 4-week and met with senior officials from state and municipal governments, SAFE, CSRC, CBRC, CIRC, Ministry of Finance, bankers, brokers, and targeted investors.
Interviewed and quoted by Bloomberg, MSNBC, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.
Morrison Knudson Corp., Boise ID U.S.A. 1992 1997
Project Manager (1994-1997), Sr. System Analyst (1992-1994)
Analyzed North American freight transportation industry: truck vs. rail, truck-load vs. transmodule vs. bulk, regional vs. long-haul; their pros and cons, competitive dynamics and decision drivers, participants’ network, capabilities and competitive advantages and disadvantages.
Conducted research and due diligence on competitors and key suppliers: products and technologies, market positions, pricing and services, sales and distribution networks.(GM, GE, Ford, Chrysler, Caterpillar, Cummings, etc.
Assessed supply and demand, costs of storing and transporting of diesel, gasoline, natural gas including LNG, ethanol, methanol, and fuel-cell; Helped design/re-design transportation, storage and fueling network.
Managed $25MM project of developing, manufacturing and commissioning automatic traction control (TCS) and brake control (ABS) systems, improving efficiency by 58% with enhanced safety (the best product to-date).
Education Background
MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 1997 1999
Ph.D.(abd) in Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1989 1992
Other Information
Host and local liaison for trainees at the Wharton School for senior official and executives sent by China central, provincial and municipal governments, and corporations from financial service sectors (securities, asset management, insurance, bank) between 2000 and 2006.
“The Most Innovative Entrepreneur in China” by China Science & Technology Foundation, China Industry Association and Tsinghua University (2008).
Judge of MBA and EMBA Business Plan Competition at Shanghai Communication University