Hotspot: Investing in Private Debts & Opportunities on Helicap Platform with David Z Wang, Helicap Co-founder & Group CEO
An exclusive interview on investing in private debts and opportunities on Helicap Platform with David Z Wang, Helicap Co-founder & Group CEO. David is also the founder of 33 Capital (invest in FinTech & e-commerce startups in Southeast Asia) and has more than 10 years of experience in leading financial institutions including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse & Nomura. David was awarded Top FinTech Leader by the Singapore FinTech Association in 2019 and was a Singapore Founder Finalist for the MAS FinTech Awards in 2020. Helicap is a Singapore-based FinTech firm providing curated and exclusive private co-investments to a wide network of accredited investors. Since Helicap’s founding, and through COVID-19, as a group, we have disbursed more than $150 million in private investment volume with zero originator defaults. View key highlights & read the full interview below. Click here to find out how Helicap Platform works. And visit: Helicap | Helicap for Investors | Sign Up
” 4,000 investor members worldwide looking to diversify their portfolio with exposure to private debt in SEA (Accredited investors, asset managers, corporates, listed companies, family offices & HNWIs) “
David Z Wang, Helicap Co-founder & Group CEO
David Z Wang is the Co-founder & Group CEO of Helicap. Over the past decade, David has worked at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse & Nomura. David founded 33 Capital in 2016 to invest in FinTech and e-commerce startups in Southeast Asia. Through his knowledge and experience in wealth management and venture capital, he created a tech-enabled platform that has become investors’ go-to resource for finding private investment opportunities with healthy risk-return profiles. Helicap is a Singapore-based FinTech firm providing curated and exclusive private co-investments to a wide network of accredited investors. Since Helicap’s founding, and through COVID-19, as a group, we have disbursed more than $150 million in private investment volume with zero originator defaults. Our equity backers include Japanese financial services firm, Credit Saison alongside billion-dollar asset managers PhillipCapital and Tikehau Capital, top VC firms – East Ventures and Voveo Capital. Visit: Helicap | Helicap for Investors | Sign Up
Hotspot: Private Market Investments, Private Debts & Co-Investment Opportunity
Private markets, alternative investments, private equity, venture capital, private credit, hedge funds are hot topic today. Being able to generate 10%, 20% or 30% returns on portfolio uncorrelated to market / public market is a dream come true for any investment manager, advisor, private banker, family office, professional investor or UHNW & HNW investor today. How do you access private market investments? How do you find private debts with 5% to 15% returns? What are the opportunities? How can you invest in a private debt fund? View key highlights and read the full interview below.
Key Interview Highlights with David Z Wang
On Private Market Investments, Private Debts & Co-Investment Opportunity, Investing via Helicap Platform, Helicap Flagship Fund, Career of Co-founder & Group CEO David Z Wang, Importance of Impact Investments & Philanthropy
Key Highlights
- Why private markets / private debts: Sustained high volatility in the public markets. Diversify portfolio while achieving similar or higher returns with lower volatility.
- Barrier to entry for private markets: Origination, assessment stages of investment opportunities, time, effort, expertise.
- Most Popular Helicap Product: Flagship private credit fund Helicap Fund I (diversified, income-generating lending portfolio).
- Helicap Investor Members: 4,000 investor members worldwide looking to diversify their portfolio with exposure to private debt in SEA (Accredited investors, asset managers, corporates, listed companies, family offices & HNWIs).
“ Private debt … … has become a safe haven for investors. Hence expanding quickly to becoming the leading Southeast Asia private debt investment platform is our key priority ”
- Targeted Returns: High single-digit to mid-teens per annum (different tenors, seniority, and risk-reward profiles)
- Why Helicap platform: Helicap fills a gap in the market to address the fast-growing private debt market (Other platforms: Mainly hedge funds & private equity funds)
- Helicap Credit Analytics Platform: Built by a team of former Goldman Sachs engineers. Provides an additional level of risk identification and mitigation to assess and qualify companies before they are listed on the Investor Platform
- Institutional-grade analytics: We have created our own institutional-grade analytics technology to assess the creditworthiness of a lending company quickly and accurately.
- Helicap Growing Investors: Extremely sophisticated investors such as international institutions & asset managers
- Optimal diversification: Investors with smaller investment ticket sizes should consider investing in a fund
- Why Tech platform: Difficult for private investors like ourselves to locate quality alternative investment opportunities (tech-enabled platform to become investors’ go-to partner for sourcing private investment opportunities with healthy risk-return profiles)
- Helicap Disbursed $150 million with Zero Default Record: “We aim to account for all sources of risk, from the financial performance of the investee’s business to market and macroeconomic factors … but also to structure comprehensive security packages that offer significant downside protection, given that risk management is of paramount importance in credit.”
- What investors can look forward to on Helicap Platform: Private debt … has become a safe haven for investors. Hence expanding quickly to becoming the leading Southeast Asia private debt investment platform is our key priority in the next couple of years.
- How to use Helicap Platform: Should see us as their ideal partner in finding the best deals in the private debt segment
- Recent Launch: Shorter-tenure deals of only 12-months tenor and they have been very popular.
- What investors don’t know about Helicap: It takes just 3 minutes to sign up and get access to deals! (Access to curated private debt & equity opportunities)
- Investors Preference: We build trust & engagement by meeting in person, and handling all the administration and account opening online
- Simple Advice: There is so much change happening in the world now, investors should be open to new business models, new asset classes and structures that will be relevant in the next 10-20 years
- On Impact Investing & Philanthropy: Our investment team is currently working towards launching our impact fund, the Helicap Financial Inclusion Credit Fund (HFICF)
- If You Graduate at 21 or 25 Today: Yes, I would restart my career again in the same industry. My experience in Morgan Stanley, starting in the 2008 financial crisis taught me many life skills. I enjoy building a business, investing, managing people and learning about the world. Banking and investments is the best place for all of that!
“ It takes just 3 minutes to sign up and get access to deals “
The Full Interview:
David Z Wang on Private Debts
Helicap Co-founder & Group CEO
On Private Market Investments, Private Debts, Helicap & Private Market Platforms
Helicap platform provides investors with access to institutional grade private market investments.
1. Who are the investors using Helicap platform? What type of private market investments does Helicap platform specialise in? What are the most popular or in-demand investment opportunities on the platform?
David: The Helicap platform specialises in South East Asia “SEA” private debt opportunities offering investors attractive yields on a risk-adjusted basis.
With increasing market uncertainties, one of the most popular products we are offering on our platform is our flagship private credit fund Helicap Fund I. The Fund allows investors to gain access to a well-diversified, income-generating lending portfolio targeting the alternative lending segment and offering market-neutral & stable risk-adjusted returns distributed on a quarterly basis.
Our platform has attracted over 4,000 investor members worldwide looking to diversify their portfolio with exposure to private debt in SEA. These investors are accredited investors and include asset managers, corporates, listed companies but also family offices and HNWIs.
” one of the most popular products we are offering on our platform is our flagship private credit fund Helicap Fund I “
2. Is there any minimum ticket size & typical investment range (dollar value)? Importantly to most investors, what is the expected range of returns?
David: Ticket sizes vary on a deal-by-deal basis, but typically range between USD 100,000 to USD 10,000,000, catering to a wide spectrum of investors and their respective investment preferences. Similarly, expected returns depend on the type, segment, risk profile and structure of the offered transaction, and typically range between high single-digit to mid-teens per annum. These deals have different tenors, seniority, and risk-reward profiles to address different investor preferences.
As an illustration, Helicap Fund I has historically returned between 9% to 11% per annum.
” Helicap Fund I has historically returned between 9% to 11% per annum “
3. There are a number of private market platforms available & growing in Asia, providing access to private market investments. How can investors benefit through Helicap platform? How is Helicap different from other private market platforms?
David: With sustained high volatility in the public markets, many investors are looking to allocate a portion of their investments into private markets, diversifying their portfolio while achieving similar or higher returns with lower volatility. The barrier to entry for private markets is often the origination and assessment stages of investment opportunities, requiring time, effort, and expertise. Using Helicap’s platform allows investors to leverage the significant experience of our team in both the region and in private debt throughout the investment process, from origination of deals to execution.
While other platforms have focused on investment opportunities mainly in different alternative asset classes, such as hedge funds and private equity funds, Helicap fills a gap in the market to address the fast-growing private debt market and investors’ growing demand for high-quality investments that offer an attractive yield. Helicap’s Investor Platform thus offers a variety of highly attractive and well-structured private debt and venture capital deals to investors seeking direct exposure to these asset classes.
Helicap’s Investor Platform is complemented by our award-winning Credit Analytics Platform. Helicap’s Credit Analytics Platform was built by a team of former Goldman Sachs engineers and provides an additional level of risk identification and mitigation to assess and qualify companies before they are listed on the Investor Platform. The Credit Analytics Platform is also a value-added service provided to institutional investors which invest in specific deals via Helicap Securities and want a deeper level of investment analysis and monitoring.
” The barrier to entry for private markets is often the origination and assessment stages of investment opportunities, requiring time, effort, and expertise “
Most investors are looking for allocation into private market, and achieving returns of 7%, 10%, 15% 20% etc. Perhaps, there isn’t a need to go through the entire investment universe, spending more time than needed to select investment opportunities. This year, Private Credit & Private Debts have also become really popular in Asia with higher yield for a lock-in period, especially with the early 2022 tech crash, volatility in properties, stocks & bonds, and lower expectation of returns in Venture Capital / Private Equity.
4. As an institutional investor, professional investor, family office & HNW investor, should they use only one single private market platform? And should they go direct to the underlying fund / investment opportunity, especially if they have larger investment ticket size such as $1 million, $5 million, $10 million or more?
David: Alternative investment platforms are primarily differentiated in the types of asset classes and investment opportunities they offer to investors. Investors can be expected to use platforms specialised in their asset classes of interest and build a diversified portfolio of investments.
We recognise that investors are becoming increasingly sophisticated, hence our platform now provides both direct and fund co-investment opportunities, allowing investors to have a broad spectrum to select from depending on their risk appetite and diversification strategy.
To achieve an optimal level of diversification, investors with smaller investment ticket sizes should consider investing in a fund – otherwise, it would be challenging for them to replicate a similar level of diversification. While investors with larger investment ticket sizes can also consider investing in a fund to obtain diversified exposure efficiently, they will also have a greater ability to invest in multiple direct investments to create a tailored portfolio of their liking.
” We recognise that investors are becoming increasingly sophisticated, hence our platform now provides both direct and fund co-investment opportunities “
5. You had disbursed more than $150 million with no (zero) default since founding Helicap in 2018. Are you taking lower risk for lower returns? Are you only lending to the highest quality borrowers? Is it because you are seeing some major credit risks evolving in the market, thus the focus on “zero default”? What strategy are you using to evaluate the risks and investment opportunities?
David: At Helicap, we employ a thorough risk assessment process, powered by Helicap’s proprietary Credit Analytics Platform. Our technology platform employs a rigorous credit and data analytics engine to analyse and assess millions of loan data points from origination platforms, enabling us to identify sources of risk efficiently and accurately. In our analyses, we aim to account for all sources of risk, from the financial performance of the investee’s business to market and macroeconomic factors, and more. This data-driven approach not only allows us to offer high-quality deals delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns to investors, but also to structure comprehensive security packages that offer significant downside protection, given that risk management is of paramount importance in credit.
For our platform, this allows us to identify and serve borrowers who remain under-served by banks due to the stringent criteria of traditional financial institutions.
” In our analyses, we aim to account for all sources of risk “
6. Is there a difference between Helicap early investors and the new investors? Are your early investors the most sophisticated investors since they are already familiar with private market investments?
David: Helicap’s early investors saw the benefits of a data-driven credit assessment in a segment that is still very under-served by traditional financial institutions, and some also had greater familiarity with the alternative lending space. Since day 1, we have put in place thorough due diligence processes and institutional transaction structures to maximise the risk-reward profile of the deal opportunities we offer. Over time, there has also been an increasing awareness from investors on the relevance of private investment strategies in their portfolio allocation to achieve optimal diversification and yield enhancement benefits.
Amid increasing volatility driven by the pandemic and recent macro and political issues, the relatively uncorrelated returns of private market investments we offer on our platform has thus gained interest from a diverse set of investors, including extremely sophisticated investors such as international institutions and asset managers.
” Interest from a diverse set of investors, including extremely sophisticated investors such as international institutions and asset managers “
On Helicap Founders, Raised $5 Million from Institutional Investors Tikehau Capital and PhillipCapital
Yourself (David Wang), Quentin Vanoekel & Jeremy Tan founded Helicap in 2018 as a Fintech firm to connect global investors to private investment opportunities in Asia. You had an exemplary career at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Nomura, and in 2016, founded 33 Capital to invest in FinTech and e-commerce startups in Southeast Asia.
1. Why did you and your founding team left banking / investment? And if you focus on growing 33 Capital into a boutique or leading investment manager, your life might be “easier.” Why build a fintech firm? What is your vision? What opportunities are you seeing?
David: I had a great career at global investment banks for the earlier part of my career that set a strong foundation for my future path. I left banking at 33 years old and set up 33 Capital, leading an investment into a Fintech payment company in 2016. Subsequently I joined that company as an employee and helped them to get listed. That experience made me realise how much I really enjoyed operating a Fintech business.
Also, when we started 33 Capital, we noticed that Southeast Asia had a huge shortage of credit. The region has a $500 billion credit gap that banks cannot fulfil, and non-banking financial institutions are growing rapidly. To grow faster, they needed capital.
At the same time, we realise how difficult it was for private investors like ourselves to locate quality alternative investment opportunities, we decided to create a tech-enabled platform to become investors’ go-to partner for sourcing private investment opportunities with healthy risk-return profiles.
” we realise how difficult it was for private investors like ourselves to locate quality alternative investment opportunities “
2. The private debt market is huge & growing, and you have plans to fill a $740 billion financing gap for the underbanked in Southeast Asia by deploying capital through 1,000 originator partners. This is no easy feat. What do you need to achieve this goal?
David: We have created our own institutional-grade analytics technology to assess the creditworthiness of a lending company quickly and accurately. As a result of this technology, we are able to analyse and assess millions of loan data points from origination platforms and enable our subsidiaries to deliver investors risk-adjusted returns.
During the last 4 years, our fund managers have been able to assess the creditworthiness of the companies they analyse using this technology.
” We have created our own institutional-grade analytics technology to assess the creditworthiness of a lending company quickly and accurately “
On Helicap Future Plans, Investor Insights
Recently in June 2022, Helicap announced a fund-raise of $5 million from global asset managers Tikehau Capital and PhillipCapital, with Jean-Baptiste Feat, Global Co-CIO of Tikehau Capital and Grace Tang, Executive Director at Phillip Private Equity joining Helicap advisory team. Your first fund-raise was $1.5 million in 2018 (founding year), with former Singapore Minister of State & Chairman of Nufin Data Teo Ser Luck joining your board. Cumulatively, Helicap had also completed $145 million of transactions and more than 300 investment deals. You have a growing Helicap 25 team members across different functions (Investments, Product & Technology, Business / Growth, Platform & Operations).
Helicap seems to be ready for a new chapter.
1. What are your key priorities in the next few years? Are you looking to onboard more specialised or broader range of private market investments? Are you looking to build a stronger fintech platform so that investors can access, research and allocate investment faster?
David: We are a very agile fintech platform. Our growth is driven by the needs of our investors and the direction of the market. In today’s environment, there is huge volatility and uncertainty in public markets, and therefore private equity is also affected.
Private debt, however, has become a safe haven for investors. Hence expanding quickly to becoming the leading Southeast Asia private debt investment platform is our key priority in the next couple of years. At the same time, we have a team of investment professionals and a securities business on the ground, always keeping an eye on upcoming trends and the best deals in the market.
” Private Debt … … Has become a Safe Haven for Investors. Hence Expanding quickly to becoming the leading Southeast Asia private debt investment platform is our key priority in the next couple of years “
2. For professional & HNW investors who are planning to use Helicap platform more in the future, what should they be excited about? What should they be worried about (eg. investment risk)? What should their portfolio allocation strategy be? To use Helicap platform for all their private market allocation? Or to invest on an ad-hoc basis?
David: Investors who are planning to use our Helicap platform should see us as their ideal partner in finding the best deals in the private debt segment. They trust us in our experience and expertise in this field.
” Investors … SHould See Us as Thier ideal partner in finding the best deals in the private debt segment “
Investors are becoming more sophisticated. But many HNW clients and professional investors seems to still prefer face-to-face interaction in Southeast Asia. This is inefficient for both underlying investment (raising capital / funds) and investors delaying investment decision (opportunity cost). On the flip side, investors may also be misinformed or face investment fraud if they self-allocate in private markets. And also not all investors are sophisticated, and even the most sophisticated investors can misjudge or make mistakes too.
3. Do you have any insights on this (HNW clients / Professional investors prefer face-to-face)? And how is Helicap trying to bridge this, as a Fintech firm and technology-enabled company?
David: Our interactions with investors do tell us that there is a preference for face-to-face interactions and we think that that can be bridged with technology. We build trust and engagement by meeting in person, and handling all the administration and account opening online, thus enhancing the relationship with our clients. With hybrid work arrangements now becoming even more widely accepted, companies are hiring through video chats and interviews. The key is how we incorporate this experience together with the onboarding, induction and engagement of clients on the platform. Our technology team is always looking out for new solutions on this fully complemented by our client experience team.
4. Is there something investors should know about Helicap platform that they don’t know?
David: It takes just 3 minutes to sign up and get access to deals! Registration process is fully done online, and it takes just 3 minutes to finalise the registration process and get access to curated private debt and equity opportunities on the Helicap Platform. Helicap offers, among others, senior secured loans, vetted by our in-house proprietary credit analytics platform, to a wide range of global Accredited and Institutional investors. During Covid, and through the recent market volatility, Helicap has managed to sustain the track record of 0% non-performing loans across our products.
” It takes just 3 minutes to sign up and get access to deals “
Final Words
1. If you had a chance to restart your career at age 21 / 25 again today, how would you build your career differently? Would you still choose to be in banking & investments?
David: Yes, I would restart my career again in the same industry. My experience in Morgan Stanley, starting in the 2008 financial crisis taught me many life skills. I enjoy building a business, investing, managing people and learning about the world. Banking and investments is the best place for all of that!
Of course, to be completely honest, I do dream of running a business to consumer enterprise one day, with millions of customers, given the huge and fragmented population in SEA (Southeast Asia).
” Yes, I would restart my career again in the same industry. My experience in Morgan Stanley, starting in the 2008 financial crisis taught me many life skills. “
2. The world is going through dramatic changes, not just technological & climate, but economic, social & political (supply-chain & sanctions, social unrest, political turmoil). Do you have any “simple advice” for investors today? And your thoughts on impact investment & philanthropy, which might address or alleviate some of these global issues we are facing?
David: There is so much change happening in the world now, investors should be open to new business models, new asset classes and structures that will be relevant in the next 10-20 years. To reduce volatility and uncertainty and exposure to diverse and growth regions like SEA (Southeast Asia) will be an interesting place to invest.
” There is so much change happening in the world now, investors should be open to new business models, new asset classes and structures that will be relevant in the next 10-20 years “
Both impact investing and philanthropy have their roles in addressing the wide range of global issues that require action and attention, from the climate crisis to increasing inequalities around the world. Here, impact investing presents itself as an especially significant and growing industry, showing the strengths of its scalability across both volume and time, as it generates returns for investors as well as promotes desirable outcomes for end-beneficiaries. At Helicap, we are thus actively working to include deals with impact angles on our platform, and our investment team is currently working towards launching our impact fund, the Helicap Financial Inclusion Credit Fund (HFICF).
Our fund management arm, Helicap Investments has been a signatory of the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) since May 2020, a UN-supported proponent of responsible investment initiative that shows our commitment to incorporating ESG considerations to our investment decisions. On Helicap Fund I, the potential for our portfolio originators to contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals has also been factored into our decisions. We have clearly seen the role a fund like Helicap Fund I, that provides lending capital to financial institutions, can play in extending financial inclusion in the region.
” Our investment team is currently working towards launching our impact fund, the Helicap Financial Inclusion Credit Fund (HFICF) “
This is exclusive interview on investing in private debts and opportunities on Helicap Platform with David Z Wang, Helicap Co-founder & Group CEO. David is also the founder of 33 Capital (invest in FinTech & e-commerce startups in Southeast Asia) and has more than 10 years of experience in leading financial institutions including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse & Nomura. Visit: Helicap | Helicap for Investors | Sign Up
- Click here to find out how Helicap Platform works.
David Z Wang, Helicap Co-founder & Group CEO
David Z Wang is the Co-founder & Group CEO of Helicap. Over the past decade, David has worked at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Nomura. He founded 33 Capital in 2016 to invest in FinTech and e-commerce startups in Southeast Asia. Through his knowledge and experience in wealth management and venture capital, he created a tech-enabled platform that has become investors’ go-to resource for finding private investment opportunities with healthy risk-return profiles. He was awarded Top FinTech Leader by the Singapore FinTech Association in 2019 and was a Singapore Founder Finalist for the MAS FinTech Awards in 2020. He graduated from the National University of Singapore as a University Scholar, with a semester abroad at the University of Southern California. He also holds a certification in FinTech from MIT.
Helicap is a Singapore-based FinTech firm providing curated and exclusive private co-investments to a wide network of accredited investors. Our goal is to fill a $500 billion financing gap for the underbanked by deploying capital through 1,000 originator partners in the region, with a strong financial inclusion mandate. Through our institutional-grade credit analytics technology, that churns and analyses millions of loan data points from origination platforms, we extract meaningful credit rating insights for our risk management framework. This is complemented by our fully online and MAS licensed investor deal platform, that provides co-investment opportunities to our exclusive investor base. Since Helicap’s founding, and through COVID-19, we have disbursed more than $150 million in private investment volume with zero originator defaults. Our equity backers include Japanese financial services firm, Credit Saison alongside billion-dollar asset managers PhillipCapital and Tikehau Capital, top VC firms – East Ventures and Voveo Capital. Visit: Helicap | Helicap for Investors | Sign Up
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