The Class of 2000 -- where are they now? Part 4

Paul Kelly

ING BARINGS - Craig Duffy and Paul Kelly

Then: Co-heads of Asia equity capital markets, Hong Kong

Now: Head of Asia equity origination, Citi, Hong Kong (Crig) and Gardener and Shopkeeper, Aubeterre, France (Paul)

Paul Kelly has no regrets about leaving the financial markets. He handed his notice in, as he always said he would, on the day he woke up and dreaded going into work -- one day in Hong Kong shortly before Christmas 2002. Since then he has built what can only be described as a bucolic life for himself, his wife and his twin boys in France. The boys attend a school of only 16 children and his wife Eve runs a small shop in the South Charente stocked with interior decorations she collects on her global travels.

"I'm writing this sitting in our little shop (no "8" of course) overlooking a beautiful square in an exceedingly pretty little village," he said. "It's very calm and blissfully quiet after the madness of Hong Kong. And if I'm not in the shop, you'll find me in our enormous garden, tending to the flowers, shrubs and my five vegetable patches. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase gardening leave, though mine's permanent."

But he remains an avid reader of the financial press and lists finance at number three among his hobbies, behind gardening and enjoying the fine wine collection he stores in a specially designed wine room converted from an old stable in the courtyard of his maison de maitre.

"I do miss Hong Kong," he added. "It was a great place to live and work and I spent 13 wonderful years at Barings, later ING."

And his favourite deal? He cites an $800 million government sell-down in Korean electricity company, Kepco. "It was one of the deals which helped re-open the Asian equity markets after the crisis," he recalled. "It was an important deal, extremely well received, priced around parity and traded up, so everyone was happy."

Craig Duffy

Craig Duffy

One thing that Craig Duffy shares in common with his long-term friend and former colleague is an extremely dry wit. When asked how long he's now been at Citigroup, his reply is, "seven years, though it feels like 20."

"Actually I lie," he added. "I still love doing deals and I love doing deals in Asia. There are nine different markets here and each deal is that little bit different from the next. It doesn't feel like New York or London where it's more of a cookie cutter approach."

And he attributes the same rationale to life in Asia as well. "The way we live and work here is different too," he said. "When people leave the office in New York, they shut the door on work. Here work and pleasure are mixed together and it helps keep life interesting."

A long-term Asian resident, Duffy arrived in the region in the mid-1990s and joined Citigroup towards the end of 2003. He cites Maxis as his favourite IPO from his time at ING Barings and Indika Energy's while at Citi, plus the equity-linked deals he's done for Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and Singapore's Ascendas Reit.

"Tata Motors is a client we've done multiple convertibles for," he said. "I really enjoy working with Indian clients. They're sharp, intelligent and sophisticated."

And he agrees with what everyone else on this list also says: Asia is now a big revenue earner for banks' global P&Ls. "That's what has changed over the past decade," he asserted. "Everyone is moving more people here. It's where the growth is."


LEHMAN BROTHERS - Will Bowmer

Then: Head of Asia equity capital markets, Hong Kong

Now: Head of technology equity capital markets, Barclays Capital, California

Will Bowmer is the man who led the IPO for Chinadotcom, whose equity investment in FinanceAsia enabled us to create the website you're reading today. As one of the foremost ECM bankers in Asia during the late 1999s, Bowmer was right at the heart of the tech boom and 10 years on, he still can't quite believe the heights to which it briefly soared. "Chinadotcom's $500 million Nasdaq listing was the deal which really kicked off the trend," he commented. "By the end, even solid conglomerates like Cheung Kong got caught up in it -- creating and then spinning off companies like Tom.com."

But it is his work in Taiwan, which he remembers most vividly. Particularly UMC (United Microelectronics Corp), for which Lehman was practically the house bank. "I feel very proud of all the deals we did for them," he reflected. "It was great helping them to finance their move up the technological curve to become a global leader in the semiconductor industry."

Bowmer first arrived in Asia in 1990 and after a brief stint as a lawyer, became an investment banker in 1994, joining Lehman in 1997. "There were a lot of firsts back then," he continued. "I worked on the first convertible out of Thailand and the first out of Indonesia. The markets had a very different feel back then."

And while he loves being based in Menlo Park, he still comes back to Asia once a quarter. "What I really love about this region is the friendships you make," he said. "I don't know whether it's the constant travel, but you become much closer to your work colleagues here and there's a great sense of camaraderie."

And he feels the business has shifted. "These days, 90% of my travel is to China. It was never like that before. But I guess we're all following the capital flows."


MERRILL LYNCH - Aj Rahman

Then: Co-Head Asia investment banking and head of Asia equity capital markets, Hong Kong

Now: Private equity investor, London

Meeting Aj Rahman for coffee in the London "village" of Barnes where we both now live, feels a world removed from Hong Kong where we both once lived. 

Rahman says his life has more balance now, though it still involves a lot of travel overseeing the 15 companies in which he's now invested.

"Being a private equity investor gives you a totally different perspective on how businesses work," he explained. "You very quickly learn to spot which management teams have what it takes." Key, he said, is a great idea and flexibility in executing it. "The path to success is rarely what was envisaged in the original business plan."

Most of his investments are in the US and include Rainbow Rewards, a merchant funded customer card loyalty programme; Oneworld Energy, a Canadian wind and solar power producer and operator; ourstage.com, a music comparison site that's partnered with MTV; and Spatial View, a company that makes 3D covers for laptop computers enabling users to immerse themselves in 3D games.

It's a big departure for a man who had previously spent his entire career at Merrill Lynch. He joined from university and sat on the bank's Asia ECM desk in London before moving to Hong Kong and taking over as head of Asia ECM in the mid-1990s.

"When you think of all the deals we did a decade or so ago, it was just the beginning for China," he said. "In fact even five years ago, it was still the beginning. There are still huge volumes to happen from that market."

One of the high points of his time in Hong Kong was the $3 billion exchangeable Merrill Lynch executed for Hutchison Whampoa in 2000. The deal was awarded by FinanceAsia as the Equity-Linked Deal of the Year and it netted the bank $50 million in gross fees.

The low point was Sars. "It was a tough time," he recalled. "People forget just how unsettling it was. We were lucky. It could have gone on for months, or repeatedly flared up over a number of years."

This article continues on page two.

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