Tak-Wai Tse - Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Advisory, Greater China at Rothschild & Co

0:06Tak-Wai Tse: Hi, my name is Yen Peng and welcome to another episode of the LSE Focal Point podcast. We are delighted to be joined by Tak-Wai Tse, Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Advisory Greater China at Rothschild & Co. in Hong Kong. He began his career as an M &A banker in Morgan Stanley in London in 2002 and relocated to the Hong Kong office in 2011, where he covered corporate and private equity clients. He joined Rothschild & Co. in 2018 and has over 24 years of investment banking experience. He holds a Master's of Science degree in Business Administration from Erasmus University, Rotterdam and also attended a Masters of Finance program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

0:59Tak-Wai Tse: Welcome to the podcast, Takwai. Thank you, Yan Peng. Great to join this wonderful podcast and thanks for having me today. Great. To start things off, from studying in the US to working in London and now Hong Kong, three of the world's leading financial centers, could you please walk us through your journey and what drew you to each place? Thanks. I grew up in the Netherlands and after my studies at Rotterdam in the US, I started in investment banking in London. After about 10 years in London, I had the opportunity to relocate to Hong Kong, where I currently reside for the past 15 years. And what drew me to these cities is definitely a high degree of energy, the career opportunities available, really professional talent.

1:49I met a lot of great friends throughout the years in these two cities. And also more on the social part, culture, sports, arts. And last but not least, obviously great restaurants in both locations. In my current role, I get to travel quite extensively, which I find extremely rewarding.

2:10Tak-Wai Tse: Great, thank you. And you shifted from Morgan Stanley to Rothschild. Could you tell us a bit more about the difference between the two banks and give us some insight into your decision-making process? Sure. I'll start telling you a little bit about how I got into investment banking. During my studies, I read a lot about mergers and acquisitions. I was particularly interested in the telecommunications sector. And as back in the late 1990s, there was a wave of telecom consolidation in Europe. So I was very lucky to join the Morris Stanley Summer Analyst Internship Program in the TMT team at the tail end of the dot-com era.

2:53That was in end of 2001, actually. Since then, I moved on to different roles within the firm and relocated to Hong Kong in 2011. In 2008, in Hong Kong, there was a very exciting opportunity to take what I've learned before and help further build and strengthen Rothschild's and Co's China team. So currently I'm needing that effort. You asked me about similarities or differences. I think both Rothschild & Co. and Morrissey are both very, very great firms with great reputation. Whilst their roots and origins may differ. One obviously very much a US origin based and the other one, Rothschild & Co.

3:31very much with European roots. I find that there's actually quite a lot of similarities between the two. There's a lot of common in terms of focus on clients, putting clients first, treating people respectfully, nurturing and supporting career development, especially young professionals. And both firms have a really amazing culture and very smart and talented people. And I'll tell you a little bit of an anecdote. In my first week at Morrissey, more than 24 years ago, I was taught the important model of doing first-class business in a first-class way. which to this day, I still am a very great believer of that motto.

4:12At Rochelle, which has a longer history, more than 200 years of advising clients, you can imagine that with such a rich history and importance of upholding integrity, reputation, taking a long-term view, etc. This is the trust and the reputation element and integrity are very core to what we do day to day. Just to give an example, in Hong Kong, in addition to doing corporate M &A and financing work, we actually advise government and government-linked companies in their strategic decision-making as well. Great.

4:49Tak-Wai Tse: So it seems like client-centricity remains a core part of Morgan Stanley and Rothschild. You talked a bit more about the different roles you have experienced in both banks. Could you tell us a bit more? Absolutely. I think when you start as a junior banker, in my case at Morris Valley, I was in the M &A department. Given my language skills and location and my upbringing, I spent quite a lot of time in the Netherlands doing corporate M &A, doing financings, helping Dutch corporate clients. But my experience and opportunity expanded quite a lot. So I spent quite a lot of time in Germany, in the Nordics, and in some occasions in the UK as well as France during deals as well.

5:32So they gave me a pretty good experience and platform working across different countries within Europe in the M &A field. I see.

5:43Tak-Wai Tse: Great. And could you walk us through the different SKU sets that you had to pick up at the different phases of your banking career? I think if you look at the different stages of a banker's career, as a junior professional, it's very key to develop the skills that allows you to really contribute to what you do in a very efficient and effective way. Some things that you've learned in university may or may not be transferable to what you do in your first year on the job. Think about in investment banking, financial modeling, company and sector research analysis. due diligence, deal structuring, those are important aspects of the job that you may or may not have some affinity or some experience during university life.

6:30So it's important for junior bankers to come in and be very open-minded and really take the job in hand, right, to learn as much as possible, ask a lot of questions, and really hone your skills. This is the time in the first few years of the job to hold these skills and get really good at it, right? Because that's where you can make a difference in the deal to your team and towards your client as well. I also think in the first few years, your learning curve is the steepest. That's all in your, I would say, your toolkit, right? Your arsenal to bring forward in your career as well.

7:05Tak-Wai Tse: I think when you then graduate and go through to a mid-level, a banker, associate, vice president type of level, then project management, handling several clients, handling several work streams on several projects will be important. So the multitasking aspect of it becomes more important. There will be more requirement for the banker to be interacting with clients more and also important to give guidance, right? And give the right help for the junior team in various work streams. So at that level, I think most people would expect a safe pair of hands and starting to develop presentation skills and some commercial or client relationship skills as well.

7:55I want to get to more, in my view, executive director, managing director level, obviously building client relationships, helping to win mandates, providing sound and thoughtful advice, and obviously be able to back it up through execution. that's becoming more and more important. So in my role as heading the franchise here for Greater China for Rochelle & Co., my additional responsibility is obviously thinking about the strategy and how we can grow and build a platform going forward for Greater China. Great, that was really helpful.

8:29Tak-Wai Tse: You also placed in top banks throughout your career, starting right out of university. What do you think gave you an edge early on and what advice would you give to current students? I think the first thing is really develop a passion for the industry, whether it's investment banking or something else that you're applying for, or you're going to spend a lot of time on. If you take investment banking, they generally recruit from a very diverse mix of universities and students and studies. But I would say it's important to have a passion for business, companies, and always affinity and interest to work with financials and numbers.

9:06I would leverage, truly leverage the campus recruiting channels that you have. Talk to as many recruiters that come on the campus or people from the industry or from the company. Keep up on the news, read a lot and do a lot of research. There's obviously many AI tools as well. And I think probably the most interesting way to get close is obviously getting an internship and try to do well there. I think it's a very simple thing to talk about passion. It sounds sometimes a bit cliche, but it's very fundamental to your personal motivation and also for your own career development going forward. That's point number one.

9:47Point number two, I would think really around striving for excellence. Preparation is really key. We interview a lot of people throughout the year and we can normally pick out the candidates who are well-prepared versus the one who are not as well-prepared then as the former group. So preparation and some of the stuff that I mentioned just now on doing research, talk to a lot of people in the industry. That's important to do well in terms of preparation. If you're doing an internship, the same thing, ask questions, do a lot of research, read up, meet as many people as possible during the internship for you to really get a handle of what is it like to really work the company and do I fit there and vice versa.

10:30I think the third thing is stay curious. Remain team to learn, ask questions, take good notes. Nothing, especially as a junior professional, nothing is really seen as a bad question or a stupid question, right? So nothing groundbreaking here, but hopefully a good reminder for those interviewing today and going through this whole internship cycle.

10:50Tak-Wai Tse: So definitely staying passionate about markets and the work in general. What's one thing you took a long time to learn in investment banking? And is something that you wish someone taught you early on?

11:08I think the importance of mentorship and why I say that is different banks will have a different mentorship program. But I think it's important for you, for anybody and also for myself at the time to develop and a good relationship, but also seek out people that could help you, that are interested to help you, and that are willing to invest in you as well. This could be through a formal mentorship program or informally that you seek out. So I wish I knew that a little bit earlier in my internship or my endless days, but over the years, I've been extremely lucky to found a few mentors within the two firms.

11:54Many of them became good friends as well. And it gave me a lot of guidance, whether it's career, whether it's relationships, whether it's client relationships, or whether it's just things in life. Great.

12:06Tak-Wai Tse: And having spent years working alongside some of the most successful and intelligent people in finance, what would you say sets them apart? Yeah, in my many years, I've come across many successful and talented professionals in banking, in law firms, consulting firms, clients throughout the years as well. And what really sets them apart are a few things. I think one is definitely integrity and honesty. As mentioned before, especially in our line of business, trust and reputations are most important things. I would say life, in work, life. It's critical. for building long-term relationships. It's critical to get repeat business.

12:51And it's important to uphold of that because reputations are built over many years but can be lost in an instance, so to speak. So integrity, honesty, I think focus is very important. The very successful people in finance do what they are good at. They focus, they explain very well to clients and colleagues what they do and what they do well and how they can add value and they stick to that. That doesn't mean that over a long career you cannot pivot, but in terms of explaining what the value add, what the service and why that advisor with that law firm, with that consulting firm should be hired and in particular that lead partner should be hired is quite critical in that effort as well.

13:40Three, I think, communications. I think effective way of communicating whether it's deal-related aspects or problems and solutions. But I think on the other hand, also listening. I think that's a bit of a lost art, I would say, in this day and age. It's listening carefully. Read the body language sometimes in the room. What is the client saying? What are colleagues saying? Listen very carefully. And try to put yourself in the shoes of the other party as well. What is their motivation? What are they thinking? and hopefully you can be part of a solution or part of a team in doing so. I think the fourth thing I would say is very successful people that I've come across in my career are extremely critical in terms of their self-assessment as well.

14:25So from time to time, obviously we in every firm we have this 360 degree evaluation process mid-year and year, et cetera, et cetera. But the truly impressive people that I've come across are very critical on what they do well, what worked well, what did not work well for them. Where are they in their stage of their careers? They're actively managing careers as well. And as I mentioned, I was very lucky to have a few mentors along the years that gave me very good career life advice as well. And I said this to my kids the other day, even the most successful sports athletes in the world have coaches and mentors.

15:08So why? So in the, we take that concept to heart as well. I think one, one small practical tip is with which I learned a lot of years is write thank you notes. Someone told me about it a long time ago. It's very straightforward, but people tend to appreciate that you thank them for their time of the meeting or a coffee chat or something like that. It could be a simple email or a text message. People tend to remember that and appreciate the effort of their son.

15:38Tak-Wai Tse: Great, thank you. And 24 years in investment banking is remarkable. Could I ask you what kept you going through the toughest stretches? Yeah, I had a lunch meeting with a client today and we had a long discussion on the macro economy, geopolitics, all the fluctuations in the oil price, stock price, stock markets, or exchange. uncertainty around the interest rate policy of central banks, AI, technology disruption. It was a very long list of kind of trends and things that could impact business. And what we concluded is that complexity and volatility in the business world will remain and will not go away.

16:24And I think that makes investment banking extremely exciting because we're in the important junction between sources of capital on one hand and users of capital on the other hand. So our industry, independent advice remains extremely relevant. And I think that is, like I said, making my job extremely exciting. And that keeps us going, right, to chase the next deal or work with the next client on something important. Great.

16:53Tak-Wai Tse: And the Hong Kong IPO market has performed exceptionally well in 2026 Q1 with an increase of 489 % in funds raised compared to the previous year. Could you give us some insight on why this has been the case? Yeah, I think given a geopolitical environment, I think there is, especially this year, what I've been hearing from a lot of asset managers, private equity funds and other clients, a very clear reallocation of capital to Asia. partly because some people may think Asia, especially the China market, was oversold in the last few years. You look at the historical P, multiple, even Donald, also companies in the China market.

17:42Hong Kong market has been at a very, very low level historically and also compared to Europe and even more so with the US in terms of a gap. I think it's very clear that asset managers, fund managers are rethinking their allocation strategy globally. And with what I just mentioned around lower valuation in China, there's an opportunity for them to make returns here in this part of the world. Part of that capital reallocation to Asia, especially China, is helpful, right? You've probably seen the last year, because IPO volumes in China and Hong Kong has reached very very healthy level i think hong kong has i've seen the statistics correctly in terms of ipo capital raised with equal nyiz as well as at nest there together and i think obviously if you look at the trends it's mainly mainland chinese companies seeking a secondary listing or first time listing in hong kong and raising capital and that's predicated of zero growth and there are certain sectors that have been extremely benefiting from this trend, especially in robotics, AI, biotech that's been raising capital in the past 24 months, I would say.

19:02Tak-Wai Tse: Great. Could you also tell us about a memorable deal that you worked on?

19:10So last year, we actually helped a private equity firm out of China, and we advised them on two buy sites in Europe. One is a company called Marshall, which is a very beautiful audio speaker brand based in Stockholm. And the other one is Golden Goose, which is a fashion sneaker business that we helped China publicly buy. At the same time, we worked for a Hong Kong co-loan in selling their bowling stock business in the UK as part of a disposal program for them. So I think cross-border remains an extremely important M &A trend for us. And hopefully we'll do many more of them in the next few years.

19:58Great.

19:58Tak-Wai Tse: And finally, on a more personal note, how has your definition of success changed over the years, both professionally and personally? Yeah, it sounds pretty safe, but life is more than just work. So finding a balance between work and life is mostly extremely important. But I would try to imagine and put myself back in the shoes as a student and thinking about career is that because your career is going to be, at least the first few years, such an important part of your daily lives. It's important to find a place that you feel extremely encouraged and have room to grow, where your contribution is appreciated.

20:44I talked about passion earlier, and I think that's something that in your early career, you need to figure that out. That doesn't mean that you cannot change or pivot, but I think it's very important to stay very true to yourself. And ask yourself every, so often, every month, every six weeks to say, what have I learned? What can I do better? Am I enjoying this? What type of deals or projects or type of work? Would I like to do more in the future and just be very true to yourself? Because that's how you can improve and move up in terms of skill set and career development. At the same time, I also think it's very important to invest in yourself.

21:28Not only just a career skill set that I just talked about before, financial marketing, investment banking, etc. But also, I think reading, travel, take care of your health, working out, spend time investing in relationships with family, friends, colleagues, clients. Those are all important parts of where you're about to be and who you are today.

21:49Tak-Wai Tse: Great. This brings us to the end of today's episode on the LSE Focal Points podcast. Thank you so much, Thakwai, for joining us. It has been a privilege to hear your reflections and learn from your expertise. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. We hope you found this conversation as eye-opening as I did. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and stay connected for more discussions with leaders around the world.