Victor Liu – Managing Director, Jebsen Capital
A 20+ years Formula 1 fan who strives to strike a balance among strategy, speed, and sustainability to achieve optimal results
To a non-fan, Formula One may simply look like a bunch of speeding cars racing in circles towards the finish line. But F1 is so much more sophisticated than that. Behind the main event are tons of preparation and a dedicated group of people pitching in time and talent to put on a winning show.
Tasked to drive Jebsen’s newest growth “engine”, Jebsen Capital (JCap) is like an F1 team in many ways. Since joining as its Equity Portfolio General Manager in March 2020, I knew that I was going to be part of an exhilarating ride, where various operational strengths come together to drive results.
I had a great start getting to know the JCap team and relevant cross-functional departments during my first year at the Hong Kong office. My helpful colleagues and positive team dynamics gave me the confidence to explore and manage investments in the Chinese mainland. This exposure, in turn, has been helpful as I also became responsible for overseeing Group-level strategic projects in the region.
Succeeding in the strategic investment business requires a great deal of diligence. As a team, we patiently studied the market, conducting surveys and interviewing as many people as we could to gain insights into the risks and opportunities of our potential targets. But just like an F1 driver, we could not win just by knowing how to drive fast. We also have to rely on the skills of our very own team of mechanics, engineers, physical trainers, and strategists to keep us performing optimally at all times.
I am grateful to Jebsen for championing this culture of diversity in the organisation, including within the JCap team. With each member bringing various backgrounds and experiences, such as consulting, auditing, operations, and marketing, among others, we are able to tap into different perspectives when evaluating investment opportunities.
Such an open and collaborative culture has enriched the way we work. To date, our team has successfully secured a total of three investments in the Chinese mainland, with one—Tikin Media—being a milestone achievement for JCap. Despite the travel restrictions posed by the pandemic, we were able to remotely close the deal, making Tikin Media JCap’s first direct investment in a purely Chinese company.
Today, all our investments are performing well, thanks to the continued dedication of the whole JCap team, as well as the support of the Jebsen Group senior management. Besides starting to see promising trends across these investments, we have also initiated partnerships between them and the Group’s business lines, such as successfully placing advertisement for our newly opened Porsche city workshop on the Tikin Media platform. The same also goes for StorHub, our another investment on the mainland.
While there are reasons for us to celebrate our initial achievements now, we know that there would be much more challenges down the road. But being thorough in our work, focusing on strategically relevant choices, and leveraging our diverse strengths have enabled us to steer forward with confidence. I know that there will be more to learn from this journey, and I am just excited to score more progress points and see how much farther we can go and grow together!