July’s Player of the Month is Chris Freund, 36, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mekong Capital, the first private-equity firm to be headquartered in Vietnam. Mr. Freund is a pioneer in the business of capital management in Vietnam, a country whose past has been plagued by incessant inflation, poor working capital, and decades of strict communism. However, today Vietnam is one of the countries leading the way in Asia with cheap labor, a talented workforce, and very strong growth. Vietnam’s economy grew 24% in 2007 and is up over 20% for the year so far, which is booming since its stock market opened in 2000. The run in Vietnam’s economy has allowed players like Mr. Freund to benefit from Vietnam’s numerous enterprises with strong balance sheets and good management by injecting capital in the business in the hopes of taking it public within a period of time.
Known for his knack for risk-taking, Mr. Freund is a veteran in the sphere of Asia’s private-equity circle. He has been in Vietnam since 1995 when he arrived to build a new Vietnam fund for Franklin Templeton Investments. In 1997 the Asian Market Crisis sent Mr. Freund back to Singapore; however he didn’t sit out for long and has been running Mekong since 2001. Mekong is currently in control of three different funds, totaling over $160 million, and has taken majority stakes in some of Vietnam’s most profitable businesses. Since 2006, private-equity funds and venture capitalists have pumped roughly $386 million into Vietnam, which is small by global standards, but huge for the country and its relatively underprivileged inhabitants.
When I contacted Mr. Freund, I received worthy and inspiring advice; he told me to follow my heart, take risks, but most of all never give up. This meant a lot coming from someone who is revolutionizing business in Asia, fuelling the Vietnamese economy with his capital and management skills, and has certainly taken risks to get here. Mr. Freund was inspired by the potential in Vietnam when he visited on a trip from India, where he was studying abroad as a college student at UC Santa Cruz. Since then, Mr. Freund has been thrown a few curve balls in Vietnam such as corrupt accounting practices and steady inflation, however his composure allows him to come to grips with the fact that good things take time.
Find out more about Mr. Freund and Mekong Capital by visiting their website: http://www.mekongcapital.com/
Known for his knack for risk-taking, Mr. Freund is a veteran in the sphere of Asia’s private-equity circle. He has been in Vietnam since 1995 when he arrived to build a new Vietnam fund for Franklin Templeton Investments. In 1997 the Asian Market Crisis sent Mr. Freund back to Singapore; however he didn’t sit out for long and has been running Mekong since 2001. Mekong is currently in control of three different funds, totaling over $160 million, and has taken majority stakes in some of Vietnam’s most profitable businesses. Since 2006, private-equity funds and venture capitalists have pumped roughly $386 million into Vietnam, which is small by global standards, but huge for the country and its relatively underprivileged inhabitants.
When I contacted Mr. Freund, I received worthy and inspiring advice; he told me to follow my heart, take risks, but most of all never give up. This meant a lot coming from someone who is revolutionizing business in Asia, fuelling the Vietnamese economy with his capital and management skills, and has certainly taken risks to get here. Mr. Freund was inspired by the potential in Vietnam when he visited on a trip from India, where he was studying abroad as a college student at UC Santa Cruz. Since then, Mr. Freund has been thrown a few curve balls in Vietnam such as corrupt accounting practices and steady inflation, however his composure allows him to come to grips with the fact that good things take time.
Find out more about Mr. Freund and Mekong Capital by visiting their website: http://www.mekongcapital.com/
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