Nan Fung Group — one of Hong Kong’s oldest business conglomerates founded by legendary textile magnate Chen Din-hwa — is an enterprise of the times.
The group, now headed by former Hong Kong financial chief Antony Leung Kam-chung as chairman and CEO, has been proactively plowing investments into the field of biotechnology in recent years, and is boosting collaboration with universities across the mega Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — a turf Nan Fung has long been associated with.
To date, the company has sunk some US$1 billion into more than 50 biotech firms worldwide, covering company incubation, venture capital, growth period investment, and open market investment
Nan Fung burst onto Hong Kong’s business arena in 1954 and became synonymous with its first major private housing estate, Nan Fung Sun Chuen, in Quarry Bay. The company has always kept pace with the times in investment, Leung said. Besides developing local real estate, the group has extended its tentacles overseas, setting up investment teams in San Francisco and Shanghai, aiming for a slice of the biotechnology pie.
READ MORE: Ways to build a more liveable city
To date, the company has sunk some US$1 billion into more than 50 biotech firms worldwide, covering company incubation, venture capital, growth period investment, and open market investment.
Nan Fung is also teaming up with institutions of higher learning in the Bay Area, funding basic research on biotech, cultivating talented professionals and enhancing exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland in the sector.
ALSO READ: HK enterprises turn their sights on the Bay Area
Through investment in life science and technology, support for scientific research and talent cultivation, as well as strategic investment in healthcare through New Frontier Group of which Leung is a co-founder and chairman, Nan Fung hopes to create a unified and mutually echoing life science and healthcare ecosystem, Leung said.
Regardless of the “peaks or valleys of the times” and whether it’s on the banking, politics, education or investment battlegrounds, the veteran investor said he strives to retain his competitiveness in various fields through constant learning, reading and thinking.
Besides reading, Leung, who’s married to mainland diving superstar and multiple Olympic gold medalist Fu Mingxia and a father of two boys and a girl, treasures the time he’s spending with his family during the pandemic
Learning times have been fixed internally at both Nan Fung and New Frontier Group via seminars, case studies or “reading parties”.
As an avid reader, Leung said he had chosen three books to read along with colleagues, including The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry.
The urge came from COVID-19, which offered people the time to review and learn from the past, he reckoned. The book also helps people to understand the changes and impact a pandemic of such a scale can inflict on the community.
“Plenty of human knowledge and experience is often accumulated under these catastrophes. In history, it’s often through war, plagues and major technological advances to change the world and human history,” Leung said.
The other two books are What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence written by his former head back in Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman, and Value, that has yet to be published, by Zhang Lei, founder, chair, and CEO of Hillhouse Capital Management Group.
“They’re both top value investors. They tell their different investment and management strategies through their life and investment experience,” Leung said.
“To learn, think and embrace changes constantly is how I stay competitive and improve myself. This is also our culture and spirit at Nan Fung and New Frontier.”
Besides reading, Leung, who’s married to mainland diving superstar and multiple Olympic gold medalist Fu Mingxia and a father of two boys and a girl, treasures the time he’s spending with his family during the pandemic. “My three children are in their adolescence. They’re more comfortable and willing to talk to me. I now have more time to spend with the kids. We go hiking, watch videos online and play video games together.”
Leung’s grateful Hong Kong is a relatively safe place with a sound medical system. “I’m grateful that I’m healthy, and can be with my family and friends in this crisis. Being grateful is my biggest inspiration at this time.”
