TEAM PROFILE
Tony Watson – Portfolio Manager & Responsible Officer
Prior to founding Far East Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd, Tony worked LIM Advisors Limited (Asia’s oldest surviving hedge fund). There he was Senior Portfolio Manager (Asia ex-Japan High Yield), a SFC Type 9 Responsible Officer and a director on the board of their Asia Multi Strategy Fund at the time of his 2015 departure. He joined LIM in 2008 after leaving Morgan Stanley as Head of Debt Research (Asia ex-Japan). As a publishing analyst Tony variously covered industrial, mining and infrastructure debt issuers at ING-Barings in Hong Kong (2000-04) and ABN Amro–Hoare Govett in Singapore (1997-00). He was regularly ranked by Asiamoney, FinanceAsia and The Asset as one of Asia (ex-Japan)’s top 10 publishing credit analysts between 2001 and 2007. His first roles in Asia were as a Thomson Bankwatch ratings analyst in Hong Kong (1995-97) and an intern at Royal Bank of Canada’s Singapore branch in 1994.
From 2010 to 2020 Tony volunteered as a director on the CFA Society Hong Kong board, serving his final two years as its President. He was named the CFA Institute’s 2015 Volunteer of the Year and awarded their 30-year Continuing Education Milestone in 2022.
A CFA charterholder, Tony holds an MBA from University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School and a BBA from St. Francis Xavier University.
Chris Marland – Risk Manager & Responsible Officer
Joining Far East Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd in 2018, Chris previously worked for LIM Advisors Limited, a Hong Kong based hedge fund, from 2008 to 2017. There he was LIM’s Head of Central Trading and a type 9 responsible officer. Before moving to Hong Kong in 2008, Chris worked in New York-based equity and derivatives sales trader roles for Louis Capital Markets from 2000-2004, followed by Fimat in 2006-2008.
Chris is a dual Australia-UK national and holds a BA from Reading University in Reading, Berkshire, England attained in 1997.
Nelson Kan – Credit Analyst & Licensed Representative
Nelson’s decade of buy-side experience includes credit research, analytics, valuation and portfolio management across Asian emerging and frontier markets. His sector specialties include property, industrials and mining.
He was an analyst at LIM Advisors Limited prior to joining Far East covering high-yield public debt, private loans and convertible notes. There he generated bottom-up investment ideas (long and short) and identified event-driven and distressed special situations opportunities. Nelson was also the key developer of The Firm’s proprietary credit analytics research and portfolio management system.
Nelson graduated from HKUST Business School with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Economics and Finance and holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from University of London. He attained CFA and CAIA charters in 2014.
Broad Street Consultants – Fund Operational Infrastructure and Strategy
The firm is dedicated to providing operational, risk management and general business consulting services. Its principal, Sean Ripley, has 25 years of experience in financial markets including senior roles at a bulge bracket investment bank and one of Asia’s pre-eminent hedge funds. During his time at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, Sean headed an operations department responsible for the Asian Equity, Derivative and Convertibles business lines across Asia and Europe. There he subsequently become a Director and Head of Asian Convertible Bond Trading. Sean then joined LIM Advisors in Hong Kong managing an Asia Convertible Bond portfolio. He launched Broad Street Consultants in 2017.
Broad Street Consultants provides operational, risk-management, business strategy and general advisory services. Clients include equity, debt and convertible fund managers across the Asia Pacific region.
Sean holds a BA (Hons) in Business and Finance Systems from the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom and is certified by GARP as a Financial Risk Manager (FRM).
Benny Wong – Administration Officer
Benny has over 25 years of experience in operations management in both Hong Kong and Canada. He has worked at a diverse range of organizations across the finance industry. These include buy- and sell-side firms ranging in size from established financial institutions to a hedge fund startup. Benny began his career in the hedge fund industry in 2008 at LIM Advisors Limited, later contributing his expertise to several other fund houses.
As a seasoned operations professional Benny excels in managing fund operations, overseeing daily production, and leading strategic initiatives to enhance workflow scalability. He has spearheaded numerous projects, including streamlining reconciliations and implementing robust operational frameworks tailored to each organization’s needs. Systems familiarity includes: Fidessa LatentZero, SimCorp Dimension, Enfusion, Eze Eclipse, Bloomberg, OASIS, DCCASS, Omgeo CTM and ALERT.
Benny holds a Bachelor of Administrative Studies from Canada’s York University, is a CAIA charterholder and holds several certifications from the Canadian Securities Institute and Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute.