Chavalit Frederick TsaoChairman
IMC Pan Asia Alliance GroupChavalit Frederick Tsao is the Chairman of IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group (IMC Group).
He is the fourth generation to embark on his maritime career when he joined his family business at twenty years old. He ventured out on his own whilst serving IMC Group of companies, which roots can be traced to 1906. He started several companies, listed and then delisted two companies, and turned around a bankrupt Thai national shipping line successfully. At 37, he took over the helm from his father, Tan Sri Frank Tsao.
Under his stewardship, he restructured the traditional shipping company into a global enterprise with diverse business interests in more than 15 countries. Today, the IMC Group has interests in four strategic business areas:
- IMC Industrial, a leading integrated maritime and industrial solutions provider in dry bulk shipping, industrial logistics, chemical transportation, shipyard and marine engineering, offshore assets and services, consumer logistics and palm oil plantations;
- Heritas Capital Management, an investment and fund management group;
- Octave Institute, a sustainable living lifestyle and real estate group; and
- AITIA Institute (AI) is a not-for-profit organization, that offers quality research based and personalized corporate programmes ready to tackle a spectrum of challenges faced by businesses.
Mr Tsao founded Family Business Network Asia, a regional chapter of Family Business Network International to promote sustainable family business. He believes that family business can make a difference to the evolution of business in the new role of business in society. He holds dual positions as the Permanent Honorary President and Chairman, Ambassadors’ Circle, Family Business Network International.
Mr Tsao graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Science in Engineering (Industrial and Operations Engineering) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering (Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering).
Loh Niap JuanGroup Chief Corporate Officer
IMC Pan Asia Alliance GroupAs Group Chief Corporate Officer for the IMC Group, Niap is responsible for developing, steering and ensuring SBGs’ alignment to IMC Group’s corporate strategy. In partnership with IMC Group’s shareholders and SBG leaders, he manages IMC Group’s Investment Portfolio through optimization, diversification and innovation; and is also responsible for steering the People and Organisation (P&O) development. In his role, Niap plays a key role in enhancing IMC Group’s governance and performance management frameworks.
Niap brings with him more than 20 years of experience as a finance professional and more than 10 years as a C-suite executive in GLCs, privately-owned enterprises and multinational companies. In the course of his career, he has helmed teams in various functions including Finance, Human Resources, Corporate Communications, Legal, Operations, Information Technology, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Development and Strategy.
Niap graduated with a First Class honours degree in Accountancy from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and trained in the London office of Deloitte and Touche. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW).
Chik Wai ChiewExecutive Director / Chief Executive Officer
Heritas Capital Management Pte. Ltd.Wai Chiew has over 20 years of experience in global investment management and strategic business development, having been active in leading various companies on transformational growth strategies, fund raising and M&A. In his previous roles at Temasek and other funds, he has led and managed investments across multiple industries and geographies. Given his passion in building disruptive new ventures, he thoroughly enjoyed commercializing biomedical and engineering deep tech ventures from Singapore’s public research institutes while at A*Star, and also co-founded an advanced technology accelerator supported by the Singapore government.
Since joining Heritas Capital, Wai Chiew has expanded its private equity investment portfolio and initiated venture capital and fund-of-funds investments into healthcare, education and technology sectors globally. In line with Heritas’ “do well, do good” investment philosophy, he has overseen the integration of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into its investment processes. Wai Chiew also actively serves as a director on multiple boards and as an advisor on various investment advisory committees to advocate sustainable growth and sound governance.
Wai Chiew was awarded the Glaxo-EDB scholarship and holds a BA in Economics from Cambridge University, UK; MA from Yale University, USA; and completed his EMBA (conducted in Mandarin) from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China. He has also served as Honorary Treasurer with the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SVCA), and currently serves as a member of its ESG committee.