Event Speakers

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Kanishk Bhatia, Head of Infrastructure Investments, ARA Infrastructure Mr Kanishk Bhatia is Head of Investments, Asia, of ARA Infrastructure, responsible for origination, execution and management of infrastructure investments across Asia. Mr Bhatia also serves on the investment committee of ARA Infrastructure. Mr Bhatia has almost 15 years of global infrastructure funds and private equity experience. Prior to joining ARA, Mr Bhatia was with Hastings Funds Management, a leading infrastructure investment manager, for over 11 years. At Hastings, Mr Bhatia held various senior roles including Investment Director, Head of Asia Investments and Head of India and worked in London, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney. In these roles, he developed extensive infrastructure investment and asset management experience across different markets and sub-sectors including energy, utilities and transport. In particular, Mr Bhatia led a number of Hastings’ acquisitions and divestments including Phoenix Natural Gas, South East Water and HOCHTIEF airports (Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Athens and Sydney). He also oversaw the launch of a US$500 million pan-Asian infrastructure fund with Maybank and managed Hastings’ portfolio companies by serving as a board director. Prior to joining Hastings, Mr Bhatia was a management consultant at L.E.K. Consulting in Chicago and London, advising private equity clients investing in various industry sectors including energy and transport. Mr Bhatia completed the Investment Management Program at London Business School and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Grinnell College, USA.

Jo has been based in Asia, predominately in Hong Kong, for over 20 years. During her tenure she has held a number of senior management positions, leading sales, business development, marketing, and CRM divisions and has both built and managed large and effective regionally-located teams. After moving to Hong Kong with Morgan Stanley, Jo also worked for both HSBC and Deutsche Bank covering intermediary, buy and sell side roles and held an entrepreneurial position at Triple A Partners. She now focusses on the education environment. All these roles have had a consistent focus on the Alternative Investment industry. Jo enjoys the reputation of being capable, committed and commercial, was voted “Asia’s most influential woman in AI” and one of “The 25 most influential people in Asian hedge funds.” She is a founding member of Hong Kong’s AIMA Chapter, holds a number of Board positions, and is a Fellow of UniSIM University.

Mark Rathbone - Partner, Capital Projects & Infrastructure, Asia Pacific - PwC Mark Rathbone is PwC’s Asia Pacific Capital Projects & Infrastructure Leader, and will provide senior leadership for the South East Asia Infrastructure core team. He leads the CP&I team in Singapore and has 20 years' experience advising on a range of transactions across the infrastructure project finance and PPP market, including transactions for projects in the social infrastructure, health, land development, energy, defence, and transport sectors. Mark has been integral to the development of project commercial structures, including deriving tariff mechanisms, risk allocation and related funding solutions for large infrastructure transactions in the region, while also leading the negotiation and implementation of PPP, joint venture and concession type contracts.

Samuel is the Director and Head of Transactions for Real Estate (Asia Pacific) and Special Counsel at WeWork. Samuel is investment professional with over 15 years of investment, legal, execution and asset management experience with a focus on Real Estate investment and development in South East Asia. He has undertaken and executed transactions on an 'end to end' basis across all asset classes (mixed-use, commercial, hospitality, townships), with a strong track record and network throughout South East Asia. He was a founder of the boutique real estate fund manager Harris Hawk Advisors, and previously held roles at AEP Investment Management, Khazanah and Morgan Stanley. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Law and Finance (Distinction) from Murdoch University.