Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited Hosts its Inaugural “International Forum for Patient Capital" (“IPC”) (May 2025)
Photo 1: The inaugural IPC, hosted by the HKIC, kicked off successfully this morning.
Highlights:
This IPC brought together about 400 guests representing 80 patient capital institutions from around the world, covering 15 jurisdictions with a total AUM of over US$ 20 trillion.
The IPC created an international platform to bring together patient capital representatives from Europe, the US, Australia, Japan and the Global South including Middle East and South East Asia, curate in-depth discussion from long-term investment perspective on topics such as advanced technology, allowing direct interaction between international patient capital and projects with great cutting-edge potential, facilitating matching between investment capital and opportunities as well as knowledge sharing. This showcased the influence of the HKIC in converging and leveraging international patient capital for multilateral benefits.
Attending parties covered patient capital institutions from a wide spectrum, including sovereign wealth funds, pension plans, university endowments, family offices, and corporate venture capital entities, as well as representatives of start-up companies and investment institutions in different sectors.
(Hong Kong, 22nd May) The inaugural IPC, hosted by the HKIC, kicked off successfully this morning. About 400 representatives representing 80 patient capital institutions from around the world, covering 15 jurisdictions with a total AUM of over US$ 20 trillion attended the event. These included sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, university endowments, family offices, and corporate venture capital entities from Europe, the US, Australia, Japan and the Global South including Middle East and South East Asia, as well as representatives of start-up companies and investment institutions in different sectors.
Amid challenges of geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility, the IPC provides a platform for international patient capital investors to focus on capturing the next growth trends and investment opportunities in innovation and technology (“I&T”) and business transformation. Attending parties highlighted the positive growth momentum and opportunities in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and advantages of Hong Kong particularly the stable investment and policy environment, wide scenarios for I&T application, constant technology and products breakthroughs and innovations, and the role as international platform of Hong Kong, have provided a seamless and efficient platform for overseas, long-term investors to access and participate in global opportunities, in particular I&T opportunities relating to Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Multilateral meetings were held at the margin of the IPC to explore concrete collaboration proposals in different forms. The HKIC also announced deliverables such as (1) joining hands with Gobi Partners to set up “Patient Capital Strategic Fund” to groom the next generation I&T by way of leveraging more Patient Capital including sovereign wealth funds and matching them with tertiary institutions in Hong Kong; (2) collaborating with Lanchi Ventures to set up “Co-investment Partnership Programme” to facilitate a range of co-investment projects, with a focus on supporting Chinese technology entrepreneurs with global vision and leading technologies, and to promote the globalisation of Chinese technological capabilities; and (3) working with Gaw Capital to set up “International Strategic Expansion Platform” to accelerate the commercialisation and applications of R&D outcomes of start-ups, with the first stage focusing on Global South particularly the Middle East as the destination for expanding market and deepening development. The HKIC believes that these collaborations will facilitate the capturing of trends and opportunities, efficiently and systematically transforming the aforesaid trends and opportunities into tangible financial return and new growth momentum supporting local and regional economic and social developments, and establish good precedents for the formation of sustainable, trusted strategic partnerships which could benefit all parties concerned.
The Officiating Guests of the IPC included Mr. Paul Chan, the Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government and Ms. Clara Chan, CEO of the HKIC.
Mr. Paul Chan, the Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government, said “Technological change is reshaping the global economy at an accelerated pace, driven by the rapid emergence of new technologies and pathways. While these developments present immense opportunities, they also involve navigating uncharted waters. Patient capital, with its long-term vision, plays a pivotal role in supporting frontier innovations and fast-tracking the commercialisation of outcomes. Moreover, collaboration among international capital is essential to transform innovations and breakthroughs into tangible benefits. This Forum serves as an ideal international platform to bring together patient capital leaders from various regions, and connect them with pioneering projects. As an international financial and innovation centre, Hong Kong is committed to connecting capital, technologies and talent, and to working with our global partners to chart new pathways for innovation.”
Ms. Clara Chan, CEO of the HKIC, remarked “The IPC brings together numerous top international Patient Capital institutions, reflecting the strong demand from global long-term capital for strategic deployment amid the current technological transformation, especially during the explosive growth phase of artificial intelligence. As an international hub, Hong Kong provides an efficient platform for investors to engage deeply with cutting-edge technology enterprises, grasping trends in technology commercialisation and capital momentum. The HKIC, adhering to long-termism, is committed to building a cross-jurisdictional ecosystem, facilitating the perfect matching between Patient Capital and innovative companies. Through this platform, we look forward to establishing regular exchanges with more international capital, curating more international long-term capital to invest jointly, accelerating the growth of technology enterprises, and enabling frontier technologies to truly become the driving force behind global progress, achieving win-win development.”
The theme of the IPC is “Uniting the Power of Patient Capital, Collectively Building a Bright Future”. Speakers elaborated on considerations and choices regarding investments in frontier technology from the perspective of long-term capital. The IPC featured three sessions with respective themes: “Bright Minds, Big Impact – Let’s Invest in Innovation,” “Bridge to the World – Powering Growth of Mainland Innovation,” and “Local Roots, Global Impact.”
Participants unanimously pointed out that the rapid development and application of innovative technologies, the advantages of market digitisation, and the integration of “mechatronics” in the high-end manufacturing industry of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have greatly attracted their interest into the development of I&T enterprises in Mainland China and the Asian region. They look forward to exploring and discovering new investment opportunities more quickly through discussions and exchanges at the IPC. They also believe that HKIC’s efforts to bring together more international long-term capital will help promote more cross-jurisdictional collaboration and unlock greater potential for regional economic growth.
- END -
About HKIC
The HKIC was established and is wholly owned by the HKSAR Government. As Patient Capital, it carries a dual mandate - seeking reasonable financial return in the medium to long term through optimising the use of fiscal reserves, and leveraging its ability to guide and channel capital to build a more vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem and industry chain.
The HKIC manages HK$62 billion currently, covering the “Hong Kong Growth Portfolio”, “Greater Bay Area Investment Fund”, “Strategic Tech Fund” and “Co-Investment Fund”. At this stage, it is focusing on three key sectors, namely Hard and Core Technology, Biotech, and New Energy and Green Technology.