第三届达沃斯全球母基金峰会圆满落幕

On the afternoon of January 22, 2025, the third Davos Global FOF Summit was successfully held at Hotel Strela in Davos, Switzerland. The summit is hosted by the Global FOF Association and organized by the FOF Research Center (www.china-fof.com). As a long-awaited multilateral dialogue in the global fund of funds industry, this summit invited nearly 100 heavyweights from global fund of funds, funds and the world's leading venture capital cities to gather together to discuss the secrets of crossing economic cycles and look forward to the new direction of future development of global fund of funds, fund industry and venture capital cities.

At the beginning of the summit, Jincao Tang, president of the Global FOF Association, first delivered a welcome speech to the guests. He expressed his gratitude and welcome to all the guests for attending the summit, and shared his outlook and expectations for the development of the global FOF industry..

Nan Li Collins, Director of Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD, chair of UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges, delivered a speech entitled "Global FDI Trends in 2024 and Prospects in 2025". She summarized the trends of global foreign direct investment in 2024 and the outlook for 2025, pointing out that global FDI is expected to decline by 8% in 2024, with developed economies and developing economies declining by 15% and 2% respectively. She expects that global FDI will grow moderately in 2025, especially in the United States and the European Union, while factors such as geopolitics, trade policies, and economic uncertainty will continue to affect global FDI flows. In addition, she also emphasized that trends such as technological progress, sustainable development, and digital transformation will have an impact on FDI, and pointed out risks such as geopolitical instability and climate change. At the same time, international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are cautiously optimistic about global economic growth in 2025, but also warn of risks such as geopolitical tensions and trade fragmentation.

Keyu Jin, Professor of HKUST Business School, pointed out that unstable factors will continue to exist, and the fragmentation trend is profoundly affecting the economies and geopolitics of various countries. The current international landscape is facing a reshaping, and transaction orientations are increasingly driven by actual interests, bringing development opportunities to emerging countries. At the same time, global economies perform differently, and for some economies, high interest rates and potentially overvalued exchange rates become potential risks.

Scott Voss, Managing Director of HarbourVest delivered a speech entitled "Global Market Update", which comprehensively introduced HarbourVest's business profile, investment strategy, market and theme analysis, specific investment cases and partners, and the capabilities of the quantitative investment science team, especially HarbourVest's global layout in the private equity field. It also provided HarbourVest's in-depth insights into future market trends and investment opportunities.

Huiyao Wang, Founder of Center for China & Globalization (CCG), Former Counselor of China State Council, shared his summary of the financial industry environment in 2024. Wang Huiyao pointed out that geopolitical complexity and economic interdependence have brought opportunities and risks to countries. Through mutual investment and trade, we can pave the way for more peaceful coexistence. However, we must also remain vigilant, because economic fluctuations and changes in geopolitical alliances may cause uncertainty, which deserves our attention.

Roy Baumann, Managing Director of Partners Group, introduced Partners Group’s business profile, investment strategy, investment performance, and ESG and sustainability efforts as a leading global private market investment firm, and emphasized the advantages of its integrated primary investment strategy in maximizing return potential.

Hans-Joerg Baumann, Partner of StepStone, delivered a speech entitled "The State of Private Debt in 2025". He analyzed the current situation and future trends of the private debt market, emphasized the advantages and risks of private debt as an asset class, and StepStone Group's professional capabilities and global layout in this field.

A roundtable forum on “Trends of private investments from a global perspective” was held at the summit. Seamon Chan, Founding Partner of Palm Drive Capital, served as the host, together with guests Laurent Zylberberg, General Controller of Caisse des Depots; James Zhan, Chairman of Executive Board, World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies; Kevin Cao, Founder & CEO of AimStar Capital Group Inc; Emma Liao, Founder & CEO of Pioneer Capital & Solutions; Lynn Zhang, Partner of Shanghai Fortera Capital Co., Ltd; Kelly Liu, Partner of WestSummit Capital; Mengjie Yu, Partner of Beijing Alliance J&S Law Firm; Avinash Kaza, Previous Advisor to USAID, analyzed and summarized the changing trends of the global private equity investments in 2024, and look forward to the market development environment in 2025.

The summit also released the "List of the World's Best FOF Investment Institutions in 2024". The award ceremony was also held. The list, made by the Global FOF Association in the assistance of investment associations from Europe, the United States, the Middle East and other regions, consists of six sub-lists: TOP50 Best Performing FOFs in the world, TOP30 Most Promising FOFs in the world, TOP20 Best Secondary Funds in the world, TOP30 Most Influential FOF Investors in the world, TOP30 Best Cities for Venture Capital in the world, TOP50 Most Promising Cities for Venture Capitalin the world.

The summit was hosted by Wenxi Gong, Executive Director of UBS Switzerland AG.

On the evening of January 22, the first "Night of Finance" event was successfully held. At the event, the guests had a full and pleasant exchange, and the event ended successfully with a beautiful vision for the global financial industry.

Following 2020 and 2024, the Chinese delegation to the Davos Global FOF Summit continued to maintain the record of the largest Chinese unofficial Davos delegation. During the multi-day trip, the guests also participated in a number of events:

On the evening of January 20, the Global FOF Association held a welcome dinner in Zurich to welcome the guests attending the third Davos Global FOF Summit. The dinner ended in a cheerful atmosphere and successfully concluded with the beautiful expectations and vision of the financial industry.

On January 21, the guests attended the Davos Global FOF Summit Cloud Top Forum, which was hosted by the Global FOF Association and organized by the FOF Research Center. The theme of this forum was "Concentrating the power of FOF and embracing the new cycle of the global economy." Two roundtable forums were held respectively in the Cloud Top Forum

In the roundtable forum “Asset allocation strategy in the new cycle”, Miao Li, Managing Director of Timing, served as the host, had an in-depth discussion with guests Jigang Ren, Chairman of XFIMC; Yihong Luo, Managing Director of China Insurance INV and Vice General Manager of Beijing Subsidiary; Gloria Ai, founder of iAsk, on the adjustment of investment trends under the changes in economic cycles, and how to deal with the current global economic and financial risks and promote global economic prosperity.

In the roundtable forum "Capital Market 2.0, How WEB3 and AI Subvert the Traditional Financial Landscape", Danny Deng, Founder and Chairman of TAI GROUP, and guests Frank FX. Gong, Chairman of MINAX Global Brand Exchange; Jiangong Wang, Founder and CEO of Asiabrand; Wang Ping, Chairman of ASIA PACIFIC M&A FUND MANAGEMENT LIMITED; Yuhai Song, Co-founder of Junwei Capital; Jeff Zhang, Chairman of Zhonggu Medical Group, discussed how WEB3 and AI can subvert the traditional financial landscape.

On January 21, Jincao Tang, president of the Global FOF Association, and other guest representatives participated in the 2025 Davos-Tencent Finance Vision Dinner hosted by Tencent News and Tencent Finance, and co-hosted by Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance and the Global Economic Governance 50 Forum. At this conference, more than 30 famous scholars, business elites and politicians from home and abroad discussed the theme of "Trust and Cooperation: A New Chapter of Globalization": What changes and constants will there be in the world economy in 2025? How will the new wave of AI technology speeches reshape global competitiveness? While China's economy is stabilizing and improving, how will it further promote high-quality development in 2025? How can Chinese companies go global with innovative development? The guests at the meeting contributed their wisdom to global cooperation and high-quality development in the collision of ideas. Jincao Tang, President of the Global FOF Association, had in-depth exchanges with Michael Spencer, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, and others.

On January 21, Jincao Tang, president of the Global FOF Association, and other guest representatives participated in the "Shanghai Night" hosted by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. At the "Shanghai Night" event, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng attended the event and delivered a speech. Gong Zheng said that Shanghai will accelerate the construction of "five centers", promote stable economic growth, cultivate and develop new quality productivity, deepen high-level reform and opening up, create a world-class business environment, and create greater opportunities for global companies to come to Shanghai to develop their businesses. The event promoted key investment projects in Shanghai, and 55 heads of multinational companies and institutions from 13 countries and regions participated in the event, including 19 global chairmen or CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who participated in the whole process.

On January 21, the delegation of guests participated in a series of activities organized by Stagwell Clubhouse and CNBC, including "THE POWER OF CHANGE THROUGH ARTS AND CULTURE", "THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS THROUGH WOMEN’S SPORTS LEADERSHIP", and "CAN AI THAT IS SMARTER THAN HUMANS BE CONTROLLED?". CNBC is an American financial news channel covering the United States and Canada through cable TV, satellite TV and the Internet. It is affiliated with NBC Universal News Group under NBC Universal Group and is also a subsidiary of Comcast Group.

On January 21, guests also attended the open forum of the World Economic Forum.

On January 22, the guests attended the 2025 Davos World Brand Summit hosted by Asiabrand and MINAX, and co-organized by Eurasia Brand Evaluation Center, TAI GROUP, Global FOF Association. The summit held the release ceremony of the 2024 World Top 500 Brands and the 2024 World Top 500 Innovative Brands, and the launch ceremony of the Global Brand DAO.

On January 23, the participants visit the headquarters of UBS Group. UBS Group is one of the largest financial holding groups in Europe, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Its main businesses include investment banking, private banking, asset management, wealth management, etc.

The third Davos Global FOF Summit is another long-awaited important event for the global investment industry after the first and second Davos Global FOF Summits, which is also the opening meeting of the global fund of funds in 2025. The first and second Davos Global FOF Summits have been widely recognized by the global private equity investment industry:

On January 21, 2020, the first Davos Global FOF Summit hosted by the Global FOF Association concluded successfully in Davos, Switzerland. At the summit, the first annual list of the world's best investment institutions was released, and the founding ceremony of the Global FOF Association was successfully held. The Global FOF Association was jointly launched by 11 leading associations of equity investment and fund of funds industry from the United States, the European Union, China, etc.Kai-fu Lee, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, Guangyu Zeng, chairman of the China Committee of the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, Xiaowei Luo, consultant to the World Economic Forum in Davos and tenured professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD, Ji Bo, assistant dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and chief European representative, Bruce Ou, managing partner of GroveStreet, Felix Sutter, chairman of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Bögli, managing director of UBS Group AG, Ailian Zhu, chairman of the EurAsia Forum, and others attended the ceremony.

As the opening conference of the global fund of funds industry in 2020 and the first multilateral dialogue of the global fund of funds industry, the first Davos Global FOF Summit allows the world to hear more "Chinese voices" and witness the rise of the Chinese investment community, especially of the fund of funds industry. CCTV also reported on this summit.

On January 17, 2024, the Second Davos Global FOF Summit is successfully held in Davos, Switzerland. As the opening conference of the global FOF industry in 2024, the Global FOF Association released the "List of the World's Best FOF Investment Institutions in 2023" and held an award ceremony at the summit. People's Daily also reported on this summit.

The third Davos Global FOF Summit is not only a summary of the development of the global fund of funds industry in 2024, but will also bring new directions and impetus to the development of the industry in 2025. The future of the global fund of funds industry is promising!