SPAC investment is a hot topic in today’s stock market. In 2020 alone the SPAC IPO proceeds doubled the previous four years combined, and 2021 is on pace to exceed 2020. What is SPAC and why it is so popular? What are current trends and what you need to know about investing in SPAC? At this TCFA event, we invite three senior investment professionals to help address these questions and concerns.
Panelists (in the alphabetical order by last name)
Dajiang Guo, Partner, Tiger Broker. Dr. Dajiang Guo is currently a Partner at Tiger Broker, developing institutional securities business of investment banking and sales trading. Prior to that, Dr. Guo was Partner at China Bridge Capital, Chief Strategy Officer at China Renaissance, main responsibilities include strategic planning, international expansion, and strategic investments. He was CEO of CITIC Securities International USA, COO at CITICS Investment Banking Division and Head of CITICS Strategy and Planning. He also held several executive positions at CICC HK/US. Before venturing into cross border financial services, Dr. Guo worked more than ten years for Citigroup Global Markets, RBS Greenwich Capital Markets, and the Centre Re of Zurich Financial Services, specializing in securitization and derivatives business. He taught as assistant professor at the College of Insurance and the University of Guelph, published many academic articles in peer-reviewed financial journals. Dr. Guo received his Ph.D. in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto, MA from York University, also studied economics and management at Tsinghua University, and is a CFA charterholder.
Jeff Zhang, Partner, Orrick. Jinsong (Jeff) Zhang, a partner in Orrick’s Beijing and New York offices, is a trusted advisor to international and Chinese investors and corporates on their transactional, regulatory and compliance matters. His work spans a variety of industries, including financial services, technology (automotive technology and mobility, life sciences, and Fintech), as well as energy and infrastructure. Jeff’s practice focuses on China-related inbound and outbound mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions. He has extensive experience with share and asset acquisitions, growth capital and buyout transactions as well as tender offers, privatizations, restructurings, spin-offs, strategic alliances and joint ventures. Prior to joining Orrick, Jeff was a partner at the New York office of an international law firm. Earlier in his career, Jeff practiced in New York, Hong Kong, and mainland China with two major international law firms, and also served as the Head of Legal and Compliance of the U.S. operations of a leading Chinese investment bank, where he gained tremendous experience in helping Chinese clients navigate regulatory and compliance issues in the U.S.
Christine Zhao, Director & CFO of Edoc Acquisition Corp, a Nasdaq-listed healthcare-focused SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), and Director & Audit Committee Chair of D&Z Media Acquisition Corp., an NYSE-listed SPAC focused on media and ed tech. Board member of Nasdaq listed biopharma company BeyondSpring Inc.(Nasdaq: BYSI) and fintech company Urban FT. Venture Partner at YuanMing Capital, a cross-border VCPE fund. Most recently as Global Chief Financial Officer for Whittle School and Studios, a global for-profit private education enterprise based in New York, backed by large PEs and endowment. Previously she was the Group CFO for Best Inc., a pre-IPO unicorn company in China with valuation over $3bn (now NYSE listed: BEST) and major investors including Alibaba, Softbank, Goldman, IFC, among other large PE funds. Prior to this, she was a Managing Director in Bank of America Merrill Lynch and an Executive Director in JPMorgan, where she held senior positions in HQ and global corporate and investment banking units, across a broad spectrum of functional areas including Treasury, liquidity products, capital management, risk management and regional CFO/COO in transaction banking and corporate banking units. She also worked at American Express in various capacities including corporate strategic planning and venture investing in payment solution space. Early in her career she worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and in corporate finance/corporate development at FedEx. She has worked in New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, and has managed teams across four continents.