SAIF believes that there is a strong cultural preference with entrepreneurs in the Asia Pacific region to conduct business with local, long-term partners who understand local business practices and work with them to achieve common goals. With local teams in our three focus economies – China, India and South Korea, we are an active, lead or co-lead investor in several local, fast growing, companies.

We generally seek to invest in market leaders that are cash flow positive. We have also, at times, invested in promising early-stage companies that demonstrate an exceptional competitive advantage and are helping “define” a new space. In a nutshell, we prefer to invest in growth, via established sector leaders catering to fast-growing markets, emerging industry leaders, and cross-border investment opportunities that leverage upon the comparative advantages of different countries. We are also open to opportunistically invest in companies which are undervalued relative to their long-term growth prospects, and special situations that offer unique investment opportunities. Overall, we adhere to a disciplined, value based investment approach.

We make individual equity investments of between $10 million and $100 million, in one or more rounds of financing, and generally seek to obtain a significant minority equity ownership position in the range of 15% to 40% of a portfolio company. Normally, we take seats on the board of directors and certain management rights so as to work closely with portfolio company management teams to significantly enhance value. Having invested over $1.2 billion in over 60 companies across China, India and South Korea, SAIF understands the complexities of investing in the Asian region. Our investment professionals have a  blend of international experience with a local grounding, which enables us to provide tremendous value to our portfolio companies.