The planned fund is designed to focus on Cambodia first and later other "Indochina" markets such as Vietnam and Myanmar.

Asia-based Evergreen Assets Management has engaged the Singapore-registered firm Passion Venture Capital to set up a new fund, with the aim of raising up to S$100 million.

Passion Venture Capital is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The new fund is a closed-end vehicle with a five-year timeframe, and will initially concentrate on holding Cambodian assets, tapping into Evergreen’s micro-financing business in the emerging market, while a small portion of the monies will be invested in its automotive business in Singapore. The fund’s geographic allocation will be diversified later to cover more Indochina countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam.

“The fund builds on Evergreen’s decades-long track record of doing business in Indochina. While the fund is primarily focused on Cambodia in the initial stage, we have a pipeline of investments in Myanmar and Vietnam which would materialise in the next 18 months. These investments will represent strong exposure to the Indochinese economies,” David Yong, chief executive of Evergreen AM, said. 

Desmond Sim, business development director of Evergreen AM, said: “We have already received commitments of approximately S$25 million from accredited investors who recognise the growth opportunities in Indochina.”

Indochina growth
Evergreen AM has been awarded a financial institute licence to conduct micro-financing by the National Bank of Cambodia, the country’s central bank. 

“The award of the FI licence in Cambodia comes at an opportune time. As an entrepreneur, we empathise with the pains that small and medium-sized companies are now facing – they are without cash flow and credit -- critical business lifelines because of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” Yong said.

“We hope our micro-finance business under Evergreen will contribute to the growth of Cambodia where there is an urgent need for financing to keep SMEs and individuals going. We also intend to reach out to other demographic segments such as women in Cambodia who are usually overlooked by banks, to empower them to make their own livelihood,” Yong said.

Evergreen is also applying for financial institution licences in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Team
The new fund is managed by Davy J Goh of Passion Venture Capital Pte. Goh has worked with financial institutions such as CS First Boston, Citibank NA, ABN AMRO Bank and DBS Bank across Asia in 16 countries including Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.