Adams Street, Managing $105 Billion, Launches Asia Advisory Council with GIC and PEP Heavyweights [fn Market Watch]

[Financial News] Global private-equity investment manager Adams Street Partners, which manages more than $76 billion (approximately 105 trillion won), has established a strategic organization to expand its presence in Asia. The firm has appointed five financial-industry heavyweights—including a managing director at Singapore’s GIC and a co-founder of Australia’s largest private-equity firm, Pacific Equity Partners (PEP)—to its Asia Advisory Council. Building on more than two decades of experience in Asia, the move is aimed at expanding both its regional limited-partner base and its general-partner network.
According to investment-banking industry sources on the 9th, Adams Street Partners launched the Asia Advisory Council, a senior advisory body supporting the growth and innovation of its Asian business. Drawing on their international perspectives and insights into Asian markets, the members will provide strategic advice to the firm’s local senior executives. Refining and expanding the business and strengthening industry networks are among its key priorities.
Adams Street Partners was an early entrant into Asia and has invested more than $7.5 billion and realized more than $5 billion to date. It maintains long-term partnerships with more than 500 GPs worldwide, while its annual investment deployment in Asia stands at around $500 million.
The council’s members span fund-of-funds investing, academia, public markets, buyouts, and sovereign wealth funds. Eugene Jung is co-founder and managing partner of Emerald Hill Capital Partners. Since 2005, he has established three Asia-focused private-equity and venture-capital fund-of-funds vehicles with combined assets under management exceeding $1 billion. Before co-founding the firm, he served as director of private equity at the University of Chicago’s endowment and led the Asian energy-equity research team at Morgan Stanley’s Singapore office.
Dr. Greg Brown is founder and director of the Institute for Private Capital (IPC) and a globally recognized authority on alternative-investment research, including hedge funds and private equity. From 2015 to 2023, he served as managing director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. He also serves on the board of the CAIA Association.
Stephen Mitchell is a veteran with more than 40 years of experience in the equity and bond markets. He chairs the board of CT UK High Income Trust and previously served as head of the investment team in JPMorgan’s asset-management division and as an investment strategist in its private-banking business. Simon Pillar is co-founder of Pacific Equity Partners, which manages $19 billion in assets, and serves as chair of its management committee. Eugene Wong worked at GIC from 1989 until his retirement in 2024, holding senior positions including co-chair of its credit business group and head of European private equity.
The market views the launch as a signal that a global investment house is rebalancing toward Asia. As IPO and M&A markets slowed amid high interest rates, global private-equity firms faced declining distributions caused by delayed exits. Demand for liquidity solutions—including secondaries, continuation funds, and co-investments—surged in response. Large Asian LPs, including Korea’s National Pension Service, Singapore’s GIC, and Japanese pension funds, have emerged as key sources of capital for global investment managers. This is also the backdrop to the council’s inclusion of members from GIC and the fund-of-funds sector.
The move also carries implications for the Korean market. Fund-of-funds managers such as Adams Street Partners often serve as anchor investors during the early fundraising stages of blind-pool funds established by small and midsize GPs. As Korean middle-market managers compete intensely to secure overseas LPs, greater Asian allocations by global FoF managers could open a new channel of capital.
Sunil Mishra, a partner in Adams Street Partners’ primary-investments division, said, "Asia has been, and will continue to be, a core pillar of Adams Street’s global business. With the launch of the council, we will be able to deepen our understanding of the market and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, further enhancing the level of service we provide to clients and partners in the region."

[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter