(Bloomberg) — Wenhua Zhang and Chirag Vasavada, whose careers have included stints at Harvard Universitys endowment and Fidelity Investments Johnson family, are starting an Asia- focused hedge fund.
The two plan to open Boston-based Azia Capital, which will mostly invest in China and India, according to an investor presentation, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. Zhang was most recently at Newport Asia and was previously at Harvards endowment, where he invested in China stocks. Vasavada was manager of a pan-Asia hedge fund at Chilton Investment Co. and before that was a research analyst focused on technology companies globally for the Johnson family office.
Zhang and Vasavada are seeking opportunities to own great businesses in China and India and will use their experience as natives of Asias two biggest economies to search for investments, according to the presentation. Azia views stocks that trade in Mainland China, known as China A shares, as the most compelling investment this year, they said in the presentation.
China started a program last year called Shanghai-Hong Kong exchange that gives foreign investors greater access to Chinese companies, helping lift the Shanghai Composite Index 73 percent during the past 12 months. The Chinese stock market has risen to levels last seen before the global financial crisis of 2008.
Industry Focus
Zhang declined to comment on the new firm. Azia will search for companies in the financial and business service, consumer, industrials and technology and Internet industries, according to the presentation. The firms preference is for companies with a market capitalizations below $10 billion.
Zhang started a China A share fund at Newport Asia and co- managed the firms Asia pool, according to the presentation. He and Vasavada initially worked together at T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and have collaborated on Asia investments for more than a decade, they said in the presentation
