INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM - Singapore 2024

Chowdhary is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lighthouse Canton. He is responsible for driving the company’s vision and objectives as well as overall business directions. He oversees the Multi-Family Office, Asset Management and Bespoke Solutions businesses and creates synergy between the verticals. He was born in a small town named Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh. He originally qualified with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering and then attained a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Symbiosis Centre for Management. Married with a son of almost 17 and a daughter of 10 years old, Chowdhary enjoys quiet times at home in Singapore, reading and watching cricket on TV. His music tastes are wide-ranging, with favourite bands names such as U2, Metallica and Dire Straits. On the business front, he had more than 20 years of experience prior to co-founding Lighthouse Canton in 2014. Previously, he was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse Private Bank, where he managed the Ultra High Net Worth portfolio for the bank. Prior to that, he spent more than six years at Citibank in India. “Citibank was a great start to my career,” he recalls, “as I learned much about many different aspects of banking. Credit Suisse was then a great move, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. In fact, before I founded this firm, I took them into my confidence in an open manner, and they were very supportive, for which I have great respect.” He also reports that on a personal level, the pandemic has helped in some respects to re-balance his work and life perspectives. “Some travel was simply not really necessary before,” he says, “and I say that as a generalisation, not only for me. And the extra time many people have found since the lockdowns has helped them connect more regularly to friends and family digitally, so whilst being remote, they have been able and willing to connect more regularly. Like others, I have been able to also focus more on exercise and health and welfare, all of which have been in very sharp focus since last year.” And his final comment is that the wealth industry even today remains true to its history and values, and with the immense opportunities ahead, is still a good place for younger and ambitious people to develop a career. “Regulation means this industry cannot move as fast as some other industries,” he observes. “For those willing to make the commitment to the continuous development of expertise and service, for those with the right attitudes and approaches, with the requisite people skills and empathy, there is great potential ahead.”

Tan Woon Hum is widely regarded as one of the rare senior market leaders specialising in investment funds, REITs and trusts, especially Variable Capital Companies (VCCs) and family offices. He heads a team of specialist lawyers in the Trust, Asset & Wealth Management practice at major Singapore law firm Shook Lin & Bok LLP. He is ranked as a Band 1 leading investment funds lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific since 2014 and top 100 lawyer in Singapore by Asia Business Law Journal in 2023. He advises on fund formation, (including hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds and single-family funds) using Singapore funds (including VCC) and offshore funds structures (eg. Cayman LP funds and segregated portfolio companies). He drafts and reviews the full range of fund documents and is extremely well versed with independent asset managers, external asset managers, multi-family offices and single-family offices, and has an extremely strong track record in securing the relevant regulatory licences and exemptions. His excellent and long-term professional relationship with the local regulators, authorities and major industry players add credence to his practice. He has advised on and helped clients launched about 100 VCCs as at May 2023. He has extensive experience in advising private clients (including ultra-high net worth individuals and single-family offices) and trustees on the establishment of private trusts, family offices, single-family funds, Sections 13O and 13U (formerly 13R and 13X) structures and drafts trust documents, fund documents, global investor programme documents and family charters. Woon Hum is bi-lingual (English and Mandarin), has a law degree and a MBA (Finance). He is a highly sought after speaker and speaks regularly at public conferences, forums and seminars since 2002 in Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh and Kuala Lumpur.