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Experienced Professionals
Our team has on average over 15 years of investing experience and has been through numerous economic cycles. The team's extensive experience in the financial industry gives GAO a deep understanding of the markets and specializations across asset classes. Over the years, GAO has achieved a resilient, consistent and successful track record on an absolute basis, providing clients with investment choices that are usually available only to much larger institutions.
Founder and Director
Chauwei Yak is a director of GAO Advisors which specializes in providing valuation and financial investigative services in dispute resolution and litigation in Singapore. She is also CEO of GAO Capital, a fund management company founded in 2008. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a dual degree, BS in Economics and BA in Asian & Middle Eastern Studies from the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences, respectively, with a minor in Mathematics. Chauwei’s extensive corporate finance experience at JPMorgan and UBS Investment Bank, in their New York, Tokyo and London offices, has enabled her to provide specialist support to cross-border clients for complex investigations and valuation matters. Chau Wei relocated the firm’s headquarters back to Singapore in 2010 and has been operating in the Asia Pacific region for over a decade. She is fluent in English and Mandarin with proficiency in Japanese. Chauwei has been featured on Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC and The Business Times for her views on finance and fintech. She is also part of the External Faculty for the Business Families Institute of Singapore Management University (SMU).
Representative Experience in Singapore Courts:
Acted as expert for the SFC in the Market Misconduct Tribunal in the matter of the listed securities of Bloomage Biotechnology Corporation Limited
Court-appointed expert to value three privately-owned car workshop companies in CVC v. CVB [2023] SGHC(A) 28 in which the Judge agreed that additional DLOM should not be used.
Acted as expert in Christopher James Aarons v SFC SFAT [2022] for SFC in a Tribunal hearing on breaching code of conduct by a hedge fund manager.
Appointed Independent Expert to a leading Asian satellite operator to value the quantum of damages in an arbitration with the subsidiary of one of India’s largest integrated media companies.
Acted as expert in Meow Moy Lan and others v Exklusiv Resorts Pte Ltd and another [2021] SGHC 155 for the owner of a country club against 170 members in their class action for breach of contract in relocating the club. Assessed no losses for the members and judge awarded $1,500 nominal damages per member.
Produced valuation report and defended work in court for a family-owned manufacturing and trading business seeking to clawback over $10 million in fraudulent withdrawals by the next-generation family members which led to successful judgement in Singapore High Court.
Appointed by Singapore High Court in UTJ v UTK [2019] SGHCF 6 as joint independent expert in valuation of a family-owned group of companies across multiple countries in a dispute worth $20 million. Integral to ending the dispute which had been running for more than 7 years.
Investigation for an investor to look at a $5 million convertible loan into a F&B company with operations in Singapore, Indonesia, and Japan, which resulted in successful recovery of principal, interest payments and full indemnity of costs for the investor.
Other Industry Experience & Transactions
Director of Research for Ortelius Capital, family office of Prince Pavlos Crown Prince of Greece and Robert Miller, founder of the DFS duty free empire
$3 billion asset swap between JPMorgan and Bank of New York
$7 billion merger between SunTrust Banks and National Commerce Financial Corporation Professional Qualifications & Memberships
Professional Qualifications & Memberships:
Chartered Valuer and Appraiser (CVA)
Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA)
Member of Singapore Institute of Directors (SID)
Graduate Certificate in Digital Finance: Digital Forensics, SMU-CPA Australia
Our DNA
GAO's team combines decades of investment experience from global financial institutions and top schools from the US, UK and Singapore.
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