The PWM APAC Summit exceeded our expectations

“We collaborated with a family office we met at the Marcus Evans Summit, and have raised EUR 1.5 million already. That can grow into EUR 5 million by the end of next year,” said Dolf van Dijk, CFO, Scotch Whisky International b.v., an asset manager at the Marcus Evans Private Wealth Management APAC Summit.

What possibilities and opportunities did the Summit bring your way?

We had some very interesting meetings, which led to three cooperation agreements. One is with a family office in Hong Kong, which has already brought in several new clients. We are attracting more and more clients through them. They introduced us to an asset manager which can grow our client base even further.

We have also signed cooperation agreements with two other organisations, but have not gained new investors yet. We are happy with the results. The Summit was a good way to gain access to a large group of investors at once.

What expectations did you have prior to the Summit?

We were hoping for at least one client, to cover our expenses. We knew it was going to be a learning experience for us, so we did not set high expectations. But we were very happy with the level of interest in our product, and that the meetings led to a few contracts. The Summit really exceeded our expectations. We did not expect it to be that successful.

Could you have connected with the Hong Kong family office on your own?

No. We were not looking for one, but I do not think we would have found them if we were. There are so many family offices and wealthy families in the region. We would have never come into contact with that one, without a local party. In some places, especially if you are entering a new market where nobody knows you, you need local connections to attract clients. Otherwise no investor will invest directly in your products. The Summit helped speed up that process.

Do you believe it helped that delegates were provided intelligence on all fund managers beforehand, and vice versa?

Yes, of course. Many delegates had read our profile beforehand, and were interested in investigating whiskey investing. Overall, it was very valuable. We generated more interest than the number of one-to-one meetings we were going to have, but our account manager arranged a few extra conversations for us. We were very happy, and that is why we signed up for a second Summit.

Find out more about the next PWM APAC Summit