Laurence Cheng

Laurence W. Cheng is best documented as a founder and senior executive of Capital Z, a private equity investor focused exclusively on financial services. MarketScreener identifies him as Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Capital Z Investment Partners LLC and Capital Z Asset Management LLC, and says Capital Z Investment Partners was founded in 1998 by Cheng.

Before Capital Z, Cheng spent a long career inside Zurich-related insurance and investment businesses. A Max Re Capital SEC proxy states that before forming Capital Z Partners in 1998, he was Chief Investment Officer and a member of the Corporate Executive Board of Zurich Financial Services Group from 1997; President and CEO of Zurich Investment Management Ltd. from 1996 to 1997; and President and CEO of Zurich Bermuda from 1988 to 1996. The same filing says he was named CFO of Centre Re Group in 1992 and had a 23-year tenure with Zurich Financial Services Group across management, accounting, actuarial, tax, and investment functions.

Cheng also served as a director of Max Re Capital Ltd. beginning in September 1999. SEC filings show Capital Z entities were strategic investors in Max Re; as of March 15, 2002, Cap Z beneficially owned common and non-voting shares and warrants acquired for an aggregate of $50 million.

His education is reported as a B.S. from the University of Hong Kong, an M.S. from the University of Western Ontario, and an MBA from York University in Toronto.

• Capital Z’s stated focus is financial services: the firm says its “sole focus on financial services companies” helps it bring a specialized perspective to companies facing complex challenges or growth opportunities.
• The firm targets financial-services sub-sectors where specialist knowledge matters: insurance, reinsurance, life and health insurance, banking, specialty finance, asset management, and related services.
• Capital Z emphasizes specialization because financial services are highly regulated, use specialized business models and accounting/valuation methods, and are difficult for generalists to evaluate.
• The firm’s approach includes developing original theses in targeted sub-sectors and generating proprietary opportunities through research and analysis.
• Capital Z says it looks to make long-term capital investments alongside management teams; its stated target investment size is approximately $50 million–$250 million and typical investment duration is four to seven years.
• For hedge-fund seeding through Capital Z Asset Management, the firm described a sponsorship model involving sponsorship capital to hedge funds and meaningful minority interests in management companies/general partners.