Advisory Board

Ernst Behrens is Non-executive Chairman of EADS China, and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Foreign Investment Companies in China. He is based in Beijing. Previously he was President and CEO of EADS China, and from 1997 to 2004, he served as President and CEO of Siemens China, a EUR 5 billion revenue business operating through 45 companies and employing 38,000 people. He was President and CEO of Siemens Philippines between 1992 and 1997, and before this appointment, had held a number of management roles within Siemens Asia. He first came to work in China between 1981 and 1984.

Ernst served as the President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China between 2002-04, President of the German Chamber of Commerce in China between 1999-01, as well as President of the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines from 1995 to 1997.

Ernst served as an Electronics Engineer in the German Naval Air Force, and was awarded the Cross of Order of Merit by the German government.

Neil Benedict spent 22 years in investment banking with Dillon Read & Co and Salomon Brothers, predominantly based in New York and Asia. At Dillon Read his roles included Managing Director Asia Pacific and Managing Director Media / International, based in New York. At Salomon Brothers his roles included Head of Investment Banking for the Asia / Pacific Region and Head of International Capital Markets. He was responsible for many transactions during this period, including the first overseas bond issuance by the People’s Bank of China in 1986.

Later Neil became Managing Director and Head of Advisory Group in New York for ING Capital/Barings. Neil is based in New York and is a non-executive Director of the Qatar Investment Fund and a member of the Finance Committee of BAFTA New York.

Stephen Brown served as Chief Executive for UK Trade and Investment between 2002 and 2005, in a position that ranked as a Permanent Secretary in the civil service hierarchy. He spearheaded the UK government’s overseas trade and investment promotion efforts, with operations around the globe. This involved him in dealing with the heads of many of the UK’s largest companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.

Previously, as a career diplomat, he served as British Ambassador to the Republic of South Korea between 1997 and 2000, and High Commissioner to Singapore between 2001 and 2002.

Stephen is active in several organisations promoting business and wider links with China, Korea and Australia.

Between 1965 and 1976 he served in the British Army, and was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery, completing periods of service in Europe and Oman.

Sir Anthony served as British Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China 1997-2002.

For much of his diplomatic career, he focused on China and the Asia Pacific Region. His postings included three periods in Beijing and one in Hong Kong (1989-93), during which he served as the Senior British Representative (Ambassador) to the Sino British Joint Liaison Group, the body which oversaw the transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese sovereignty.

Prior to serving as Ambassador in Beijing, Sir Anthony was Deputy Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1995-7). His other senior appointments included a secondment to the Cabinet Office as Chief of the Assessments Staff (1993-5) and a period (1984-6) as Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

He retired from the Foreign Office in 2002, since when he has been an adviser to Standard Chartered Bank, and since January 2005 to Vermilion Partners.

He is also a Senior Associate of the National History Museum and a Member of the Council of the British Trust for Ornithology. He became a Director of Earthwatch (Europe) in 2002.

In addition, Sir Anthony was made an Honorary Professor, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh in 2001.

An engineer, Rudi joined Vermilion in 2014 after a distinguished industrial and business career, including over twenty years with Hewlett Packard in Europe and North America and a dozen years at Siemens, during which he rose to be a member of the Corporate Executive Committee of the Group, with special responsibility for a number of major subsidiaries, together with geographic responsibility for the Group’s business in Africa, the Near and Middle East and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Following a period as Executive Advisor to the CEO of Siemens, Rudi founded East-West-Connect GmbH & Co.KG and remains its President and CEO. 

Thomas Putter is Chairman and Chief Executive of the Ancora Finance Group, a financial advisory and management consulting firm. Between 1998 and 2010 he was Chairman/CEO of Allianz Capital Partners Group and Managing Director of Allianz Alternative Assets Holding GmbH and was co-responsible for Allianz Group’s alternative asset Investment programme. Prior to joining Allianz, Thomas’ career spanned commercial and investment banking, including CFO at a privately owned financial services group and working in the investment banking and principal investment areas at Goldman Sachs.

Thomas is a member of the Commission on Growth and Innovation of the German CDU’s Economic Council and is a member of the Advisory Board of the German Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. He is an active investor in the small to mid-cap space and holds a number of board and advisory positions.

Thomas has an M.A. (Oxon) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the Queen’s College, Oxford.

Ge Su co-founded Vermilion Partners in 2004 and is currently CEO of AMVIG, a packaging company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange with operations throughout China. Prior to joining AMVIG, Ge Su advised on cross-border transactions since 1992, initially with Batey Burn and later with Vermilion. This work included advising AMVIG on three joint ventures.

Before joining Batey Burn, Ge Su completed an internship with ICI, which sponsored his MBA and employed him upon graduation. At ICI he negotiated ICI-Swire Paint Co. Ltd., ICI’s first joint venture in China. From 1983 to 1988, Ge Su worked at Beijing Agricultural University, serving initially as international project manager and later as deputy director of the National Training and Application Centre for Agricultural Remote Sensing. He also undertook teaching and national research projects and attended a graduate programme in soil science and physiography.

Ge Su obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the Beijing Language and Culture University. He also holds an MBA from the China-Europe Management Institute (now the China-Europe International Business School) and speaks fluent English. Ge Su is based in Beijing.

Adam Williams has been actively involved in China business since 1980 and has been living in Beijing since 1985.

From 1980 to 1984 he was Editor and Head of Research at the Sino-British Trade Council in London, leaving in 1985 to become the representative of GEC Marconi Avionics Ltd in Beijing. He has lived and worked in Mainland China ever since. In 1986 he joined Jardine Matheson & Co to become its Chief Representative in Shanghai. In 1989 he returned to Beijing to run Jardine Matheson Special Projects Ltd, which included the agency for GEC-Marconi Avionics. In 1990 this agency was extended to cover the whole of the GEC-Marconi Group, and until 1994 Adam was the Chief Representative of GEC-Marconi in China, on secondment from Jardine Matheson.

In 1995 Adam became the Chief Representative in Beijing of the merchant bank, Jardine Fleming, which had opened its office there the year before. Building up JF’s business and its contacts with the Central Government, Adam was promoted in 1997 to be the Country Head for Jardine Fleming in China, and this was a job that he maintained until Jardine Fleming’s merger with J P Morgan Chase in 2000. At the beginning of 2000, Adam was asked to take on the representation of the whole Jardine Matheson Group in China, becoming involved in all the Group’s activities from hotels, real estate, insurance broking, construction, automotive, retail and distribution to airport services and shipping. 

As Jardines Group Chief Representative in China, Adam was also responsible for senior Government relations both centrally and within the provinces as well as with top management of state owned Industries and chairmen of some of the biggest Private sector companies

Adam was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the British Empire) for his services to business between Britain and China, after having served for four years as Vice Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China (1992-1996) and two years as Chairman (1996-1998). He was Chairman of the Securities Working Group at the European Chamber of Commerce in China (1998-2000) and later became a director of the EU China Financial Services Advisory Group. Formally retired in 2015 Adam remained an advisor to the Jardines Matheson Group until 2018.  He is still based in China, and is using his many contacts to assist various British companies.

Malcolm Williams spent 38 years in investment banking at Kleinwort Benson Limited (subsequently Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein) based in Europe and Asia.

From 2000 to 2004 he was Chief Operating Officer of Global Private Equity, prior to which he served as Chief Operating Officer for Global Finance (1998-2000). As COO for Global Private Equity, he oversaw the integration of the private equity businesses of Allianz AG and the Dresdner Bank group into Allianz Private Equity Holdings.

Between 1985 and 1998 Malcolm was Chief Executive of Kleinwort Benson (Hong Kong) Limited, responsible for the bank’s business in Hong Kong, China and South East Asia, and subsequently, following its acquisition by Dresdner, as COO Asia.

The earlier part of Malcolm’s career was spent in London and in Germany. From 1983 to 1985, he was a member of the Board of Management of Kleinwort Benson (Deutschland) GmbH, based in Bremen, prior to which he was a member of the International Banking Division in London, focusing on business in Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe.

Malcolm retired from the Dresdner Kleinwort Group in 2004. He remains on a number of boards and investment committees. He is a former member of the General Committee of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and maintains a keen interest in the Far East. He speaks fluent German.

Hu Yan first joined Vermilion in 2012 as a Managing Director and she has now moved onto the Vermilion Advisory Committee. She has over 18 years’ experience of advising and managing international financial services firms in China.

Prior to joining Vermilion, Hu Yan was Country Head and Chief Representative for Sun Life Financial in China from 2007 to 2012. In this capacity, she oversaw all of Sun Life’s China-related business, including their life insurance joint venture which was successfully restructured in 2010 and the establishment of their asset management activities.

From 2000 to 2007, Hu Yan advised leading international and domestic financial service institutions, including Fidelity Investments, Harvest Fund Management, MetLife, RGA and Sun Life Financial. During this period, she also advised on PICC’s IPO, the first Chinese insurer to be listed, and Fortis’ investment in Taiping Life, as well as advising the Ministry of Labour and Social Security on its pension reform initiatives. From 1994 to 2000, Hu Yan was the Chief Representative of Prudential plc in China, where she negotiated, obtained approval for and established Prudential’s life insurance joint venture with CITIC, one of the most successful international life insurers in China. Hu Yan started her career in 1984 with CITIC, focusing on direct investments in food & beverage, cosmetics and other light industries before working for Penteco, a private insurance brokerage firm where she was based in their headquarters in Washington DC, and subsequently Citibank in Hong Kong.

Hu Yan has an MBA in Finance from Oklahoma City University, USA; and a BSc in Finance from the Capital University of Economics and Business, China. She is based in Beijing and speaks fluent English.