Appointment strengthens the firm’s research platform and supports expansion into direct investments across public and private markets

SINGAPORE, March 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — M45 Capital Partners, a Singapore-based multi-asset investment platform focused on disciplined long-term capital compounding, today announced the appointment of Gordon Yeo as Partner and Head of Public Equities & Fundamental Research, strengthening the firm’s investment leadership as it continues to expand its investment platform.

Gordon brings more than 14 years of institutional public equities experience to M45. Prior to joining the firm, he spent over 14 years at Arisaig Partners, a highly regarded, research-driven Asian equities investment firm backed by leading global institutional investors. During his tenure, Gordon served as Co-CEO, Partner and Chair of the Investment Committee, overseeing a long-term public equity strategy with peak assets under management of approximately US$5 billion.

At M45, Gordon will lead the firm’s public equities platform, including the development and management of the M45 Global Compounder Fund, an unconstrained global public equity strategy designed to serve as a core allocation for long-term capital. The strategy focuses on durable businesses, strong capital allocators and structural value chains capable of compounding capital over extended periods.

In addition to leading public equities, Gordon will oversee the firm’s fundamental research function, integrating insights across public markets, private investments and credit. This cross-asset perspective is central to M45’s investment philosophy and strengthens the firm’s ability to identify opportunities across both listed and private markets.

Gordon’s appointment also deepens the firm’s sector and company-level research capabilities, reinforcing M45’s ability to originate, evaluate and execute direct and co-investment opportunities across both public and private markets. By further enhancing its research platform, the firm aims to generate differentiated insights that can be applied across the capital structure.

Jason Kang, Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of M45 Capital Partners, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Gordon to M45. He brings deep institutional investing experience, a rigorous research mindset and a long-term approach to capital allocation that aligns closely with the philosophy we are building at the firm. Gordon has spent more than a decade investing in high-quality businesses and leading investment teams at scale. His addition significantly strengthens our investment platform and positions us well as we continue to expand our capabilities across both public and private markets.”

Gordon Yeo, Partner and Head of Public Equities & Fundamental Research, added:

“M45 is building an investment platform centred on disciplined capital compounding and thoughtful risk management across cycles. By combining deep company research with insights drawn from both public and private markets, we believe we can develop a differentiated approach to long-term capital allocation for our partners.”

Alongside Gordon’s appointment, M45 plans to expand its investment team as the firm continues to deepen its research and investment capabilities. The firm is investing in talent and infrastructure to support its ambition of delivering a truly differentiated, institutional-grade investment platform for families and long-term investors across Singapore and the broader region.

About Gordon Yeo

Gordon Yeo is Partner and Head of Public Equities & Fundamental Research at M45 Capital Partners. Prior to joining M45, he spent over 14 years at Arisaig Partners, where he served as Co-CEO, Partner and Chair of the Investment Committee, overseeing a long-term public equity strategy with peak assets of approximately US$5 billion. Gordon has extensive experience investing in high-quality businesses across Asia and global markets and has led investment teams across Singapore, Mumbai and London.

About M45 Capital Partners

M45 Capital Partners is a multi-asset investment platform built around one core principle: capital should compound with discipline across cycles. The firm allocates across global public equities, private markets and credit, combining deep fundamental research with a cross-asset perspective. By integrating insights from operators, lenders, allocators and capital markets, M45 aims to deliver superior long-term capital allocation outcomes for partners who value clarity, discipline and institutional standards of governance.

M45 currently manages capital for leading Asian institutions, established Asian family offices, and private clients, reflecting a platform that is already trusted by long-term partners. The firm operates across both investment management and wealth management, combining institutional investment capabilities with holistic portfolio solutions for long-duration capital.

BEIJING, March 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As China’s national legislature opened its annual session, CGTN published an article analyzing the country’s major tasks for the year ahead and its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). It highlighted how a strong start for China in 2026 can create new opportunities for the world and provide a vital dose of confidence for the global economy.

This year’s Two Sessions carries added significance as it marks the inaugural year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period, a crucial phase for the country’s development through the latter part of this decade.

On Thursday morning, the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, opened its fourth session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, one day after the country’s top political advisory body opened its annual session.

Delivering a government work report at the opening meeting of the NPC session, Premier Li Qiang announced that China targets an economic growth of 4.5% to 5% in 2026 and will strive for better in practice.

“The conditions underpinning China’s long-term growth and its underlying trend remain unchanged,” Li said. “More and more, China is demonstrating the strengths of its system and the strengths it has as a big economy.”

He called for efforts to tap up the country’s strengths and respond to challenges, including those posed by rising geopolitical tensions, weak global economic growth and shocks to multilateralism and free trade, to open up more promising prospects for China’s development.

A strong start enabled by planning ahead

As it embarks on the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), China’s core strategic objective remains the building of a modern socialist country, a goal bolstered by its achievements of the past five years, particularly those from last year.

In 2025, in a sign of remarkable resilience, China’s economy remained robust despite headwinds, achieving stable year-on-year GDP growth of 5% and making new and higher-quality progress across economic and social sectors.

The work report, for instance, listed numerous new advances China made in science and technology last year, highlighting how it led the way in the research, development, and application of artificial intelligence (AI), biomedicine, robotics, and quantum technology.

Its economic aggregate continued to scale new heights in 2025, exceeding 140 trillion yuan (about $20.22 trillion) for the first time, and meeting the development goal for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

During this period on the whole, the Chinese economy reached new heights, with an average annual growth of 5.4% in gross domestic product, well above the global average, according to Thursday’s government work report.

Remarkably, new breakthroughs were achieved in technological and industrial innovation, said the report, adding that research and development spending nationwide increased by an annual average of 10% over the past five years.

The Stimson Center, a prominent Washington-based think tank, said in a January report that China’s advantage in technological innovation is reinforced through “centralized coordination,” in a nod to the virtues of its planning ahead.

“Beijing treats AI as infrastructure,” said the center. “Through top-down industrial policy and deep integration of design and production, China has rapidly deployed AI across manufacturing, ports, power grids, hospitals, and consumer products.”

A dose of confidence that offers global opportunities

In global context, China’s 5% growth rate in 2025 contributed an estimated 30% to global expansion. As the world’s second-largest economy, it now generates approximately one-sixth of the total global GDP, and becomes a major trading partner for more than 150 countries and regions.

In an era defined by global uncertainty and prevailing short-termism, China’s 15th FYP, a draft outline of which was submitted to the NPC session for review on Thursday, continues to provide a rare degree of strategic confidence and consistency.

Over the next five years, China expects to keep its GDP growth within an appropriate range, which will lay a solid foundation for achieving the goal of doubling China’s 2020 per capita GDP by 2035 to reach the level of a moderately developed country, the government work report said.

To ensure effective implementation of the objectives and tasks of the 15th FYP, China proposes a total of 109 major projects in six areas, ranging from steering the development of new quality productive forces to ensuring and improving public well-being, the report said.

To deepen its integration with the global economy, China pledges to continue to expand opening up, stabilize foreign trade and optimize its structure, broaden two-way investment cooperation and advance the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Efforts will be made to expand market access and open up more areas, particularly in the services sector, according to the report. China will continue to be fully engaged in reform of WTO and safeguard and develop open world economy, it said.

China’s Two Sessions 2026 marks a “watershed” moment for the global economy, geo-strategic analyst Imran Khalid said in an op-ed for Eurasia Review.

As China transitions to a consumption-driven model, it offers a different kind of opportunity for the global economy, he said. “For the Global South, China is no longer just a buyer of raw commodities; it is becoming a critical partner in digital infrastructure and green energy.”

A stable China, he wrote, is a necessary anchor for a global economy that is currently searching for a new engine of growth.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-03-05/How-China-offers-opportunities-for-world-with-strong-start-to-15th-FYP-1LglWRvr6ms/p.html

BEIJING, March 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

China should deploy professional managers to its villages to oversee economic development and free up local officials to focus on governance, a national political adviser said, arguing the move will help unlock sustainable growth in the countryside.

The proposal from Zhou Li‘an, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and an expert on rural economy and regional development, comes as China shifts its focus from poverty alleviation to a broader rural vitalization strategy aimed at further narrowing the urban-rural divide.

Under the current system, village secretaries of Communist Party of China and officials typically handle both administrative duties and commercial development.

“Village officials are more suited for political governance or traditional roles, but they are not good at economic management,” Zhou said. “You need professional people to do this professional work.”

Zhou’s proposal is set to feature in discussions at the ongoing two sessions — the annual meetings of the nation’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, and the top political advisory body, the CPPCC National Committee — where rural vitalization is among the critical topics up for discussion.

While acknowledging the idea may spark debate, Zhou said such structural reforms are essential for the long-term success of the countryside.

Zhou, director of Peking University’s Faculty of Economics and Management, pointed to the emergence of “rural CEOs” in prosperous regions like Zhejiang province as a model.

These individuals — often young, urban-trained professionals returning to the countryside — focus exclusively on commercial strategies such as building brands, managing collective assets and developing high-value industries.

“By separating these roles, we can create positions and space for professionals to play a big role,” he said.

The idea of professional economic managers in rural areas has gained attraction in recent years among economists as China steps up its rural vitalization efforts.

Speaking at a forum in Beijing on Dec 21, Sun Qixin, president of China Agricultural University, said the country faces a shortage of professionals who combine technological expertise with business and management skills as rural industries increasingly integrate agriculture, manufacturing and services.

The conference took place after “rural collective economy managers” were formally recognized by national authorities as a new profession earlier that month.

Beyond governance reform, Zhou said attracting private investment remains critical to rural development, but businesses need clear profit incentives.

“Market players are profit-driven. They need to see real and sustainable profit opportunities,” he said.

He urged local governments to showcase the diverse economic potential of rural areas beyond agriculture, including rural tourism, wellness retreats and cultural industries. “Unused farm homes can be renovated into guesthouses. Traditional crafts can be turned into educational workshops,” Zhou said.

He also called for developing industry clusters that integrate production, processing, logistics and services into coordinated systems, lowering entry barriers for new businesses and reducing transaction costs.

To de-risk investment, Zhou suggested local governments take equity stakes in promising ventures, sharing risks with private investors. Financial institutions should also design credit and insurance products tailored to rural needs, including government-backed guarantees and agricultural insurance programs.

On rural e-commerce — a crucial tool in China’s fight against poverty over the past decade — Zhou warned that many regions are falling into homogeneous competition, selling similar products and competing mainly on price.

“Price wars focus on being the cheapest while ignoring value creation,” he said. “The future of rural e-commerce is not just selling cheaper, but selling smarter and creating unique value.”

He advised local authorities to build regional brands with distinct identities based on local natural resources and industrial strengths. Each region should concentrate on one or two core products and establish high quality standards to protect its reputation, he said.

Zhou also encouraged integrating e-commerce with agriculture, culture and tourism. Typically confined to indoor settings where they showcase local products, livestreaming studios could instead move directly into fields to broadcast crop growth and share local traditions.

“This storytelling adds emotional value to the product’s selling process,” he said.

Farmers and rural cooperatives should also diversify sales channels beyond major e-commerce platforms, exploring business-to-business options such as fresh food supermarkets and corporate procurement, Zhou added.