美世-2020亚洲私募基金调研报告（英文）-2021.5-21页_4mb

2020 Asia Private Equity Survey Summary

Core Content

The 2020 Asia Private Equity Survey conducted by Oliver Wyman, Marsh, and Mercer explores the evolving priorities and challenges for senior private equity (PE) executives in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. The survey highlights the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on value creation strategies, workforce transformation, and cultural alignment within portfolio companies. It also underscores the increasing importance of digital transformation and the need for PE firms to adapt their approaches to ensure sustainable growth and performance in the post-pandemic era.

Main Views and Key Information

1. Short-term Recovery Plans

• Swift Response: PE funds have quickly implemented short-term recovery plans focused on cost reduction, channel optimization, and business continuity.
• Confidence in Execution: Most operating heads are confident in their organization's ability to manage these recovery strategies.
• Long-term Impact: Despite confidence in short-term recovery, the long-term value impact of the pandemic remains uncertain.
• Shift in Priorities: There is a marked departure from pre-COVID strategies, with more emphasis on detailed value-creation plans and tactical adjustments.
• Exit Horizons: Exit timelines have extended, and funds are adjusting their strategies accordingly.
• Confidence in Basic Levers: High confidence in cost reduction, business continuity, and protecting value through insurance.
• Lower Confidence in Advanced Levers: Less confidence in areas like digitization, developing new propositions, and acquiring new businesses without external help.

2. Digital Transformation

• Critical Priority: Digitization is now seen as a critical action point, moving from a "nice to have" to a "must have" due to the pandemic.
• Need for External Support: Most respondents (60%) believe they require external support to deliver digital transformation, indicating a significant gap in internal capabilities.
• Focus on Customer Engagement and Remote Work: Companies are rethinking how to engage customers and manage remote workforces.
• Opportunity for Fast Movers: The gap between ambition and capability presents an opportunity for PE firms that can act quickly and effectively.
• Examples of Digital Initiatives: Some firms have implemented digital banking solutions, identified automation opportunities, and launched enterprise-wide transformation programs.

3. Workforce Transformation

• Top Priorities: The top workforce priorities are:
  • Productivity improvement through AI and automation (66%)
  • Restructuring or reorganization (55%)
  • Flexible working (48%)
  • Reskilling or upskilling of employees (41%)
• Strategic Workforce Planning: A systematic, data-driven approach is needed to align workforce capabilities with business strategies.
• Job Redesign: Focused on process, technological enablement, and workspace optimization, job redesign has become more complex due to ongoing transformation.
• Leadership and HR Involvement: Leaders and HR must focus on employer branding, compensation, change management, and succession planning during workforce transformation.
• Hospitality Industry Example: Mercer worked with hotels in Singapore to develop "buy", "build", and "transform" strategies to improve talent attraction and retention.

4. Culture and Leadership Alignment

• Top Barriers to Value Creation: Cultural and leadership misalignment are the top two issues hindering value creation.
• Lack of Formal Assessment: Only 57% of companies conduct formal competency-based assessments for leadership roles, which is a major concern.
• Impact on Synergy Realization: Cultural misalignment has been shown to delay synergy realization in M&A, with 67% of companies experiencing this issue.
• Need for Leadership Alignment: 70% of respondents identified leadership alignment as a key barrier to value creation.
• Recommendations: PE firms should formalize leadership alignment frameworks, agree on business objectives and desired outcomes, and ensure leaders understand and support the transformation goals.

Key Figures and Insights

• Figure 1: Most COVID-19 response plans are in place.
• Figure 2: Long-term incentive plans are not changing.
• Figure 3: Most respondents see a gap in capability to deliver digital transformation — most require external support.
• Figure 4: No structured or formal assessment of leaders.
• Figure 5: Areas included in a company's succession plan.
• Figure 6: Proportion of survey respondents reporting financial losses from crime and cyber incidents.
• Figure 7: Value creation plans are now more important than ever.
• Figure 8: Strategic road map remains the top priority, but in-year tactical plans are now critical.
• Figure 9: Active steering of portfolio companies is key to significant EBITDA uplift.
• Figure 10: Capturing changing customer preferences to win in a post-COVID world.
• Figure 11: Confidence in delivering value-creation levers varies.
• Figure 12: Need for external support in digital transformation.
• Figure 13: Cultural misalignment significantly hampers value creation.
• Figure 14: Well-developed competency framework and robust succession planning.
• Figure 15: No structured or formal assessment of leaders.

Conclusion

The survey highlights that while short-term recovery plans are in place, long-term transformation, particularly in digital and workforce areas, is becoming increasingly critical. PE firms must invest in external support, strategic workforce planning, and cultural and leadership alignment to ensure sustainable value creation in the post-COVID era. The pandemic has accelerated the need for agility, innovation, and a focus on human capital, presenting both challenges and opportunities for PE sponsors.