Betting Big on Purpose: Building a Fund Strategy Underpinned by Impact and Innovation
Case Study Overview
In mid-2016, Johan Rozali-Wathooth, then the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at AHAM Asset Management Berhad (AHAM), one of Malaysia's largest asset management companies, was chosen to head the firm’s newly created private equity (PE) department. Two years later, in 2018, AHAM structured the PE department as a standalone business—and Rozali-Wathooth set up ‘Bintang Capital Partners’ as an independent entity.
Five years later, by 2023, Bintang would have fully deployed its first fund (Fund I),—and was getting ready to raise its second fund, which would be 3X larger than the first at US$150 million. Rozali-Wathooth’s long-term plan, which he had already set in motion with Fund I (2020-23), was to position Bintang as a significant player in the impact investing space in the Southeast Asia region. With Fund I, he had tested some of his ideas to make Bintang more impact oriented; with the second fund, he expected to establish Bintang’s credentials as an impact investor.
A significant milestone for Bintang’s impact ambition was the B Corporation (B Corp) accreditation, global recognition awarded to private businesses that meet high standards of governance, environmental, and social performance. In May 2023, Bintang was recognised as a B Corp—12 months after it had applied. Even as he celebrated this milestone, he was under significant pressure—his second fundraise was, by his own admission, a make-or-break for the PE fund. This case looks at how Rozali-Wathooth was looking to shape Bintang’s long-term impact strategy, even as he was on a clock to raise a bigger fund to deliver impact at scale in the Southeast Asia region. To pull off both—an impact strategy and the second fundraise—Rozali-Wathooth was confronted with multiple challenges, which the case study details.
Teaching Objectives
- Uncover the challenges associated with a nascent impact investing market in Asia. The case explores how Rozali-Wathooth had to plot a gradual transition from a conventional PE firm to a sustainability and impact-oriented investment fund, which remains a ‘work in progress’.
- Evaluate the strategic choices a fund manager may face as they work towards developing a fund-level impact strategy and approach and supporting impact-oriented businesses.
- Understand the complexity of crafting a deliberate impact investing strategy, including building an understanding of impact intentionality, designing an impact measurement model, and also developing a way to manage impact performance.
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This case study was produced by the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP), in collaboration with Artha Global. It is developed as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to serve as an endorsement, source of primary data, or illustration of either effective or ineffective management. This case includes some copyrighted materials kindly shared by Bintang Capital Partners (Bintang) for use as case exhibits. The authors gratefully acknowledge Bintang's permission to use these within this case study.
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