Justin Trudeau speaks during a meeting with members of the China Entrepreneur Club, who have been touring several Canadian cities to talk up trade and investment opportunities, in Chelsea, Que. on Oct. 18, 2016.Chris Wattie/Reuters
Chinese property tycoon Peter Wang had a bitter experience when he first poured some of his cash into the Canadian market, suffering hefty losses from bad resource bets. And he's determined not to repeat the experience with his latest venture, which focuses on financing for young companies largely operating in emerging industries.
Mr. Wang's shift epitomizes a rising trend in overseas Chinese investing away from resources to technology, financial services, consumer products and other rungs higher up the value ladder. Big state-owned enterprises led the earlier charge abroad into oil, metals, farmland and similar assets. The latest Chinese wave is dominated by a cadre of wealthy entrepreneurs and private-sector companies.
Mr. Wang, who made the bulk of his fortune in real estate development in his home province of Shandong on China's east coast, last week launched an online financial platform in Toronto.
He believes the vehicle, known as foreGrowth, is positioned to capitalize on growing demand for such alternative investing options as private equity and specialty financing that are not typically available to punters without deep pockets.
These investments tend to be riskier, but offer the prospect of higher returns at a time of ridiculously low bond yields, sluggish economic growth and volatile stock markets dependent on continued monetary easing by central banks.
"A lot of our previous investments in Canada ended in failure because we were not familiar with the Canadian market," Mr. Wang said through an interpreter.
Like many a foreign investor before him, Mr. Wang, chairman of Tentimes Group Co. Inc. in Qingdao, China (best known as the home of Tsingtao beer), couldn't resist the allure of Canadian resources.
Which ones didn't work?
"Actually, there are quite a number of them, in mining, the agriculture industry. They didn't go well."
We were chatting on the sidelines before a panel discussion featuring three members of the China Entrepreneur Club, a group of 50 wealthy business people that has been dubbed China's billionaires' club.
Mr. Wang, one of the club's founders, is among a dozen members who are wrapping up an eight-day tour of several Canadian cities to talk up trade and investment opportunities. Notably absent from the tour was Alberta, once the magnet for Chinese capital coming into Canada.
With an estimated worth last year of $630-million (U.S.), Mr. Wang is not quite a billionaire. But he does own a stunning villa in a suburb of Qingdao that has been named one of China's most luxurious residences.
In his latest Canadian foray, he has teamed up with local partners – half the shareholders in his Toronto-based holding company Gravitas Ilium Corp. are Canadian – and assembled a team of investment banking pros to come up with targets.
The focus will be on providing capital to small and mid-sized businesses operating in the new economy. As examples, Mr. Wang cited high-tech, Internet-based companies and other emerging industries with plenty of potential but lacking access to traditional bank financing.
"Our strategy is to try to strike a balance between two kinds of companies [those that are bigger, established players and others that are just getting off the ground] to find an ideal proportion."
He hesitates when I ask if resource producers will be excluded? It's obviously still a painful subject.
"We place more emphasis on emerging and high-growth potential and new economy," he says. "But if there are good investment opportunities in traditional industries like mining and [other] natural resource industries, we will also be interested."
For the investing public, "we are currently preparing for the launching of 10 [fund] products, but we are still at the preparation stage."
Initially, he wants to attract Chinese-Canadians, who now steer a large chunk of their investing capital into real estate.
The minimum investment will be set at a modest $10,000.
"That's why this platform is important. Because it offers an alternative investment option besides the real estate industry. I believe this is how, in the future, the Chinese community can better contribute to Canadian economic development."