Iris Capital Partners, an investment firm backed by the heir to a Malaysian fortune, is seeking to raise US$200 million from institutional investors, the latest family wealth vehicle to open up to outside capital.
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The firm is seeking cash for a new private credit and private equity fund, managing partner Rachel Lau said in an interview. She is the daughter of the late Lau Boon Ann, who built a fortune in real estate and was an early investor in Top Glove, the world’s largest manufacturer of rubber gloves.
“Everyone realises after a couple of years that just having families to invest is not enough,” Lau said in an interview. “You need more permanent capital from insurance, pensions, and sovereign funds.”
Founded in 2020, Iris is seeking to launch the private markets fund early next year. Today, family capital anchors about 25 per cent of the firm’s assets, while the rest comes from third-party institutions. Anchor investors of Iris include Kim Dong-won, a scion of the family behind South Korea’s Hanwha Group, and Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Private credit is a pivot for Lau, who had bet on venture capital with her other firm, RHL Ventures, which she co-founded in 2016 alongside younger members of some of Southeast Asia’s most influential families. The other partners are Raja Hamzah Abidin, son of prominent former Malaysian politician Raja Nong Chik, and Jojo Kong, whose father, David Kong, founded Nirvana Asia Ltd, one of the largest death-care service providers in Asia.
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Lau, who now leads a 15-person team, says institutional partners can be more straightforward to work with than other families. She declined to disclose Iris’ total assets, or her family wealth.
