Staying the Course

After a tough year at his property-focused private equity firm, Gaw Capital, GOODWIN GAW is keeping his powder dry for deals in the year ahead.

- JENNIFER WELLS

As Covid-19 cases began to mount worldwide early last year, Goodwin Gaw, founder, and chairman of Hong Kong-based private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners waited for the sharp drop in property prices that would signal the time to buy. It was a strategy that paid off during the SARS epidemic, when Gaw and his partners spent more than $500 million snapping up real estate as prices plunged, then recovered within a year.

But the Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t followed the same playbook. Instead, its impact has varied widely from market to market, with prices in Asia holding up deceptively well and large deals scarce. “When there are no sellers in the market, there is no price correction to speak of,” says Gaw, who manages the firm’s $27 billion portfolio, which includes hotels, offices, malls and residential developments.

The setback to Gaw Capital’s hospitality assets, which represent roughly 15% of that portfolio, was painfully clear as travel bans and government restrictions pummeled income. “We did not anticipate the carnage or the widespread effect,” says Gaw. Of the 39 hotels Gaw Capital manages or owns either in part or full, fewer than half were running in December when Gaw held a virtual interview with Forbes Asia. Since then, all but six have reopened.