ACGA Council

Based in the Capital Group’s Hong Kong office, Steven Watson is a portfolio manager in The International Growth and Income Fund, Capital Income Builder and the New Perspective Fund, among other funds and mandates.  He is also Chairman of Capital’s China Group.

Prior to joining Capital in 1990, Mr Watson was a research analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co and a vice president of China Communications, a marketing consulting firm. 

He received a Bachelor’s degree in French from the University of Massachusetts, a Master’s degree in French studies from New York University and an MBA from New York University and l' Universitè de Paris. Additionally, he studied Chinese at Wuhan University and the Shanghai Foreign Language Institute, China.

Mr Watson joined the ACGA Council in 2007. He was elected as Vice Chair on 1 June 2018 and Chair on 17 June 2022.

Ms. Ka Shi Lau completed a distinguished 25-year tenure with BCT Group in June 2024, serving as Managing Director & CEO for 22 years and Senior Advisor for 2 years. Under her mission-driven leadership, she spearheaded transformative initiatives, driving innovation and responsible growth, and positioning BCT as a leading provider of pension, retirement, and asset servicing solutions.

Guided by a strong sense of purpose and commitment to the Greater Good, Ms. Lau now focuses on advancing corporate governance, sustainability, financial and retirement protection, community wellbeing, and reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as a premier international financial centre. She currently serves as Chairman of the Hong Kong Trustees’ Association, Vice Chairman of the Asian Corporate Governance Association, Independent Non-Executive Director of Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited, Chairman of the Hospital Authority MPF Supervisory Committee, and Trustee of the Hospital Authority Charitable Foundation. She also actively contributes to public and professional bodies including the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Our Hong Kong Foundation, Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association, Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK), and Golden Age Foundation.  Her public service record includes roles with the Hospital Authority, Minimum Wage Commission, Women’s Commission, Community Investment & Inclusion Fund (CIIF), and Independent Commission of the HKSAR Government.

In recognition of her contributions, Ms. Lau was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the HKSAR Government in 2013. She was the first woman to receive the “Director of the Year Award” in the “Private Companies, Executive Director” category from The Hong Kong Institute of Directors. Other accolades include “Women of Influence – Professional of the Year” by the American Chamber of Commerce and South China Morning Post, “AI Pension Leader” by AsianInvestor in 2018, “Lifetime Achievement Award – MPF” at Asia Asset Management’s Best of the Best Awards in 2021, and the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from UK-based Markets Group in 2025.

 Ms. Lau holds an MBA from Cornell University and a Certificate in the “Executive Leadership Programme in Global Finance” from the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute (HKSI), a Fellow of both the Chartered Governance Institute (FCG) and the Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute (HKFCG), and a Certified Trust Practitioner (CTP). Beyond her professional achievements, Ms. Lau is also musically accomplished and has served as a pianist at church for many years.

Pru Bennett joined Brunswick Group in April 2019 following a career at BlackRock where she was Managing Director and Head of Investment Stewardship for the APAC region. At BlackRock, she led a team that was responsible for engagement and proxy voting activities in relation to the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients.

Ms Bennett is an active participant in the public debate on corporate governance, stewardship, and responsible investment and as such regularly speaks and writes on the importance of these issues for company performance and investment decisions. In 2018 she received the Asia Industry Leadership Award from 100 Women in Finance. In 2013, she was named as one of Australia’s top 10 Women of Influence in Corporate Governance.

Ms Bennett is a director of Global Compact Network Australia and a member of several industry and regulatory bodies including the Public Shareholders Group of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Corporate Governance Advisory Committee, a council member of the Asian Corporate Governance Association, director of the International Integrated Reporting Council and a member of the Deakin University Integrated Reporting Centre Advisory Board.

She joined the ACGA Council in 2018.

Ronnie Lim is the Senior Engagement Specialist at Robeco Asia-Pacific, responsible for active ownership and sustainable investment. He is also a member of the Listing Committee at the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Mr Lim works closely with the investment and governance teams, to catalyse corporate change by influencing governance, strategy and capital management. His role in active ownership includes constructive engagement with portfolio companies to improve their ESG performance, with a focus on corporate governance and shareholder value creation. This includes corporate actions and special situations.  

He is an active ACGA member, participating in the annual conferences, seminars, and the Japan and Korea Working Groups. 

Prior to joining Robeco in 2014 as a product specialist , he held a number of global investment roles based in Asia and London. From 2003 to 2007, he was Head of Sustainable Investment Research at Aviva Global Investors London. He later joined Climate Change Capital in London as portfolio manager for the Global Environmental Opportunities Fund, where his team raised capital, structured funds, and managed both absolute return and long-only portfolios. 

Mr Lim experience of institutional Asian equities at Cazenove, CLSA and RBS, where he held several senior roles, including leading equity sales teams in Singapore and Hong Kong. 

He was educated in England and holds a BSc in Economics and an MSc in Environmental Science.  

Mr Lim joined the ACGA Council in 2019.

May Tan was Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd (SCBHK) for three years before retiring in March 2017. She joined the Board of SCBHK in 2009 after the bank acquired Cazenove Asia. She also held the roles of SCBHK’s Global Head of Equity Corporate Finance and Vice Chair, Corporate Banking.

Prior to SCBHK, she was CEO of Cazenove Asia (from 1993) and a partner of Cazenove and Co (1995). Under her leadership, Cazenove Asia became a successful independent Asian investment bank.

Since 2017, Ms Tan has focussed on Board positions in both corporates and charities. She sits on the Boards of Manulife Financial Corporation, CLP Holdings and Hang Lung Group. In January 2022, she stepped down from the board of Link Asset Management, the largest Asian REIT, after serving the full nine-year term. She was also a board member of HSBC Insurance and Home Credit from 2018 to 2021.

Ms Tan supports several charitable organisations. She was a Council member of Oxfam Hong Kong from 2008 to 2017, serving as Vice Chairman from 2012 to 2017, and is now a Senior Advisor. Since 2014, she has been on the Board of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation, which is committed to promoting creativity in Hong Kong youth. She also sits on the Advisory Council of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Hong Kong and Macau), joining in 2019.

Over the past 20 years, Ms Tan has made a significant contribution to Hong Kong through her public service roles. In 2016, she was Chair of the Hong Kong Association of Banks and Director of the Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Ltd. In the same year, she was appointed to the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee’s Sub-committee on Currency Board Operations of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and was a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. In 2015, she joined the Risk Management Committee of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. From 2014 to 2017, she was Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers and a member of the Banking Advisory Committee.

She was on the Listing Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2015, and a member of the Takeovers & Mergers Panel and the Takeovers Appeal Committee from 2001 to 2013.   

The Chief Executive of the HKSAR appointed her to the Standing Committee on Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service, from 2015 to 2020. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 

Ms Tan has been honoured twice by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong at its annual Women of Influence awards, being named “Professional of the Year” in 2015 and “Leading Woman on Boards” in 2020.

Ms Tan joined the ACGA Council in 2022.  

Hiroaki is Founder and CEO/CIO of Solaris Management, Inc., an investment manager focused on Japanese equities and bonds with an emphasis on corporate governance, ESG and corporate events. 

Solaris engages directly with portfolio companies on governance themes including parent-subsidiary listings, cross-shareholdings and TSE capital efficiency initiatives, working alongside management on corporate transformation and shareholder communication.

Hiroaki has served on a number of expert panels in Japan on corporate governance and investor-shareholder relationships, including METI’s “Ito Review” and the Active Fund Manager Subcommittee of the Forum for Integrated Reporting. He has been engaged with ACGA for close to two decades and joined the ACGA Council in 2022.

He has more than 20 years of experience in M&A and investment management across a range of asset classes, including public equities and bonds, REITs, private equity and loans, credit, and physical assets.

Hiroaki is former Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Japan Investment Corporation, a government-affiliated fund. Prior to JIC, he was Managing Director and Tokyo Branch Manager at LIM Advisors, a Hong Kong-based multi-strategy investment fund.

Previously, he worked at Olympus Capital Holdings Asia, a private equity firm, where he led investments and portfolio company management in Japan. Before that, he was with Goldman Sachs in New York and Tokyo, advising clients on M&A and corporate finance transactions in the financial, high-tech and transportation sectors, and served at the Japanese Ministry of Finance as policy officer for the national budget and price policy.

Hiroaki holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Tokyo

Mr Toya joined the ACGA Council in 2022.

Jeffrey R. Williams (韦杰夫) is a corporate director and independent consultant with over 40 years experience in the financial services and education industries in Greater China.

In 2004, Williams became the first foreigner to lead a Chinese bank -- Shenzhen Development Bank --since the founding of the PRC.  Previously, he had served in various roles for Citibank in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and as the Taiwan general manager for American Express Company and Standard Chartered Bank.  Most recently, Williams was the inaugural Executive Director and General Manager of Harvard Center (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Harvard University’s base of operations in China.  

In 1979-80 Williams taught at Peking University, shortly after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the United States. 

Williams has extensive experience at the board level in private and listed companies as well as non-profit organizations in Greater China and globally.  Currently, he is an advisor to UBS Asset Management in Hong Kong and China, and a director of UBS SDIC Fund Management Company, Ltd. and UBS Asset Management (China) Ltd., as well as an independent director at PharmaEssentia Corporation.  He also volunteers on a number of non-profit boards: as a trustee of the CMB Foundation, as a director of Koo Foundation Sun -Yat-Sen Cancer Center, as a trustee of Carleton-Willard Village, and as a council member of the Asian Corporate Governance Association.  Williams formerly served an independent director at China Universal Asset Management, a Shanghai-based mutual fund company.  He was chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and chairman of Taipei American School.  He has been the President of the Harvard alumni clubs of Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Williams graduated magna cum laude in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard College in 1978 and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982 and is currently an associate at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.  He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Yuelin T. Yang is an accomplished global business leader with 39 years of C-suite experience managing P&L and spanning governance, finance, partnership management and legal roles. He is widely respected for his influential global networks of relationships with decisionmakers across corporate, sustainability, family business, family office, and institutional investment sectors. 

Acknowledged as a thought leader and trusted by these decision makers, he is uniquely positioned to bridge these communities. Yuelin regularly convenes and moderates dialogue among them, and between investors and corporates and family businesses, on important board level issues (sustainability, AI and geopolitics) as well as governance of family offices and family owned compared to widely-held companies. 

Currently, Yuelin manages a portfolio of board and advisory roles at (a) the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute and (b) the Asian Corporate Governance Association, whose investor members manage $25 trillion and $40 trillion, respectively, (c) Verlinvest Asia, the family office of a Belgian AB InBev shareholder family, (d) NUS Business School’s Centre of Governance & Sustainability and (e) The 1990 Institute, a leading US-China think tank. He has managed all aspects of joint ventures from sourcing, structuring, negotiating, managing, to buyouts across five major JVs (NYSE-listed Chevron and GATX, TSE-listed Mitsui and Modec, and a Chinese SOE).

Earlier, Yuelin practiced intellectual property law in Silicon Valley for nine years at leading law firms and as Associate General Counsel at Acer Computers, reporting directly to founder Stan Shih. In 1995, he transitioned to Asia to join his late uncle’s family business. 

Privileged to be situated at the intersection of institutional and family capital, investors and corporates, family and widely held companies, and East-West, Yuelin values diverse views and is sought after for his perspectives.  He was honored to be the keynote speaker at the 2025 Wee Cho Yaw Business Forum on 10 April (22 minute video).

He received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a JD from Stanford Law School. Mr Yang joined the ACGA Council in 2015.

Linda Tsao Yang retired from the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA) in November 2014 after serving as Chair from 2001 to 2014. During her 13-year tenure, global membership of ACGA grew to over 100. Among its members are major sovereign wealth and public pension funds. Assets under management by ACGA's institutional investor members exceed US$25 trillion.

She served as the US Ambassador and Executive Director to the Board of Directors of The Asian Development Bank from 1993 to 1999. She was the first woman appointed by the United States Government to the board of a multilateral financial institution and the first Executive Director appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the US Senate.

At her retirement in December 1999, US Treasury awarded her the Distinguished Service Medal of the department. The award citation stated, “She has made a significant contribution to the advancement of US policy objectives at the Bank. She also spearheaded the adoption of important new Bank policies on reduction of poverty, good governance, anti-corruption, disclosure of information, and collaboration with non-governmental organizations, among many others. Ambassador Yang has also been one of the main forces behind the strengthening of the Bank's private sector operations and she has led the effort to put in place a Bank-wide approach to private sector development. Ambassador Yang played a key role in defining the Bank’s participation in the international response to the Asian economic crisis, including pushing for early and expanded attention to social impacts and social development. She has provided strong fiduciary and operational oversight of Bank operations and has worked to make the Bank more transparent and accountable.”

Linda was an independent non-executive director on the board of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) 2003–2010. The Founding Chair of Strategy and Budget Committee of the board, she led the preparation of the first and second 5-year growth and development plans for the bank. In 2008, Hong Kong Institute of Directors honored her with its Director of the Year Award (Hang Seng Index -Independent Non-Executive Director), and she was awarded Honorary Citizen of Shanghai in September 2016.

She was the first woman to serve as California's Savings and Loan Commissioner and the first minority appointed to the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) where she served as Vice-President and Vice-Chairman of its Investment Committee. She was an invited panelist on international economy at the Economic Summit hosted by then President-Elect Bill Clinton in December 1992 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Linda is a member of the International Council of the Bretton Woods Committee in Washington DC, the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and an advisory board member of the Center on Asia Pacific Policy, RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California. She co-chairs the Chang-Lin Tien Committee of The Asia Foundation in San Francisco. She serves as Co-chair of the Membership Committee of The Committee of 100, a non-profit, national organisation of Chinese Americans dedicated to promoting constructive, mutually beneficial relations between the United States and China and full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of life in the United States.

She was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984, 1988, and 1992 and a member of the Fairness Commission of the Democratic National Committee in Washington DC, A graduate of St John’s University in Shanghai and Columbia Business School in New York, Ambassador Yang was married to the late Professor An Tzu Yang of the University of California in Davis, California. She is the mother of two sons.