Management appointments also include Joanne Chan as deputy CFO, Benny Ho as head of business development, Brian Chan as VP of operations and projects, and Kenneth Shek as director of project management
Animoca Brands today announced the appointment of several new personnel to senior management positions, including Alan Lau (formerly CEO of WeSure, Tencent’s insurance arm) as chief business officer, Minh Do (formerly chief resource officer of Animoca Brands, general manager of GLG Greater China) as co-chief operating officer, and other senior management appointments detailed below.
Alan Lau
Chief Business Officer
As chief business officer, Alan will oversee and provide support to Animoca Brands’ more than 340 portfolio companies and lead M&A and business development.
Before joining Animoca Brands, Alan was chairman and CEO of Tencent WeSure, a fintech company that he co-founded to offer disruptive, affordable Internet insurance to WeChat users. WeSure insured over 100 million families in China, and is ranked the #1 insurtech platform by Hurun Institute. Prior to Tencent, he was Asia head for McKinsey Digital, supporting both Big Tech companies and sector incumbents to execute their digital strategy. Before entering the tech space, Alan was in corporate finance, first at Citibank and then at McKinsey where he was the Greater China head for the Corporate Finance Practice, in charge of M&A and deal structuring support. Alan is a recognized leader in the art space, sitting on multiple museum boards including being the vice-chair of M+ in Hong Kong and co-chair of the Asia committees at both Tate and The Guggenheim. Alan obtained his master’s degree in Engineering from Oxford University.
Evan Auyang, president of Animoca Brands, commented: “We are excited to have Alan join the Animoca Brands family at this pivotal moment of the company’s development. Alan brings to us both the depth and breadth of business experience from Tencent WeSure, where he built the business from the ground up, as well as nearly two decades of experience at McKinsey. He provides valuable perspective and expertise as we look to further synergize our portfolio of over 340 investments.”
Minh Do
Co-Chief Operating Officer
In his new position as co-chief operating officer, Minh is responsible for the major scaling initiatives that will enable Animoca Brands to continue to maintain its leadership position in the blockchain gaming industry.
Before joining Animoca Brands as chief resource officer, Minh was the general manager of the Greater China businesses at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), a global information services and consulting company headquartered in New York City. He sat on the global operating leadership team and was a core member of GLG’s APAC executive leadership team. During his time at GLG Minh drove business expansions across China, India, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Minh was also responsible for GLG’s APAC technology strategy and led the company’s China risk management committee.
Minh started his career at Linklaters LLP and is a dual qualified attorney (Hong Kong and New York). He is a passionate blockchain advocate and early investor in the Web3 industry and a multi-time entrepreneur. Minh graduated from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Laws and obtained a PCLL from the University of Hong Kong.
“Minh initially joined us in the capacity of chief resource officer and quickly stepped into the role of co-chief operating officer. He possesses exceptionally sharp organization development skills, business acumen, and operational know-how, as demonstrated by his impeccable track record of leadership and business impact,” said Evan Auyang. “Being a Web3 native before joining Animoca Brands, Minh brings unique insights, experience, and operational and executional discipline to help us scale up our business.”
Alan, Minh, co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu, group president Evan Auyang, CEO of North America Robby Yung and chief operating officer Arnold Concepción comprise Animoca Brands’ newly formed Executive Committee, which governs major strategic, organizational, and operational decisions of the company.
Animoca Brands has also made the following appointments:
Joanne Chan
Deputy Chief Financial Officer
As deputy CFO, Joanne is responsible for driving finance transformation efforts to upgrade the financial systems and capabilities of Animoca Brands and build strong partnerships with the company’s business units and subsidiaries. Joanne oversees various functions including accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax, enterprise risk management, and data and analytics.
Prior to joining Animoca Brands, Joanne was the senior vice president of Finance at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG). During her time she built GLG’s APAC and EMEA finance teams, and created performance management frameworks, budget planning methodologies, financial and operational reporting systems, and data and analytics capabilities to enhance business intelligence and performance. She was part of both the global operating leadership and regional executive leadership teams. Previously, Joanne worked at the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) in Hong Kong across strategy, planning, operations, and corporate governance roles, and at a New York management consulting firm serving global financial services clients. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Benny Ho
Head of Business Development
Benny Ho has been appointed to the role of head of business development for new ventures, where he is in charge of identifying and developing Web3 opportunities of high strategic importance to the company.
Benny brings over 15 years of experience in the areas of strategy, operations, and investments. Before joining Animoca Brands, he spent nearly a decade at Tencent, leading its global expansion across social media, streaming music, games, and fintech, where his roles included being assistant president of WeChat Pay’s cross-border payment business and president director of PT Tencent Indonesia. Before that, he was managing director of Hong Kong for Rocket Internet, following a career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Benny holds a Bachelor of Art in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University.
Brian Chan
Vice President of Operations and Projects
Brian Chan has been appointed to the role of vice president of operations and projects, taking charge of strategic planning, leading capability development and operational projects, and driving continuous improvements in the company’s governance and organization processes.
Brian brings over 10 years of experience in strategy, operations, and corporate finance. Prior to joining Animoca Brands, he was at McKinsey & Company, where he primarily advised financial institutions on digital transformation, growth strategy, and operations excellence. Prior to McKinsey, Brian was at DBS Bank and before that at Citibank, where he held multiple positions in the areas of debt capital markets and corporate banking. He obtained his undergraduate’s degree with a dual major in Industrial Engineering and Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from INSEAD.
Kenneth Shek
Director of Project Management
Kenneth has been appointed to the position of director of project management, where he will work closely with the Business Development team to drive and execute priority Web3 projects for the company.
Kenneth has over 10 years of experience in venture building, strategy, and operations. His leadership experience covers digital transformation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data strategy and governance, and e-commerce in consumer business industries. Before joining Animoca Brands, he led Accenture’s Applied Intelligence practice and drove Web3 initiatives for consumer businesses in Hong Kong. Prior to that, he co-founded an AI SaaS startup to research and develop customer lifecycle management and supply chain management products using deep learning and machine learning. Kenneth obtained his undergraduate degree in Accounting at the University of Southern California.
“With the leadership appointments of Joanne, Benny, Brian, and Kenneth spanning finance, business development, operations, and project management, we are significantly stepping up our organization capabilities and know-how across several of our most important business areas,” said Evan Auyang.
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “We have made considerable progress in developing the business of Animoca Brands this year, including completing a number of important acquisitions, investing in over 50 promising companies, cementing prominent partnerships, and maintaining our powerful leadership position in Web3. I am therefore both very excited and honoured to welcome such world-class professionals as we continue our mission to grow the open metaverse. They are not only of extremely high caliber but are also deeply mission-aligned with our efforts at Animoca Brands.”
