Cheah Cheng Hye

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Cheah.
Cheah Cheng Hye
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese謝清海
JyutpingZe6 Cing1 Hoi2
Hokkien POJChiā Chheng-hái
Tâi-lôTsiā Tshing-hái


Dato’ Seri Cheah Cheng Hye is a professional investor and entrepreneur who co-founded and chaired Value Partners Group Ltd., one of the leading asset management firms in Hong Kong. He was in charge of Value Partners’ asset management and business operations from the firm’s founding in February 1993 until January 2025, when he retired with the title of Honorary Chairman, remaining a substantial shareholder and retaining his Board seat.

Since then, Dato’ Seri Cheah has managed Cheah Capital Ltd., a single-family office in Hong Kong and Singapore which he set up to invest his personal assets. Dato' Seri Cheah is considered one of the leading practitioners of value-investing in Asia and beyond. Value Partners and he personally have received numerous awards- a total of more than 280 professional awards and prizes during the period 1993 to 2024.

Dato’ Seri Cheah has served since 2017 on the Board of Directors of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which owns the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Metals Exchange. He serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director (INED) and he also chairs the group’s Investment Committee.

Numerous awards were received by Dato’ Seri Cheah personally, including Asia Asset Management’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2023 and a 2021 award as one of the top 25 leaders in the Asian asset management industry over a quarter century. In the Asian Benchmark Survey 2003, Dato’ Seri Cheah was voted “Most Astute Investor” while in 2007, Finance Asia named him “Capital Markets Person of the Year.”

In 2007, Dato’ Seri Cheah led Value Partners to become Hong Kong’s first listed asset management company.

Dato' Seri Cheah Cheng Hye was ranked as the 2,623nd richest person on the Forbes World's Billionaires List in 2025, with a net worth of US$1.2 billion as of 14 April 2025. In 2025, Dato' Seri Cheah ranked No. 20 on Malaysia's 50 Richest List published by Forbes. He has been on the Malaysian list continuously since 2019.

Prior to starting Value Partners, Dato’ Seri Cheah worked at Morgan Grenfell Group in Hong Kong, where, in 1989, he founded the company’s Hong Kong/China equities research department as the Head of Research and proprietary trader for the firm. Prior to this, he was a financial journalist with the Asian Wall Street Journal and Far Eastern Economic Review, where he reported on politics, business and finance across East and Southeast Asia. Dato’ Seri Cheah served for nine years (from 1993 to 2002) on the Board of Directors (as an Independent Non-Executive Director) of Hong Kong-listed JCG Holdings, a leading microfinance company (a subsidiary of Public Bank Malaysia renamed from 2006 as Public Financial Holdings).

Born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1954, Cheah attended the Penang Free School. Leaving school with a high school diploma in 1971, he joined The Star (Malaysia) newspaper as a reporter, subeditor and editorial writer. In 1974, he travelled from Malaysia to Hong Kong and became a journalist with The Standard, HK-TVB News, The Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

In August 2016, Cheah was conferred the Darjah Gemilang Pangkuan Negeri (DGPN), one of the highest civil honours granted by the state of Penang, Malaysia. The award carries the title "Dato' Seri".

Dato’ Seri Cheah is a member of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (“HKUST”) Business School Advisory Council, a Senior Advisor for the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Hong Kong and Macau), a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (“HKTDC”) Belt and Road & Greater Bay Area Committee, a member of the HKTDC Mainland Business Advisory Committee, a Fellow of the Hong Kong Management Association and a member of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance (“MAoF”). In 2025, he became a Patron of Our Hong Kong Foundation. Dato’ Seri Cheah also served as an Honorary Advisor for the 2026 edition of the Asian Financial Forum held in Hong Kong.

Early life and career

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Born into an ethnic Chinese family in Penang, Malaysia, in 1954, Cheah attended the Penang Free School. After graduation, he joined The Star (Malaysia) newspaper as subeditor and editorial writer.[1] In 1974, he travelled from Malaysia to Hong Kong and later became a financial journalist with the Hong Kong Standard, the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review.[2]

In 1989, Cheah became head of research and proprietary trader at UK-based brokerage Morgan, Grenfell & Co. In 1993, Cheah and V-Nee Yeh co-founded Value Partners and started its first investment fund – Value Partners Classic Fund. In 2007, Value Partners became the first value-investing fund management company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock code: 806 HK).[3]

Proponent of value investing

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Cheah is a proponent of value investing.[4] While Cheah has been influenced by the value-investing idea that was developed by Columbia Business School professors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in their text Security Analysis, he adopted the method for Asian markets.[2] In 2010, he was invited by the Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Doddd Investing of the Columbia Business School to give a keynote speech, titled "Value-investing: Making it work in China and Asia", at the annual Graham & Dodd Breakfast.[5]

Recognition

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  • 2021: Named by Asia Asset Management as one of the Top 25 Leaders over the past 25 years in Asia’s asset management industry.[citation needed]
  • 2018: Value Partners Group was named on Forbes Asia’s "Best Under A Billion". The company’s Chairman and co-founder, Cheah Cheng Hye, talks about how he has grown his business to become one of the region’s top-performing public companies.[citation needed]
  • 2018: Received the "Outstanding figure of Hong Kong Stock Connect" award from Mainland China's Securities Times 证券时报 - a leading financial and securities newspaper ran by the People's Daily.
  • 2017: Appointed as an Independent Non-executive Director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEX”).[6]
  • 2016: Conferred Darjah Gemilang Pangkuan Negeri (DGPN) that carries the title “Dato’ Seri" by the government of Penang, Malaysia[7]
  • 2015: Appointed as a member of the Financial services Development Council (FSDC) by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government[8]
  • 2013: Conferred the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN) that carries the title "Dato’ " by the government of Penang, Malaysia[9]
  • 2013: Appointed as a member of the New Business Committee of the Financial services Development Council (FSDC)[10]
  • 2013: Received an Honorary Fellowship from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for his contribution to the university and society[11]
  • 2011: Awarded "Best of the Best Region Awards – CIO of the Year in Asia" by Asia Asset Management [12]
  • 2009-2010: Named in the top "25 Most Influential People in Asian Hedge Funds" by AsianInvestors[13]

Cheah has also been given nicknames by the Chinese media including "Goldfinger" (金手指)[14] and "the Warren Buffett of Asia" (亞洲畢菲特).[15]

References

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  1. ^ Lim Ai Lee. "Former The Star journalist Cheah makes it big in hedge fund management", The Star. 2 October 2011
  2. ^ a b Justin Doebele. "The 'stupid-clever' approach", Forbes.com. 30 September 2002.
  3. ^ "Bloomberg"
  4. ^ Sunny Ng. "Morningstar's Take", Morningstar. 29 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Graham and Dodd Breakfast, The Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School Archived 28 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine"
  6. ^ "Independent Non-executive Director". www.hkexgroup.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Cheah Cheng Hye conferred civil honours in Malaysia - Asia Asset Management - The Journal of Investments & Pensions". www.asiaasset.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Appointments to FSDC". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Pandikar Amin heads honour roll", The Star Online. 26 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Appointments to committees of Financial Services Development Council announced". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  11. ^ "HKUST Confers Honorary Fellowships on Four Distinguished Leaders", 27 June 2013
  12. ^ "Asia Asset Management 2011 Winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  13. ^ Rita Raagas De Ramos. "Cheah Cheng-hye Steers Value Partners Through The Crisis", AsianInvestors. 4 May 2009.
  14. ^ "謝清海加碼追 上藥候回調吸". Mingpao. 22 August 2012.
  15. ^ "謝清海自認五十九分，才能邁向一百分". NowNews. January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013.

Further reading

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  • The Value Investors: Lessons from the World’s Top Fund Managers, Ronald Chan, Wiley; 1st edition (11 September 2012), ISBN 978-0-9664461-2-8