Terence CHAN Ho-wah
Dr Terence CHAN Ho-wah
Honorary University Fellow (2024)
Dr Terence Chan Ho-wah is a prominent entrepreneur and business leader. With the motto of “embracing challenges”, he has always been fearless in face of difficulties, striving to find solutions proactively, and achieving breakthroughs throughout his exceptional career.
Dr Chan is currently the Chairman of Bay Area Capital Partners Limited. He has a wealth of experience in private equity, real estate and infrastructure assets, as well as listed company merger and acquisition. He serves as the Independent Non-executive Director of three listed companies on the Main Board of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, namely Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group Limited, CASH Financial Services Group Limited, and Wang On Properties Limited. Apart from focusing on business endeavours, Dr Chan has been dedicated to serving the community and fostering the development of education.
Endowed with a visionary foresight, Dr Chan has long recognised real estate and financial services as key drivers of economic growth. Upon graduation from university, he took a role at a small-scale surveying firm in order to familiarise himself with real estate sector. Seeing opportunities in the Mainland, he volunteered for a stint in Guangzhou, where he became adept at overcoming different challenges early on in his career.
This experience prepared Dr Chan well for his next role. In the late 1990s, as the municipal of Tianjin underwent rapid development, the state-owned enterprise Tianjin Development Holdings Limited sought a fresh mind to manage and redevelop its land bank and owned properties. Dr Chan grasped the timely opportunity and secured the appointment. Over an impressive 11-year tenure, he thrived in the complex work environment, helming the company’s capital market exercises, risk management and real estate investment.
Dr Chan’s distinguished career progressed further as the Chinese economy boomed ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He relocated to Shanghai to join Grosvenor Group, one of the world’s largest diversified property groups. In this role, Dr Chan took charge of the Group’s real estate fund management business in Asia, and successfully closed out numerous international real estate investment and financing projects.
Having established a well-deserved reputation for his achievements, Dr Chan started a new chapter in his career and founded his own firm in Shanghai. Drawing upon his insights in construction, investment, and governance, he established Howah Capital Holdings Limited in 2013. In a demonstration of his business acumen, Dr Chan closed two deals within the first few months, marking one of the most memorable moments in his stellar career. Under Dr Chan’s able leadership, the firm continued to grow and formed a joint-venture with a listed company to establish a real estate fund management platform to serve multinational financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds, advising them on high value-added investment management strategy as well as assisting them to undergo urban-regeneration property conversion.
An industrious learner, Dr Chan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Real Estate. He also obtained a Doctor of Economics degree, a designation of Chartered Financial Analyst, a professional fellow membership in CPA Australia, and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
Dr Chan has always committed himself to serving society. As Vice President and Secretary General of Federation of Hong Kong-Shanghai Associations, he is keen to offer his wise counsel on promoting exchange and collaboration in technology, environmental protection, economy and trade, and green finance between Hong Kong and Shanghai. He is a member of the Election Committee of the HKSAR. Currently, he serves as Vice-Chairman of the Security and Guarding Services Industry Authority, and a member of the Witness Protection Review Board under the Security Bureau of the HKSAR Government. He is also a member of the Mainland Opportunities Committee of the Financial Services Development Council. In addition, Dr Chan is Deputy Chairman of the Council at The Education University of Hong Kong, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction at The University of Hong Kong. Dr Chan is also actively involved in community service, as he assumes the position of Deputy Chairman of District Fire Safety Committee (Central & Western District) and Chairman of Lantau District Junior Police Call (JPC) Honorary President Council.
Dr Chan is a staunch supporter of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). In his tenure as a Council and Court Member of the University from 2016 to 2021, he has witnessed several major milestones of the University and he is particularly proud of the international recognition that HKBU has achieved over time. He is currently an Honorary Court Member of the University and the Entrepreneur Committee Member of the HKBU Foundation.
With his expertise in real asset and infrastructure investment, Dr Chan envisions a promising future for Hong Kong. He advocates pooling resources from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and increasing professional training at higher education institutions. He also encourages the community to broaden its perspectives through cross-disciplinary thinking. Consistent with his lifelong motto of “Embracing Challenges”, he believes that by taking on new challenges with confidence and leveraging its strengths, Hong Kong will continue to thrive and prosper into an even brighter tomorrow.