OUR INVESTMENT TEAM

Nick Payne joined Comgest in 2025 and is an Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in Global Emerging Market equities.

Prior to joining Comgest, Nick was Head of Global Emerging Market equities at Jupiter Asset Management in London for seven years. He previously worked at Nomura Asset Management and was a Partner at Rexiter Capital Management, a specialist emerging markets boutique, from 1999 to 2012. His career in emerging markets began at Kleinwort Benson Investment Management in 1996.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Commerce and German from the University of Birmingham (UK) and is an Associate of the Society of Investment Professionals (ASIP), the UK’s forerunner to the CFA, now affiliated with CFA UK, the local chapter of the CFA Institute.

David Raper joined Comgest in 2002 and is an Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in Asia Pacific ex Japan equities as well as a member of the Comgest Group's Executive and Investment Committees.

David leads the firm’s Asian research efforts and co-leads Comgest’s Asia Pacific ex Japan and Asia ex Japan strategies. He is a key contributor to the Emerging Markets strategy. Prior to joining Comgest, he worked in Hong Kong for ING Barings covering Asian equities from 1999-2001.

David is a CFA^® charterholder and graduated from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a second major in Marketing.

Bhuvnesh Singh joined Comgest in 2016 and is a Singapore-based Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in Asian equities, including Indian equities.

Bhuvnesh co-leads the Asia ex Japan, Asia Pac ex Japan and India strategies. He visits company premises, compiles in-depth research reports and contributes to Comgest’s India, Asia, Emerging Markets and Global strategies. In 1999, Bhuvnesh started his career working at Credit Suisse where he was an Asia equity Analyst. He went on to join Barclays in 2011 as Head of India Research, co-managing the Indian equity business.

Bhuvnesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and a Master’s degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.

Slabbert van Zyl joined Comgest in 2014 and is an Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in Global Emerging Markets equities.

He co-leads the GEM, GEM ex-China and GEM Plus strategies. Slabbert contributes to the investment team's research coverage by selecting diverse quality growth GEM companies. Prior to joining Comgest, Slabbert qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and gained six years’ experience as a South African Investment Analyst in Cape Town.

Slabbert graduated from the University of Pretoria with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting before gaining a post-graduate qualification in the same field from the University of Johannesburg. He is a CFA^® charterholder.

Xing Xu joined Comgest in 2020 and is an ESG Analyst and Portfolio Manager responsible for ESG coverage of Asian and Global Emerging Markets.

Xing co-leads the management of the GEM Plus equity strategy. She meets and engages with company management alongside members of Comgest’s investment team and prepares in-depth ESG reports. Xing was an intern at Comgest prior to joining the firm. She has also undertaken internships in China at Fosun Group, working on strategic investment deals in the technology and financial sectors, and at GF Securities, a leading financial services company in China, within their equity research department.

Xing is fluent in Mandarin, holds Master’s degrees in Management and Financial Markets from EDHEC Business School (France) as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in International Economics and Trade from the University of Nottingham (UK & China).

Jimmy Yang joined Comgest in 2019 and is an Analyst specialising in Greater China equities.

Jimmy began his financial career at China Renaissance Securities in Hong Kong where he held the role of Equity Associate Analyst specialised in the Asia Technology and Internet sectors. Prior to joining Comgest, Jimmy worked at T. Rowe Price Investment Management where he built, maintained and updated financial models for Asia Tech and Internet companies and assisted the senior Analysts with deeper coverage of these sectors.

Jimmy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (with Honours) from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is fluent in Mandarin.

Baijing Yu joined Comgest in 2011 and is a Hong Kong-based Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in Greater China equities.

Baijing was named co-lead of the China strategy in 2014. A native Mandarin speaker, she started her career in 2007 as an investment banking Analyst of the TMT sector at the Royal Bank of Scotland in New York and then Hong Kong, where she covered global private equity firms in the Asia Pacific region. In 2010 she joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a senior Analyst, then Associate, covering the Asia TMT sector.

Baijing holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor).