Graham Lean, the company’s founder, has worked in SE Asia for 24 years, and has 25 years experience of investment and advisory work, for the past 10 years focussed exclusively on the creative and media industries. Before establishing the company he was based in the UK where he worked with media companies across different creative and media sectors, and advised the Finland-based CIM Venture Fund for Creative Industries.
Mr. Lean previously lived in Thailand for 17 years, where in 1986 he co-founded SEAMICO, an investment advisory company which managed an early stage venture capital company funded by institutional investors including the Rockefeller group, the UK Government’s Commonwealth Development Corporation, and an investment arm of the IndoSuez Group. It also raised and managed a listed investment fund, took over a licensed stockbroking company, and was itself listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1996 (as Seamico Securities). Subsequently Mr. Lean ran a London listed direct investment fund which invested in unlisted companies in Thailand.
Before founding SEAMICO, Mr. Lean established a video production company in Bangkok. The early part of his career was spent working with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, mainly on field assignments in Thailand (1975-79) and the Philippines (1981-2). He has an MBA from INSEAD, is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the INSEAD Singapore campus, and is a member of the Advisory board for the Institute for Capitalising on Creativity, University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Graham Bell has worked all over the world. He was previously the International Brand Manager for Rothman’s International PLC, in charge of the Group’s largest brand worldwide, and responsible for the company’s sponsorship programme which included Formula 1, Formula 500, round-the-world yacht racing, aerobatics and several major golf events. From 1993-2000 he was the Chairman and Managing Director of Rothmans of Pall Mall, a public listed company, during which period he increased shareholder value by over 50% and greatly expanded Rothmans’ operations in the Asia Pacific into new markets such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.
He is Executive Chairman of Amanda Capital Services Pte Ltd, an investment company which specializes in Vietnam with a diverse portfolio of investments covering the oil and gas sector, shipbuilding, seafood, education and media. Mr Bell has worked in Vietnam since 1997.
He is also Chairman of a boutique marketing and branding strategic consultancy for companies operating in Asia. Other directorships include Marine Claims Office of Asia Pte Ltd; M62 Asia Pte Ltd, a presentation excellence company; and Dutech Holdings Ltd, a China based company listed in Singapore specialising in ATM safes and related software technologies.
He was previously a director of the Government owned Sentosa Development Corporation, and head of the Marketing and Brand Committee. He was Vice President of Sentosa Golf Club until October 2006 and was the Chairman for the organising committee of the Barclays Singapore Open golf tournament. He currently serves on the sports sub-committee of the Singapore Totalisator Board.
