This was the third international trip Hatteras has led during the last two years to give advisors inside access to the private equity companies the fund invests in, with the ultimate aim of offering a better understanding of the firm's overall investment process.
(For video coverage, click here.)
Hatteras has targeted 40% of a new global private equity fund for China and India, which have rapidly growing middle-class populations. As the middle class grows in these countries and demand for new goods and services increases, Hatteras feels new investment opportunities will continue to emerge in the consumer, retail, educational, financial services and infrastructure sectors.
"We want to capture the growth that private companies in these markets are experiencing," Worthington says. "We believe private companies in India and China present great investment opportunities in the coming years and expect some of these to become midsize to large companies over the long run.
"Our financial advisor clients rely on us to do the due diligence for them," he adds.
Hatteras also has found that the quality of the private equity funds in these countries has improved and are often run and managed by sophisticated investment professionals who studied and worked in the United States before returning to Asia.
"We will focus on small and midsize private equity funds that play an important role with their portfolio companies in providing expert management, corporate governance oversight and access to a growing pool of new talent," Worthington adds.
"This is not just about a financial investment, like it would be in the public market," he adds. "It is about private equity managers taking a sizable stake in the company to accelerate growth."