Investing off the beaten track

Sullivan (top) and Smith (bottom): CalPERS first prompted the directors of Lombard to seek value investments in Asia where it now benefits from managing money of powerful locals

FEW PRIVATE-EQUITY funds operating in Asia have stranger origins than Lombard Investments. Originally based in San Francisco, it started life in the mid-1980s investing in local US radio stations aimed at ethnic minorities. Just how it found itself in Asia buying stakes in golf club makers in Taiwan and shrimp processors in Thailand is an interesting tale in itself.