Had it not been for Britain's long period of imperial rule in Asia, it is unlikely that the founding partners of Woodstone Capital Partners, David Law and Nikhil Singh, would ever have crossed paths, let alone joined forces to launch one of Asia's newest boutique advisory businesses.
The distinguished family histories of both of them have been irrevocably moulded by Britain's presence in Asia.
Heirs of the empire Singh has big boots to fill. He is, after all, a grandson of Jaipal Singh, a prominent advocate of Indian independence who was also a founding member of the Lok Sabah – the Indian legislature's lower house – an Oxford University hockey blue and captain of India's 1928 gold medal-winning Olympics hockey team.
David Law's grandfather, Henry Robert Stopford Law, played rugby for the British Army, served in India under the British Raj and was a senior officer under the White Rajah of Sarawak.
Both Law and Singh recently left Swiss Re, where they first met. Law, 42, ran Asian corporate finance for Swiss Re subsidiary Fox-Pitt, Kelton - a specialist stockbroking and advisory firm covering banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions.