LEADERSHIP
Charles Brown
Chairman
Charles Brown, 3rd generation, born and based in Hong Kong worked in Spain between 1988 and 1990 for Alcazar Immobiliaria S.A. (land trading and property development) and Hispana Holdings S.A. (industrial holding company in railway, timber and agriculture investments), both listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange. Mr Brown returned to Hong Kong in 1991 to work in the family property business and started his own company General Waste Co Limited, a waste to energy gasification of municipal waste in Malaysia. The business was sold to a Malaysian construction consortium.
In 1995, opportunities in the railway industry led to the founding of Asiarails Limited as an advisory business and private equity investment company, which was later renamed as Lake House.
Mr Brown is the Chairman Emeritus of the United Nations Peace Development Foundation in China. He holds a degree in Architecture and Law from Cambridge University and speaks a number of Asian and European languages.
David Timblick
CEO
David Timblick, based in Hong Kong, joined Lake House in July 2019 following his role as Vice-Chairman and Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey where he worked on M&A and debt restructuring and had P&L responsibility for the business. Prior to this, David was Managing Director and Head of Lazard’s Asian Investment Banking in charge of the advisory business, operations and the establishment of Lazard’s private placement group in Asia. Before that, he had roles as manager and consultant at Korea Merchant Banking Corporation and Arthur Andersen Consulting.
David holds an MA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University as well as an MBA from INSEAD.
Torsten Hartmann
Managing Director – Head of Europe
Torsten Hartmann, based in London, joined Lake House in January 2019, having previously run a P2B fintech company as CEO. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director and Head of Real Estate for a British Family Office overseeing AuM of c. £1.5bn. In this role, he originated, financed, repositioned and structured corporate, commercial and residential investment and development opportunities in the UK, North America and across Europe. Before that, he was a Vice President within the financial industry at Credit Suisse-Situs, London, focusing on finance, origination, due diligence and underwriting on property transactions worth in excess of more than £3bn. Prior to that, he worked for CB Richard Ellis in London’s West End and City Teams.
Torsten holds a Masters in Architecture (Dipl-Ing), an MSc in Real Estate Finance & Investment from Cass Business School, London, and is a chartered Surveyor (MRICS).
Eugene Kyim
Chief Investment Officer
Eugene Kyim, based in London, joined Lake House in 2021 as Chief Investment Officer. Previously, Eugene was CEO of the asset management business of Apollo’s Global Management’s EPF funds, advising on AUM of over $13 Bn. He has over 20 years’ investing experience at Apollo, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley Merchant Banking, and Lehman Brothers in private capital and real assets, ranging from several $100 Mn to several Billon USD. Eugene worked in London, New York, Tokyo & Hong Kong; sector experience includes metals & mining, oil & gas upstream, financial & business services, TMT, general industrial, shipping and real assets. He’s also a Board Member of KKR-owned HipoGes Iberia. Earlier in his career, Eugene was an investment banker and strategic management consultant.
Eugene graduated with an MBA from INSEAD, France and has an AB from Harvard University in the United States.