Ms Tan Lay Peng

Ms Tan Lay Peng is Principal Director, Wealth Management and Investments. She leads the strategic direction, growth and development of WMI’s Wealth Management and Investments programmes, including the flagship Dalio Market Principles programme series, and oversees key client relationships, strategic partnerships and the geographic expansion of these programmes.

Ms Lay Peng brings depth of experience in Wealth Management and Private Banking. Before joining WMI, Ms Lay Peng was the Head of Family Advisory, Family Office Competence Centre and Client Development for Southeast Asia at UBS Singapore. In UBS, Ms Lay Peng has led teams of client advisors covering Indonesia and other Southeast Asia markets before moving to cover global family office clients. She was instrumental in setting up the Family Office Competence Centre in UBS in 2021 to help UHNW families set up and run their family offices, and facilitate the bank’s continuous engagement through programs such as UBS FO Dialogues, UBS FO Labs and UBS FO Academy. She has developed new services and solutions in UBS tailored to help UHNW families and family offices with the creation, protection and inter-generational transition of their wealth, businesses, and assets.

Prior to UBS, Ms Lay Peng spent 17 years in Citibank in various roles from FX trading and treasury sales to managing client relationship teams covering HNW clients in Asian markets.

Ms Lay Peng holds a Bachelor of Management Studies degree from the University of Waikato, New Zealand; Master of Science in Wealth Management from the University of Rochester – Simon Business School, and Master of Advance Studies in Finance from the University of Bern. She also has a STEP Diploma in Trust Management and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

Dr Simon Yuen

Dr Simon Yuen is Principal Director, Research and Strategy. Reporting to the CEO, he provides leadership to the research function, overseeing the development and execution of WMI’s research agenda and strategy. He also leads strategic planning and marketing, which encompass marketing communications, digital marketing, and market expansion.

With over 20 years of banking experience in the Asia Pacific region, Dr Simon has built a career at Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC Group specialising in strategic planning, product innovation, technology adoption, and driving business growth through customer-centric wealth management solutions. Dr Simon has led comprehensive wealth management operations and transformed affluent banking propositions across various markets. He has developed cross-border wealth capabilities and implemented machine learning-powered client engagement systems to enhance the effectiveness of relationship managers. His expertise in strategic marketing includes overseeing integrated brand campaigns, digital transformation initiatives, and customer acquisition strategies.

Before his banking career, Dr Simon was a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton and the Boston Consulting Group. He helped financial services clients in retail, corporate, and investment banking across the Asia Pacific region formulate and implement their strategies.

He holds a Ph.D. in Elementary Particle Physics and a B.Sc. in Physics from University College London. He was a member of a multinational collaboration conducting research at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) that focused on studying quark-gluon plasma in the early universe.

Ms Sharon Craggs

Ms Sharon Craggs is presently Principal Programme Director (Compliance and Regulators).

In the course of her professional career, Ms Sharon has held appointments as Global Head of Compliance for banks headquartered in Asia and the Middle East, as well as regional and product specialist legal and compliance roles for banks headquartered in the US and UK. She has lived and worked in multiple countries including Singapore, UK, US, Bahrain and UAE and managed global teams across more than 28 jurisdictions. She worked with the Monetary Authority of Singapore for several years and was subsequently appointed to the MAS Appeals Panel. She also held an appointment as Adjunct Assoc Professor of Law with the National University of Singapore.

Ms Sharon read law at Cambridge University, UK, and is qualified to practice in England and Wales, the State of New York, USA and Singapore. She is a CFA Charter holder and has held global and regional appointments with the CFA Institute. She holds three Masters degrees in disciplines of Law, Digital Innovation and Financial Technology and is an IBF Distinguished Fellow (Compliance).

Ms Dawn Tan

Ms Dawn Tan heads the Asia Centre for Changemakers, which aims to build capacity and grow a strong pipeline of active and informed changemakers with a focus on Asia, to deploy their resources, skills and passion for a better tomorrow.

ACC sits within the Wealth Management Institute, Asia’s Centre of Excellence for wealth and asset management education and research. It is supported by Temasek Trust and the Philanthropy Asia Alliance.

Ms Dawn brings to the team years of experience in the nonprofit sector. In her previous role as head of Credit Suisse APAC’s Philanthropy Advisory, she journeyed alongside individuals, families and corporates in their philanthropic aspirations, providing guidance on how they can achieve their goals and long-term plans for social impact.

She was also Deputy CEO of SymAsia Foundation, an umbrella philanthropic foundation set up by Credit Suisse that provided a donor-advised fund structure for clients. Through SymAsia, the team supported billionaire and ultra-high-net-worth business families and corporations across APAC in running their charitable foundations, enabling them to do good in a hassle-free, structured and sustainable manner.

Ms Dawn’s track record in philanthropy includes years in program development at Temasek Foundation and fundraising at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Notable projects include launching a nationwide health screening program for seniors and an APAC-wide social entrepreneurship competition.

Ms Dawn started her career in journalism, and has more than 15 years of editorial and publishing experience. She has lived and worked in multiple countries, including Singapore, Qatar, Malaysia and Canada.

Dr Esther Kong

Dr Esther Kong is Director, Family and Family Office. She provides leadership and leads the growth, and development of WMI’s Family and Family Office suite of programmes and initiatives, including the flagship Global-Asia Family Office (GFO) Circle.

Dr Esther brings depth of experience in education for business families and family offices. Before joining WMI, Dr Esther was the Senior Deputy Director at the Business Families Institute at Singapore Management University (SMU). Dr Esther has led the development of impactful programmes for family principals and their advisors, building communities of practitioners across Asia, developing Asia-relevant, applied research for business families, collaborating closely with faculty and industry practitioners to develop thought leadership through insights and practice-oriented publications.

Dr Esther holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Business (General Management) from SMU. She is a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute (FFI) and a recipient of the AlTouq Group FFI GEN Scholarship, recognising her contribution to advancing the family enterprise and family office fields.

Dr Anser Aftab

Dr Anser Aftab serves as Principal Program Director for the Dalio Market Principles Program. He leads the development and growth of this flagship program and its student community. As the lead faculty, Dr Anser delivers a comprehensive understanding of investment and market principles, grounded in the frameworks pioneered by Ray Dalio. The program empowers participants to navigate the complexities of global markets through practical insights, portfolio simulations, and case studies, offered both in-person and online.

Prior to joining WMI, Dr Anser was a Global Political Economy and Policy Specialist and Team Lead at Bridgewater Associates. At Bridgewater, he helped lead research on the impact of fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies, as well as geopolitical dynamics, on markets and economies. His work supported the firm’s investment strategies and macroeconomic insights.

Dr Anser also played a key role in enhancing trading signals for currencies and emerging markets, contributed to AI-driven research initiatives, and authored influential client-facing publications, such as Bridgewater Daily Observations. Additionally, he supported the Investment Associate Program, serving as Hiring Manager, and focusing on training and mentoring new talent to develop the core skills necessary for success in global macro investing.

Dr Anser holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and a BA from Williams College (awarded with Highest Honors).