Since inception, we have earned an industry-leading track record of financing, operating, fixing, and scaling up companies globally.
The Arowana investment philosophy is underpinned by a belief that strong investment returns can be generated whilst maintaining a commitment to sustainability. Furthermore, we consider that entrepreneurial resilience and a long- term investment horizon are the keys to sustained investment outperformance.
From our first project to our most current undertaking, we have not only delivered very strong returns but more importantly, have created jobs and value without realising any investment losses across our various operating companies and investment funds. We believe that our results to date are due to Arowana’s genuinely entrepreneurial culture and never-say-die resilience.
Our investment process is time-tested, data-driven, and forensic. We have demonstrated that this process is not influenced by populist thinking, and we are comfortable being contrarian where appropriate. What is uncommon about Arowana is that where others would have given up on an investment, we have persisted and eventually delivered highly profitable returns. This is because our team is comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs and operators who have experienced what it takes to overcome the myriad challenges involved in starting, fixing, building, scaling up, and successfully selling businesses.
The Arowana team has started, bought, fixed, scaled up, and exited businesses in sectors as diverse as enterprise software, road infrastructure services, education, power and electrical services, industrial testing, solar energy, electric vehicles, asset management, and venture capital. In the process, we have helped to create thousands of jobs and considerable economic value. As with any entrepreneurial journey, it has never been straightforward and never linear. We have encountered and had to overcome numerous challenges with every company we have been involved with, including some situations where both external and internal stakeholders considered it be a lost cause.
Today, our investment philosophy and process are guided by our commitment to the triple bottom line of People, Profit, and Planet. This is absolute and impacts every decision we make, including the sectors we invest in, the companies we work with, and the people we hire.
"Arowana introduced HRM to the Rockefeller Habits and it helped the teams to be galvanised around sales targets, attendance targets, and launched a number of new projects to help grow the business."
Kavery Ayahsamy, Managing Director, HRM Asia (Singapore)
"Arowana introduced its Scaling Up methodology, and that made a huge difference to Thermoscan, streamlining our meetings, processes, and strategy sessions—execution is key in a high-volume business such as Thermoscan and the Scaling Up methodology helped maintain this."
Kelly Alcorn, General Manager, Thermoscan (Brisbane)
"Our team has shared a close working and commercial relationship with the team at Arowana in bringing this greenfield port infrastructure project to operational completion. The combined group has collaborated to work through the hurdles of a new startup infrastructure entity and the recent global challenges posed by COVID. We are extremely appreciative of the support from Arowana."
Freddy Bartlett, Managing Director ICAM (Adelaide)
Case Studies
Since inception, we have earned an industry-leading track record of financing, operating, fixing, and scaling up companies globally.
HRM Asia is a specialist human resources events and media company headquartered in Singapore. It became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arowana in 2013. During Arowana’s ownership, HRM Asia became the leader in its field in Southeast Asia and more than doubled its revenue and profits.
In 2004, Kevin Chin led a consortium that privatised the distressed SoftLaw Corporation Limited (later named RuleBurst) from being listed on the ASX, then helped drive a turnaround and exponential global scale up
Intueri Education Group was a New Zealand headquartered vocational education group that was established by Arowana in 2010 and scaled up to be the national leader by the time of its IPO in 2014
Acquired in 2013, Thermoscan grew from a Queensland-centred organisation to a national leader in its field across Australia
Managed by Arowana, the Contrarian Value Fund (CVF) was a listed investment company that commenced trading on the ASX in January 2015
In 2018, Arowana launched a private credit fund called the Australian Special Income Opportunities Fund (ASIOF) to provide an alternative source of debt funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia.
