Key Takeaways
- • Panda Express co-founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng are expanding their family office's alternative investment platform by recruiting two senior investment executives with substantial experience in private equity, venture capital, and lending.
- • Warren Woo, Founding Partner and Managing General Partner of Breakaway Capital, and a former Managing Director at Wells Fargo & Co. are joining the platform to lead deal sourcing and capital deployment efforts.
- • The expanded platform will focus on three core investment strategies: private equity investments, venture capital deployment, and direct lending to growth-stage companies.
- • This expansion signals the Cherngs' strategic pivot toward institutionalizing their family office investment operations and professionalizing capital allocation across alternative asset classes.
Summary
Panda Express co-founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng announced an expansion of their family office's alternative investment platform through the recruitment of two accomplished investment executives. Warren Woo, Founding Partner and Managing General Partner of Breakaway Capital, and a former Managing Director at Wells Fargo & Co. will lead the platform's growth initiatives, according to the announcement made on September 28, 2016.
The two executives will focus their efforts on expanding the Cherngs' alternative investment platform—operated through their family trust office, referred to as CFT—across three primary investment verticals: private equity, venture capital, and direct lending to companies. This staffing move represents a significant step in formalizing the family office's investment operations and bringing institutional-grade expertise to capital allocation decisions.
The timing of this expansion reflects broader trends among ultra-high-net-worth families establishing dedicated investment platforms to diversify beyond their core operating businesses. For the Cherngs, whose Panda Express restaurant empire has grown to over 100 locations and surpassed $3 billion in annual revenue since its founding in 1983, the alternative investment platform provides a vehicle for deploying capital in external growth opportunities while maintaining operational focus on the restaurant business.
By recruiting experienced investment professionals with track records in both private markets and structured lending, the Cherngs are positioning their family office to compete with established institutional investors and deploy capital at scale across multiple alternative asset classes. This development underscores the increasing sophistication of family office operations and their growing role in alternative investment markets.
The two executives will focus their efforts on expanding the Cherngs' alternative investment platform—operated through their family trust office, referred to as CFT—across three primary investment verticals: private equity, venture capital, and direct lending to companies. This staffing move represents a significant step in formalizing the family office's investment operations and bringing institutional-grade expertise to capital allocation decisions.
The timing of this expansion reflects broader trends among ultra-high-net-worth families establishing dedicated investment platforms to diversify beyond their core operating businesses. For the Cherngs, whose Panda Express restaurant empire has grown to over 100 locations and surpassed $3 billion in annual revenue since its founding in 1983, the alternative investment platform provides a vehicle for deploying capital in external growth opportunities while maintaining operational focus on the restaurant business.
By recruiting experienced investment professionals with track records in both private markets and structured lending, the Cherngs are positioning their family office to compete with established institutional investors and deploy capital at scale across multiple alternative asset classes. This development underscores the increasing sophistication of family office operations and their growing role in alternative investment markets.
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