Alice Au is a member of the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Board Services, Private Equity and Financial Services practices. Alice focuses on senior executive and board director assignments in Greater China and throughout Asia across industries with an emphasis on the private equity and financial services sectors. She brings more than 15 years of executive search experience based in Hong Kong to her role.
Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Alice was a senior partner with another leading international executive search firm. While there, she led the CEO and board services practice, as well as the private equity practice in Asia Pacific, guided the rebuilding and expansion of the Hong Kong office, and helped numerous Asian and multinational firms meet their senior leadership needs across Asia.
Alice began her career as a semiconductor engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation in the U.S. She then joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant in New York, where she advised Fortune 100 clients on strategic, organizational and technology issues. Subsequently, as an executive in corporate development for International Paper Company, Alice led cross-functional teams in negotiating acquisitions in North America, Europe and Asia. She returned to Hong Kong in 1993 to establish a China fund and advise midsize international companies on their China entry strategies, then joined the executive search industry in 1995. She took a one-year leave from the business in 1999 to lead strategic planning and e-commerce at AsiaContent.com, which successfully listed on NASDAQ in 2000.
Alice has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She was recently appointed as a part-time member of the Central Policy Unit of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR. Alice speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin.