Ron Cheng

Head, Investment Funds

Director, Corporate & Finance

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Qualifications

  • LL.B. (Hons), National University of Singapore (2002)
  • Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore (2003)
  • Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (2006)
  • Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia (2008)

Ron is the Head of the Investment Funds practice. He has handled a wide range of corporate matters since 2003. He has acted as lead counsel in the establishment of alternative investment funds across various legal structures (such as Singapore variable capital companies (VCCs), limited partnerships, unit trusts, companies, business trusts, and Cayman segregated portfolio companies). He has advised on the establishment of licensed, registered or exempt fund managers, financial advisers and trust companies in Singapore.

He has also acted as lead counsel in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and employment law-related work. His clientele consists of local individuals and organisations as well as multinational and international clients, particularly in the funds industry.

Ron has dealt with a wide range of corporate transactions. Some of the matters in which Ron has handled include:

  1. Acting as Singapore counsel for a Dutch pension fund asset manager as lead investor of a tax-exempted private fund investing into offshore real estate developments.

  2. Acting for a major offshore snack company in its joint venture with an Indian company specialising in the production of cashew nuts, and the parties’ subsequent multi-million dollar investments into the joint venture company.

  3. Acting for a US conglomerate in a private share acquisition for S$35 million. The transaction involved the transfer of government-leased properties.

  4. Acting for a Singapore corporation in its sale of the ERA real estate group of companies.

  5. Acting for receivers appointed to an insolvent Indonesian resort in the sale of the resort’s shares and receivables to a corporate fund investor.

Chambers Asia-Pacific
Investment Funds 2024 – Leading Individual for 2 consecutive years

“Mr Ron Cheng is a talented and highly skilled lawyer who comprehends complex investment strategies and is highly sensitive to commercial viabilities. He works round the clock to deliver tier 1 deliverables.”

“Ron is very experienced, knowledgeable and responsive. He is sensitive to clients’ interests and is great to work with.”

“Ron Cheng has displayed a top-notch level of professionalism and competencies. His commitment to perfection and service is unmatched. He is undoubtedly one of the best legal counsels we have met.”

Asia Pacific Legal 500
Investment Funds 2024 – Leading Individual for 4 consecutive years, previously recognised as a Recommended Lawyer for 4 consecutive years
Capital Markets 2022 – Recommended Lawyer for 2 years

“Ron Cheng is experienced and knowledgeable, especially on matters pertaining to investment funds. He is able to explain the legal concepts clearly and concisely to clients and to assist with their requirements.

“Ron Cheng has proved to be top-tier with his professionalism, in-depth knowledge, capability to break down complex problems and create innovative solutions.

“Mr Ron Cheng, the co-head of investment funds at Drew & Napier, has demonstrated unparalleled levels of professionalism and competencies. His responsiveness to communications is unmatched by any other legal counsel we have worked with. His capability to clearly dissect and compartmentalise information has allowed him to comprehend and provide solutions for some of the most complex cases or structures we presented.

“Ron Cheng from Drew & Napier LLC is very experienced and knowledgeable on legal matters pertaining to fund structures. He is also very responsive and can explain legal concepts clearly to clients.

Legal 500 noted that Ron is “well versed in alternative investment funds”.

Ron “has demonstrated that he has a strong grasp of the legal matters for fund structures. Rather than just providing template advice, he would provide advice tailored to the client’s situation and would also highlight the practical matters which clients have to take note of. Ron is also extremely responsive and is able to put across complex legal issues to clients in a clear and concise manner”.

“His expertise and ability to navigate through complex and unconventional fund structures is admirable. He provides honest and insightful opinions on how we can improve on our work which we are forever grateful. I also truly admire his work ethic and how he is always there for his client even when he was on leave.”

Ron specialises in the structuring and listing of funds, "manages a good team", and "always delivers well thought out practical advice".

A client praised Ron for being “highly accessible and responsive”.

He “provides exception innovative strategy” in alternative investment funds.

“Ron Cheng is capable to analyse complex fund structure, provide exception innovative strategy, and execute his task effectively and efficiently.”

Ron Cheng stands out for his "experience and knowledge". He is strong in all aspects of funds management and private equity transactions together with regulatory regimes and related tax issues. 

IFLR1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms
Investment Funds 2024 – Highly Regarded for 3 consecutive years

“Attentive, very knowledgeable, detail-oriented to the matter at hand”

“Friendly and approachable”

“Deep industrial knowledge and fast turnaround.”

“Very responsive and will work quickly to solve problems working late into the night. Looks out for client's interests and points out potential downsides.”

“Mr. Ron Cheng is a talented and highly skilled lawyer who is capable of comprehending complex investment strategies and structure. He possesses a broad understanding of legal frameworks across multiple disciplines while being highly skilled and updated in investment fund-related regulations.”

“Ron is experienced, skilled and responsive.”

“Ron is very responsive to clients' queries, even outside of the regular working hours. He is also able to explain complex legal concepts to the clients in a clear and concise manner.”

"Knowledgeable." 

"Mr. Cheng has displayed a great level of professionalism and responsiveness that is unmatched by any of the top-tier law firms we have worked with. He not only possesses the in-depth knowledge and skill sets in the legal sector but also a comparable capability to that of a top tier fund manager when it comes to innovative solutions and vetting mathematical equations." 

"Experienced and professional. He provides very innovative solutions to fund managers. In addition, he is also well trained in mathematics, which allows him to understand our business very well." 

"Responsive and knowledgeable. Also able to explain concepts to clients very well." 

“[Ron] was professional throughout the process and committed to our project and the dateline. He was very responsive to all our enquiries. We managed to launch the fund within two months, very much of the credit goes to him, who was working around the clock to have the legal document produced in time."

"Ron is attentive to details and tries to understand the whole picture before advising the final expected results.”

“Highly professional, responsive and knowledgeable.” 

“Ron was able to understand our business model well, identify potential issues or concerns, and give advice in a manner that was easy to be understood by other stakeholders.”

“Very knowledgeable and responsive.”

“Quick, resourceful, extremely proficient and professional."

"Extremely responsive to our queries and instructions, allowing us to move fast and deliver results."

"Ron is meticulous and approaches complex matters with clear thoughts and visions. He maintains consistent and transparent communications with us. These attributes allow fund managers to be creative and innovative and focus on how an investment fund can be improved.”

Asialaw Leading Lawyers
Investment Funds 2024 – Notable Practitioner, for 2 consecutive years

“Knowledgeable and able to understand and meet the client's needs.”

“Ron has been extremely meticulous when it comes to his work. He ensures that he covers all angles and risks that the fund may encounter locally or abroad. Ron is able to understand complex problems and comes up with innovative solutions and structure.”

“Ron ably assisted several of my companies in their respective corporate matters, spanning shareholders' agreements, joint ventures, investments, employment and together with another litigation partner in the firm, some contentious matters. I, and my companies, rely on Ron's expertise and legal acumen, which he delivers with speed and precision. He is my corporate legal adviser of choice, and I am very pleased with our outcomes working together. He deserves the title of a leading individual in his field of expertise.”

“Ron is extremely well versed and professional. He is able to provide meaningful and valuable insights into how we can plan and execute our funds more effectively. Ron's work is prompt and always deliver the work within the given timeline.”

“Ron is very professional, knowledgeable and efficient. I am very pleased with his work.”

“Ron was responsive and attentive to our needs, despite facing multiple urgent matters. Was experienced and knowledgeable on the relevant areas of law that he advised on, including providing insights such as non-public insights from regulators.”

Singapore Business Review
Singapore’s 70 most influential lawyers aged 40 and under in 2016 – Listed lawyer

  • Member, Law Society of Singapore
  • Member, Singapore Academy of Law
  • Member, Law Society of England & Wales
  • Co-author of the Singapore chapters to “The International Comparative Legal Guide to Securitisation” in 2016, 2014, 2012, and 2011, published by the Global Legal Group.
  • Co-author of “Timetable for Implementation of Amendments to the Companies Act”, April 2015, published by Lexology and Drew & Napier LLC.
  • Author of “Impending Provisions in the Singapore Companies Act Relating to Duties of Chief Executive Officers”, February 2015, published by Lexology and Drew & Napier LLC.
  • Co-author of the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network’s guide “Getting Started in Venture Philanthropy in Asia – Legal Framework Profile for Singapore”, published by the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network in 2014.
  • Co-author of an article titled “Duties and Liabilities of Directors of Insolvent Companies”, published by Asian Legal Business in June 2003.