Sound investments for the long haul

Daniel Auerbach leads Eight Roads into backing ventures that could make lasting difference to China

Dressed in a three-piece suit, Daniel Auerbach sits on a sofa and leans forward, listening attentively to people at a meeting on a sunny afternoon in Shanghai. Sometimes, people grill him with tough questions: but, even when he does not immediately like some ideas he hears, he does not interrupt, but waits for his chance to explain and clarify.

Auerbach is calm, collected and patient. Patience, he says, is one of the most needed qualities in terms of long-term investment and value investment, which differentiate him and his team among thousands of capital ventures that seek to make a fast buck.