Ben Simpfendorfer is a Partner at Oliver Wyman based in Hong Kong. He leads the Oliver Wyman Forum in Asia Pacific, the firm’s think tank for senior leaders, and works across a range of practices, including macro, public policy, finance and risk. He also co-leads the firm’s Asia-Middle East initiative.
 
Ben is the former CEO of Silk Road Associates where he advised Fortune 500 multinationals and leading Asian firms on their commercial strategies in Greater China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, as well as developing the firm’s proprietary SRA Intelligence®, an alternative data and analytics solution.
 
Ben has worked in Asia and the Middle East for 25 years. He was previously chief China economist at RBS and senior China economist at JPMorgan in Hong Kong. He started his career in Beirut in the 1990s, later working as a Middle East & North Africa senior analyst for Dun & Bradstreet in London. He has briefed CEOs and boards worldwide.
 
Ben is a Mandarin and Arabic speaker, and author of The New Silk Road (2009) and The Rise of the New East (2014). He is a leading specialist on China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) and was part of a Foreign Experts Committee advising the Chinese government on BRI’s implementation. He is a Board Member of PBEC, one of Asia’s oldest business organizations, and a former ExCo and Board Member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. He is also a regular commentator on Bloomberg & CNBC.