Getting to Know Will Wong – Our Chief Investment Officer

Some career paths are carefully mapped, others are shaped by unexpected turns. For Will, our Chief Investment Officer, it’s been a bit of both. From his beginnings as an actuary at PwC in the early ’90s, to structuring billion-dollar transactions at Goldman Sachs in Sydney and London, to a decade in Hong Kong, Will’s journey has always combined technical skill with a desire to help build businesses.

A chance meeting on a train with Matt led to a chat over coffee about what a different kind of investment business could look like. That chat and an introduction to Larry, was followed by the founding of Eldium - where private credit investing and business building come together.

For Will, investing is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s also about trust, alignment and creating partnerships that last. In this conversation, he shares some of the lessons that have shaped his career, what excites him about Eldium, and a few passions outside of finance too.

Q&A with Will

Q: What’s the story of how you got into lending and finance in the first place?

‍I originally trained as an Actuary at PwC in the early ’90s, which gave me a strong foundation in financial analysis, risk management and investments. Around that time, PwC started a structured finance business inside the actuarial group, and that was my first half-step into finance. After qualifying, I joined an international bank arranging financing for large-scale infrastructure projects before moving to Goldman Sachs to help start their debt business in Australia. 

Q: Looking back, what’s a turning point in your career that shaped who you are today?

‍The time at Goldman was pivotal - putting together highly innovative, often billion-dollar deals and principal investments in illiquid credit assets. We were breaking new ground and it taught me how to think creatively about structuring capital. Later, living and working in Asia for a decade was just as formative. It gave me a broader global perspective, exposure to different cultures, and a chance to see first-hand how various markets operate. 

Q: What made you want to join Eldium and what felt different about it?

It actually started by pure luck - I had met Matt before, but ran into him again on the train on the way to the beach! Over coffee, there was an instant meeting of the minds. The vision was an investment business where funds management and business building go hand-in-hand. Combined with Larry, it all clicked and Eldium was born out of that vision. What felt different was the opportunity to create a business built on partnership - not just capital provision, but also strategic support and long-term alignment with clients.

Q: What’s a lesson from earlier in your career that you still use everyday?

One lesson from the GFC stands out: capital structure matters. Many great companies struggled in that period because they couldn’t access funding at a critical moment. The businesses that had robust capital structures survived and often thrived. That's one piece of advice I try to impart on the partners that we work with - build your capital structure to be sustainable for the long term.

Q: What’s a quality in a founder that makes you think “this is someone I want to work with”?

‍Trust, above all. It takes time to earn, but it’s built on honesty, transparency, and treating people decently. Without trust, nothing else works.

Q: What’s the first thing you look for in a business that tells you it’s built to last?

‍We always start with the fundamentals: we spend a lot of time on understanding how does the company actually make its money? The best credit investments are underpinned by robust, predictable cashflows. If that foundation is solid, everything else becomes much easier to assess.

Q: What’s something from your life outside of work that shapes how you show up at Eldium?

‍Touch footy. It’s a regular catch-up and laugh with my oldest mates, some quality offline time, and a bit of a run around as well. It's a great reminder that having a team that gets along together is as important in business as it is on the field - and we have an incredible team at Eldium.

Q: If you weren’t in this industry, what would you love to be doing instead?

‍Probably a racing car driver! I’ve always had a passion for high-performance cars and the pursuit of the perfect lap - I like to do everything well. Ironically, I haven’t owned a car for over a decade.

Q: What impact do you hope Eldium makes in the years ahead?

‍For me it's about delivering a great investor experience - regular, stress-free income and superior returns - while being a trusted partner to the businesses we support. If we can be known for both financial performance and genuine partnership, that’s impact.