Skip to content 
In a financial environment obsessed with speed, scale, and rapid exits, Terry CK Au has built his career by doing the opposite. Instead of chasing momentum, he focuses on structure. Instead of urgency, he prioritizes alignment. And instead of short-term outcomes, he designs capital frameworks meant to hold up under pressure.
As a managing partner and investment banker, Au operates at the intersection of structured capital, private credit, and long-term operating partnerships. Through his work at Auset Capital Group and as the founder of Apex Club in Bangkok, he treats capital not as a transactional tool, but as a system of governance that shapes behavior long after funds are deployed.
“Capital sets culture,” Au explains. “It determines how decisions get made when things don’t go according to plan.”
That belief forms the backbone of his capital structure investment strategy.
Capital Structure as a Long-Term Growth Mechanism
Most capital discussions revolve around valuation, dilution, or timing. Au approaches it differently. For him, capital structure is architectural. It defines incentives, decision-making authority, and resilience when growth inevitably encounters friction.
This philosophy didn’t emerge in theory. It was forged early in his career, during the rapid expansion of the legalized cannabis industry in Colorado.
Lessons From Early-Stage Markets Under Pressure
By 2016, the Colorado cannabis market was expanding fast. Consumer demand was real. Operators were ambitious. But many businesses struggled once growth accelerated. The issue wasn’t product-market fit or talent. It was financial structure.
Equity was often sold too early. Ownership was diluted without a long-term plan. Short-term capital solved immediate problems while quietly creating future constraints.
“A lot of founders were incredible chefs,” Au recalls. “They just didn’t know how to run the restaurant yet.”
Rather than forcing capable operators into distressed equity deals, Au structured convertible bond financings that balanced investor downside protection with operational flexibility. These instruments allowed companies to stabilize cash flow, professionalize governance, and earn valuation over time instead of giving it away during moments of vulnerability.
The takeaway was clear: strong businesses rarely fail because the idea is wrong. They fail because the capital is misaligned.
Applying Structured Capital at Auset Capital Group
That lesson now defines Au’s work at Auset Capital Group, where the firm focuses on private credit, hybrid debt-equity instruments, and structured investments designed to reward execution rather than speculation.
At Auset, capital is not deployed to chase trends. It is deployed to support proven momentum.
Au works closely with Seth Southard, Managing Partner of Business Development, who identifies operating companies with real demand, operational rigor, and responsible growth capacity. Au then designs capital structures that reinforce those fundamentals instead of distorting them.
In this framework, speed is secondary. Alignment comes first.
A Practical Example: Backing Proven Momentum
This approach was evident in Auset’s partnership with Discrete Ballistics, a profitable manufacturing business operating with demand already exceeding capacity.
Instead of pushing for immediate equity exposure, Au structured a convertible note that allowed the company to expand production while positioning Auset as a long-term partner. The structure reflected conviction in what was already working, not an attempt to extract value before it fully materialized.
“It wasn’t about control,” Au explains. “It was about backing execution and letting scale validate the thesis.”
This is a defining trait of Au’s capital structure investment strategy: capital should protect downside first and allow upside to emerge naturally through performance.
Apex Club: When Preferred Equity Makes Sense
Beyond advisory and fund activity, Au is also the founder of Apex Club, a large-scale racquet sports, wellness, and lifestyle platform under development in Bangkok, Thailand.
While Apex Club is often discussed for its experiential ambition, its underlying capital structure reflects the same discipline that defines Au’s investment work.
Unlike earlier-stage or transitional businesses, Apex Club was designed from inception as a mature operating platform. As a result, it is structured as a preferred equity offering, not a convertible instrument.
This distinction is intentional.
“Different businesses require different capital,” Au says. “Apex didn’t need optionality. It needed partners who understand longevity.”
Preferred equity allows for predictable cash flow, governance clarity, downside protection, and long-term alignment between capital partners. For a capital-intensive platform integrating racquet sports, fitness, wellness, hospitality, and real estate-adjacent revenue streams, that stability matters.
Built to institutional standards from day one, Apex Club is positioned for strategic partnerships and eventual institutional participation. Bangkok’s growing demand for premium lifestyle infrastructure, combined with limited supply of integrated wellness destinations, provides a strong foundation for that vision.
Choosing the Right Capital Tool for the Right Context
From distressed cannabis operators in Colorado to profitable manufacturing companies and a large-scale lifestyle platform in Southeast Asia, the throughline in Terry CK Au’s work remains consistent.
Capital must:
- Protect downside before promising upside
- Preserve flexibility during execution
- Reward performance instead of forcing outcomes
- Align incentives over the long term
Convertible instruments, private credit, and preferred equity are not interchangeable in Au’s framework. Each serves a specific role, selected based on business maturity, cash flow profile, and strategic objectives.
What unites them is restraint.
Why Structure Ultimately Determines Enduring Growth
In markets that celebrate speed for its own sake, Terry CK Au’s approach is quietly contrarian. Talent may create opportunity. Demand may confirm it. But structure determines whether growth endures beyond the moment.
When capital is designed as governance rather than fuel, it becomes a stabilizing force. It gives businesses room to execute, adapt, and compound value without distortion.
And in the long run, that discipline is often what separates temporary momentum from durable success.
About the Author
Bernard Jones is a business and finance writer covering private markets, capital structure, and long-term operating platforms. His work explores how disciplined investment frameworks influence company outcomes across growth, transition, and institutional scale. This article is based on interviews with Terry CK Au, managing partner at Auset Capital Group and founder of Apex Club in Bangkok, Thailand.
