Tim Payne

Tim Payne is the Asia Chair and Senior Adviser at CMi. With over 30 years of experience as a strategic adviser, he specialises in managing critical issues related to reputation, risk, geopolitical complexity, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), crisis management, and governance.

Tim had a background in politics and a career spanning the UK and US, before founding and building, over 20 years, a market leading consulting practice in Asia. He is now Principal at Kellaways, his own management consulting firm focused on areas of reputation and trust.

Formerly Head of Asia and part of the global leadership team at Brunswick Group, the leading critical issues advisory firm, Tim has worked on transactions and crises for many of Asia’s most significant companies, and on their highest profile issues around the world, as well as supporting leading global MNCs as they engage Asian markets. His appreciation for geopolitical, financial, cultural, and personal complexities enables him to formulate strategies framed by context. His roots as a political campaigner, and his deep understanding of the micro and macro challenges facing the business world of Asia, strengthen his role as a transformative adviser.

As a director of The Women’s Foundation in Hong Kong and as Vice Chair and former Chair of the 30% Club, Tim is a committed advocate for inclusion, diversity, and gender parity. He sits on the International Advisory Board of the Renmin University of China, School of Business in Beijing, and is a founding director of XBMA, the International Institute for the Study of Cross-Border Investment and M&A.