A man pegged to be Singapore’s next prime minister leads this week’s review of personnel updates in the region as Lawrence Wong takes on a new role at sovereign fund GIC. Also making our list is a top-level change at China Resources Land and a new CFO for Singapore’s Keppel REIT.
Singapore deputy prime minister and finance minister Lawrence Wong is now also deputy chairman of the board at GIC, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. GIC announced on 25 September that Wong would take on his new title on 1 October after first becoming a director of the institution in 2018. Often tipped to become Singapore’s next prime minister, Wong was made chairman of GIC’s investment strategies committee on 7 July of this year.
China Resources Land announced to the Hong Kong stock exchange on 28 September that its president, Wu Bingqi has resigned from his board responsibilities with the state-backed developer due to changes in his role with the Shenzhen-based conglomerate. With Wu stepping down, chairman Li Xin has taken on the additional role of president of the company on an interim basis from that same date.
Keppel REIT Management said on 26 September that it has appointed Sebastian Song as its new chief financial officer with effect from 30 October. Now 42, Song succeeds Kang Leng Hui, who will step down on 27 October to pursue other opportunities, the manager of SGX-listed Keppel REIT said. Song is currently financial controller of Keppel REIT Management after first joining the unit of Temasek Holdings-backed Keppel Corp in 2015.
Dutch pension fund manager PGGM said on 18 September that its chief investment officer Frank Roeters van Lennep will be stepping down from the end of this year. Van Lennep has been responsible for the company’s internally managed public and private market investment since early last year and has been with PGGM since 2014. In a statement, van Lennep indicated that with PGGM implementing a new strategy, this new approach would be best led by new personnel. The company has yet to name a successor.
US developer and fund manager Hines has fortified its leadership in the region with the hire of former CapitaLand and GLP executive Caleb Shen as a managing director based in Singapore. Shen who has worked in real estate investment roles in the US, mainland China and Singapore for more than 20 years, most recently served as head of portfolio and asset management for Asia at GLP Capital Partners. Prior to that he spent over four years at CapitaLand and also has previous experience with Apollo Global Management, CBRE, Asia Pacific Land and LaSalle.
Another new hire for Hines is Augustine Kwan, who joins the Houston-based company in its Hong Kong office as a director for public relations in Asia. Prior to joining Hines, Kwan spent seven months as an assistant vice president with the group corporate communications division of FWD Insurance following a three-year stint a Manulife in Hong Kong as a director leading external communications across Asia.
Aura Ansell has been named head of investments for Singapore at CBRE Investment Management, according to a LinkedIn update. The new job title comes after Ansell spent more than three years as head of transactions and product development for Asia Pacific with the fund management division of CBRE Group. Ansell also has experience with PGIM Real Estate in Singapore and Gaysorn Property in Bangkok.
Danny Broadfield has left the corporate cocoon to launch Broadfield Capital Markets in Hong Kong, according to a LinkedIn update. The former Savills broker said this past week that his new shop has now exchanged contracts on a set of seven London apartments in its first month in business. Broadfield had spent two years as an office leasing broker at Savills and also has experience with CBRE and Colliers in the city.
If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.
