CBRE Restructures China Operations – Parts Ways with Poon

In an internal memo seen today by Mingtiandi, real estate agency CBRE announced a new management structure for its China operations, under North Asia President Ben Duncan.

The new structure coincides with the premature departure of the company’s China president Ivan Poon, who is said to have presided over a challenging year for CBRE in 2015, after more than two years at the helm of the property services giant.

CBRE, which is the largest commercial real estate agency globally, has habitually played second-fiddle to rival JLL in China. With this latest management change, the agency is attempting to reverse what is said to have been more than a decade of money-losing operations and management churn on the mainland, despite the country’s unparalleled real estate boom during the period.

Creating a Greater China Structure and a Committee

As outlined in the memo from CBRE APAC executive chairman Rob Blain and APAC CEO Steve Swerdlow, the company hopes to solve its China challenges through creation of a Greater China region, which will include mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, to be presided over by Duncan, who will retain his title of President, North Asia.

Duncan will be assisted in his duties by an executive committee composed of Julia Shi, Vice-President of Business Operations in China; Andy To, Managing Director Asset Services Greater China; Luke Moffat, Regional Managing Director Eastern China; Virginia Huang, Regional Managing Director Northern China; Donna Young, Director HR North Asia; and a Hong Kong Managing Director, who has yet to be appointed.

No mention was made in the memo of the role of Craig Shute, CBRE’s Senior Managing Director, Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan under the new structure.

Ivan Poon Leaving the Company Immediately

The document was more definite regarding the fate of Ivan Poon, the outgoing China president, specifying that Friday, November 6^th would be his last day at CBRE. According to informed sources, the executive’s contract would not come to term until the end of 2015.

The 2013 recruitment of Poon to take top level responsibility for the company’s mainland operations came as a surprise to many, given his lack of previous experience in the real estate industry, and CBRE’s need for strong leadership to turn around a company that had been losing cash even during some of the strongest years for China’s real estate industry.

While Poon initially made a show of cutting costs, and oversaw the departure of more than 15 director-level executives in his first year at the controls, he seems to have had less definite plans for helping the company to bring in revenues. In 2015 CBRE insiders reported that, at least in eastern China, only three of the company’s more than 12 business lines hit their budget targets, and Poon seemed out of ideas for how to grow the business.

The CBRE memo gave no indication of Poon’s future plans beyond wishing him the best in his endeavours. Before joining CBRE, Poon had worked as a headhunter for several months after previously presiding over the demise of DHL’s domestic operations in China.

The executive also had previous experience with other ill-fated companies in China, having helped lead Kodak’s mainland operations before it went bankrupt, and having a senior position with Compaq computer in China before it was absorbed by Hewlett-Packard.