Hines Hires New Asia Investment Chief as Fund Management Business Grows

Hines is strengthening its regional investment team with the hiring of asset management veteran Ng Chiang Ling as chief investment officer for Asia, based in the US developer’s Singapore office.

Ng will work alongside Asia Pacific CEO Ray Lawler and Eurasia/India CEO Lee Timmins to further expand the firm’s reach across Asia Pacific, where Hines is looking to elevate its real estate footprint and investor outreach. Ng succeeds Timmins in the CIO role and reports to global chief investment officer David Steinbach.

“We are very excited to welcome Chiang Ling to Hines as our Asia CIO,” Steinbach said in a Tuesday release announcing the hire. “With her demonstrated expertise, we look forward to elevating our investment management platform and capitalising on the growing market opportunities in the Asia Pacific region as we strive to be the partner of choice globally.”

Global Strategy

Hines Asia Pacific CEO Ray Lawler drew a connection between Ng’s hiring and the company’s focus on investment management and fund management.

“It is part of a global investment strategy launched to strengthen the firm’s ability to push forward fund strategies for Asia Pacific, to provide additional coverage for Asian investors to further access global opportunities across the firm, and to help support the overall activity across the firm,” Lawler told Mingtiandi.

He cited last month’s announcement that Hines would partner with South Korea’s National Pension Service on a $1.5 billion build-to-core equity joint venture, pursuing projects across a broad span of sectors including mixed-use, residential, office and logistics. Twenty percent of the venture is currently committed to projects in North America and Asia Pacific.

“In addition to the NPS venture, our equal desire is to raise an Asia-focused fund, with more details coming in 2021,” Lawler said.

Veteran of M&G and Goldman

Ng brings more than two decades of experience in real estate private equity to her new role. Before joining Hines, she worked at the Asian real estate arm of British asset manager M&G, serving as director of acquisitions and later rising to CEO and chief investment officer.

Prior to her M&G stint, Ng spent 14 years in the real estate private equity division of Goldman Sachs, where she oversaw the division’s expansion into China and was responsible for investments and coverage across Asia Pacific.

The Princeton University graduate holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and is fluent in English, Mandarin and Japanese.

“I am honored to be joining Hines and playing a role in growing our vertically integrated, investment management platform,” Ng said. “I look forward to contributing to Hines’ deep expertise and growing our presence across the Asia Pacific region.”

Regional Ambitions

Houston-based Hines has $144.1 billion in assets under management worldwide, including $4.2 billion in Asia Pacific. That portfolio ranks the privately held firm as the fourth-largest real estate investment manager globally.

In an October 2019 report, the firm said it was aiming to increase its assets under management in the region to $15 billion within a decade.

“Asia is a growth story — the amount of investable assets in Asia should be the equivalent of Europe and North America,” Timmins told PERE at the time. He said Hines had an on-the-ground team of about 200 people in Asia that would increase “fairly materially” over the next several years.

Hines more recently has signalled a push into fund management in Asia. A job listing on the company’s website indicates that the Singapore office is actively seeking fund management associates.

In addition, the company established a Hong Kong office in 2019 led by Lawler and Claire Cormier-Thielke, who previously served as chief operating officer of investment management at Hines. The company opened its Singapore office in mid-2020 and last month acquired a project in Melbourne, Australia.