A wave of end of the year departures fills up our weekly personnel column this week with senior leaders at Frasers Property, Heeton Holdings and UOL Group making way for new faces. There is also a pair of new hires at Hong Kong’s Link REIT and troubled mainland developer Fantasia Holdings has lost its chief financial officer.
Frasers Property said on 10 December that its group chief investment officer, Uten Lohachitpitaks, has resigned from his role with the Singapore-based developer effective 1 January. Now 48, Uten is said to be leaving to pursue new interests after eight years with the firm controlled by Thai liquor magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. Frasers says that its group chief financial officer, Loo Choo Leong, will now be assisting chief executive Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi with a transition plan.
After first defaulting on an offshore bond during October, Fantasia Holdings announced on 8 December that its chief financial officer, Zhang Huiming has resigned from the company effective that same day. Now 42, Zhang has served as CFO and executive director of the company since 2019, with his departure coming just days before Moody’s Investors Services said it was withdrawing its rating of Fantasia due to a lack of information. Zhang has been replaced as executive director by Fantasia executive president Zhu Guogang.
Developer Heeton Holdings said on 9 December that its founder and non-executive chairman Toh Khai Cheng has retired from the company he set up in 1976, with his 66-year-old son, Vince Toh Giap Eng named executive chairman from 1 January – the day after his 93-year-old father leaves the Singapore-listed firm. Heeton’s portfolio includes the Sun Plaza and Tampines Mart properties in Singapore, as well as hotels in Japan, Thailand, and the UK.
UOL Group notified the Singapore stock exchange on 8 December that Low Weng Keong has retired from the board of the listed developer effective 1 January. Currently an independent, non-executive director, Low has served on UOL’s board since 2005, and said that he was leaving to allow for renewal of the decision-making body. Now 69, Low formerly was head of Ernst & Young for Singapore.
Engineering consultancy Aurecon said on 7 December that it has appointed former AECOM executive Anita Ho as its director for major projects in Greater China. Based in Hong Kong, Ho is slated to report to the Aussie firm’s managing director for Greater China, who is expected to be named soon. Ho is taking on her new role after more than three years as chief project manager for the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, after previously having spent nearly four years with AECOM in Kuala Lumpur.
Rebecca Zhou has joined Link REIT in Shanghai as head of special initiatives for Asia’s largest real estate investment trust, according to a LinkedIn update. Zhou comes aboard at Link REIT after more than three years with Brookfield Asset Management in the city, where she had served most recently as head of business development. The graduate of Shanghai Tongji University also has previous experience with China Vanke, GLP and UPS.
Shunny Chan has added to the list of new names on Link REIT’s roster by joining the Hong Kong-listed heavyweight as senior manager for portfolio management, according to a LinkedIn update. Based in Hong Kong, Chan joins the Link REIT team after more than eight years with privately held developer Nan Fung Group, where he had served most recently as investment manager for international real estate.
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.
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