Link REIT Hiring Outgoing Manulife IM Exec Kenny Lam as Co-CIO

Less than a month after welcoming a leader for operations outside mainland China and Hong Kong, Link REIT’s manager is doubling down on its global expansion plan by adding an executive from Manulife IM Real Estate to head its investments team in Asia, outside of its traditional Greater China territory, Mingtiandi has learned.

Kenny Lam will be joining the trust manager as a co-chief investment officer working alongside Christine Chan after serving as chief investment officer for Asia and head of Asia transactions during a nearly five-year stint at Manulife IM Real Estate, according to sources familiar with the trust’s operations who spoke with Mingtiandi.

News on Lam’s entry comes less than a month after Greg Chubb formally took up his role as chief operating officer for international at Link REIT, in line with the trust’s active expansion of teams focusing on APAC markets outside mainland China and Hong Kong.

The trust, which manages over $221 billion in total portfolio, has been expanding its presence outside its two main markets with the purchase of 10 assets worth a combined $1.7 billion in Australia and the UK since 2019, including the $428 million it paid for a half stake in a portfolio of Aussie office assets in February.

Civil Engineer Turned Real Estate Pro

Confirming news that was first reported by PERE, Lam is understood to be leading Link REIT’s expansion outside its home city in Hong Kong and its established foothold in mainland China, but no details have been released as to when the veteran executive will join Asia’s largest REIT.

The trust is bringing on board the 15-year industry veteran after he oversaw major deals such as Manulife’s formation of a $170 million multifamily joint venture with Japan’s Kenedix in March of this year. In 2020, Manulife stood as the major backer of the $1.27 billion acquisition of Swire’s Cityplaza One office tower in Hong Kong, alongside partners Gaw Capital Partners and Schroder Pamfleet.

Before joining Manulife IM in 2017, Lam held various positions in the real estate divisions of financial institutions such as chief manager of direct property investment at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and executive director of strategic and overseas real estate investment at Ping An Real Estate, based in Hong Kong.

His Ping An stint came shortly after serving as vice president for the Greater China real estate private equity division at JP Morgan Asset Management for five years in Hong Kong, which kick-started a career that began as a public civil engineer in the city.

While Link REIT declined to comment, it has been reported that Lam is departing the Canadian insurance giant in June to give way to Manulife IM’s incoming CIO, Jessie Liu, who was promoted last month from her previous role as managing director for Asia real estate investments.

Lam is a civil engineering graduate of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and earned a master’s degree in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Growing Team

First announced in January, Chubb took on his new role in April to lead and oversee asset management, leasing and corporate functions at Link REIT, as well as its operational setup in Australia, Britain and locations across Asia beyond its two main markets.

Before joining the trust, where he is currently based in Sydney, Chubb was the former chief executive for retail at Charter Hall Group and an executive director of ASX-listed Charter Hall Retail REIT.

Other new names introduced in the Hong Kong-listed heavyweight’s roster are former Brookfield Asset Management executive Rebecca Zhou, appointed as head of special initiatives late last year, as well as Shunny Chan, who has been hired as the senior manager for portfolio management based in Hong Kong.

Diversifying Outside Greater China

Link REIT embarked on its diversification strategy in 2019 and has grown its overseas portfolio to account for 7.6 percent of its 148 total investments to date, consisting of nine properties in Australia and one in the UK. The trust has 129 assets in Hong Kong and nine properties in mainland China.

The REIT made its first Aussie deal in December 2019 when it bought an office tower at 100 Market Street in Sydney from funds managed by Blackstone for A$683 million, which was followed by the A$532.8 million deal it closed late last year to buy stakes in three retail assets in Sydney.

The trust’s latest deal was the 49.9 percent interest in a portfolio of office office assets it obtained earlier this year from Canada’s Oxford Properties Group. The deal boosted the trust’s overseas portfolio with the addition of 187,148 square metres (2 million square feet) of office space located in the central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne.

In the UK, Link REIT secured its first European asset in mid-2020 after paying £371.4 million (then $475 million) to buy a 17-storey office building on Canary Wharf from a unit of Hines Global REIT.