Connie Peng Named Head of China for BlackRock Real Estate – Exclusive

As asset management giant BlackRock ramps up its activities in China, the US-based firm has appointed real estate investment veteran Connie Peng as Head of BlackRock Real Estate for the country, according to sources familiar with the company’s management who spoke with Mingtiandi.

Peng, who has been with BlackRock in China since it acquired her former employer, MGPA in 2013, has already stepped up from her Director position, as the firm continues to build its Asia management team.

Building Up a Mainland Team

In response to inquiries from Mingtiandi, BlackRock’s Head of APAC Real Estate John Saunders stated that Peng is now “taking on responsibility for managing all aspects of our investment activity in mainland China.” Saunders added that Peng, “has been a key member of our China real estate business since 2006, and has developed significant experience in the acquisition, management and sale of investments in China.”

In her new role Peng will continue to be based in Shanghai, while reporting to Saunders.

The change in leadership comes as Jeremy Choy, who also joined BlackRock via the MGPA merger, prepares to leave the company. Saunders indicated that Choy, who had been serving as Head of Real Estate for Greater China and Head of Capital Transactions for Southeast Asia, would be leaving the firm “to pursue a new career challenge outside of BlackRock.”

“We thank Jeremy for his significant contribution to the business and wish him well in his future endeavours, Saunders said, adding that Choy had “played a significant role in developing the business, and specifically played a pivotal leadership role in the acquisition, development and disposition of our Asia Square flagship investment in Singapore.”

BlackRock sold Asia Square Tower 2 to CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT) last year for approximately S$2.1 billion ($1.5 billion), after selling Asia Square Tower 1 to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for S$3.4 billion ($2.45 billion) in 2016.

BlackRock, which is the world’s largest asset manager with $5.7 trillion in assets under management as of July last year, manages more than $23 billion in real estate. In January the New York-based firm was granted a private fund manager licence to operate as a wholly owned foreign entity in Shanghai, offering investment products directly to investors in mainland China.

BlackRock Builds Up China Holdings

Late last year Peng’s BlackRock team in Shanghai bought a pair of office buildings at Waterfront Place in the city’s Putuo District from PGIM Real Estate for some RMB 1.2 billion ($184 million). That deal took place during the same year that BlackRock’s China squad paid RMB 1.37 billion ($199 million) to Hong Kong Shanghai Alliance Holdings Ltd to purchase an office building on Changshou Road, further south in Shanghai’s Putuo District.

Peng, who worked with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and Jones Lang LaSalle prior to joining MGPA, was also reportedly involved in the acquisition of the Galleria mall in Chengdu from Kardan Land, and in the later sale of the retail asset to CapitaLand Commercial Trust for RMB 1.5 billion in 2016.

In December, BlackRock appointed former Barclays Bank executive Deborah Ho as its new head of Southeast Asia, overseeing the firm’s asset management and fund-raising operations from Singapore.