Ivanhoe Cambridge Opens Sydney Office as APAC Team Expands

Days after making expanding its Australian commitments with a $649 million student housing investment, Canadian pension fund manager Ivanhoe Cambridge announced that it has set up its first office in the country.

The unveiling of the office in Sydney was accompanied by a salvo of new executives appointments at Ivanhoe Cambridge’s Singapore office as the real estate investment unit of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec continues to expand its presence in the region.

“The Asia-Pacific region continues to be a source of portfolio diversification and performance for us, and we intend to continue to grow there,” said George Agethen, co-head of Asia Pacific for Ivanhoe Cambridge. “With our new office in Sydney, we will be better equipped to identify, together with our partners, synergies and the most promising investment opportunities in this market, helping to accelerate our development in a country where we already have a strong presence.”

With the organisation rapidly adding to its team in Singapore, Agethen also pointed to Ivanhoe Cambridge’s growing involvement in deals across China, India, Japan and Australia in introducing fresh management for the region.

Growing Ties

The company announced the deal as a move to consolidate its ties with partners in the country, with Ivanhoe Cambridge having been ramping up its presence in Australia during 2022, even before its deal last week backing a fund managed by student housing giant Scape.

In early March this year the firm, which had C$69 billion (now $50.6 billion) in assets under management as of 31 December, revealed a partnership with Australia’s Stockland to invest in a life science park in New South Wales and later that month said it was tying up with Irongate Australia Property Fund and Built for a Melbourne commercial project.

Ivanhoe Cambridge was also an early backer of Sydney-based Logos (now part of ESR).

On its website, Ivanhoe Cambridge now lists Asia Pacific offices in Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore, with Agethen and many of its top directors in the region located in the Southeast Asian city-state. The organisation no longer lists a Hong Kong address on its website and the Sydney location has yet to appear.

Sydney Leadership in Place

The Aussie office will be led by Rodney Fung, head of portfolio and asset management for Ivanhoe Cambridge in Asia Pacific, with support from Edwin Tong, who joined the firm this past summer as director for investments and asset management Asia Pacific.

In addition to Fung and Tong being appointed to the Sydney office, Ivanhoe Cambridge also announced four new hires in its Singapore base, and the promotion of Mumbai-based Chanakya Chakravarti to head of indirect strategies for Asia Pacific.

In Singapore, Ivanhoe Cambridge named Tarun Maheshwari as director for risks management, Eunice Khoo as director of research and strategy, Xuchao Wu as a manager with the sustainable investment team and Woon Ee Chew as tax manager.

All four appointments are regional, covering Asia Pacific.