Eileen Yong will be managing PGIM Real Estate’s Asia core strategy from Singapore
PGIM Real Estate on Wednesday announced the hiring of Eileen Yong as deputy portfolio manager for the firm’s Asia core strategy.
Carrying the title of executive director, Yong most recently was a senior fund manager at LaSalle Investment Management and in her new role will help oversee a strategy to deliver defensive returns by investing in core, income-producing assets in liquid and mature markets across Asia Pacific while continuing to be based in Singapore.
Yong will report to Vincent Chew, executive director and portfolio manager of the Asia core strategy, PGIM Real Estate said in a release. She succeeds Olivia Chow, who is moving internally to take on expanded portfolio management responsibilities in the region.
“We are delighted to welcome Eileen to our Asia core team as we continue to strengthen our capabilities to meet investor needs and to build on the strong track record of our core strategy in the Asia Pacific,” said Benett Theseira, managing director and head of APAC at PGIM Real Estate.
JLL Veteran
Yong spent five years at LaSalle, where she led strategy, construction and investment decisions for two Asian mandates at the JLL fund management arm. Before that she served eight years as a vice president on Aviva Investors’ real estate multi-manager team.
Benett Theseira, managing director and head of APAC at PGIM Real Estate
Yong’s earlier career experience includes four years each as an analyst at JLL and as an investment manager at Temasek Holdings-owned Mapletree. She holds a bachelor’s degree in real estate and an MBA with finance specialisation, both from the National University of Singapore.
According to Theseira, PGIM Real Estate continues to see strong demand from global investors in Asia Pacific as they seek to tap into the relatively stronger economic growth in the region amid rising interest rates and inflationary pressures.
“This is evident by the successful capital raising efforts for our Asia core strategy last year and the continued interest we experience from prospective investors,” he said.
Staying the Course
PGIM Real Estate reported $204 billion in gross assets under management and administration ($133 billion net) as of September 2022.
After completing $3 billion worth of APAC deals in 2021, the real estate fund management wing of US finance giant Prudential stuck to one of its favoured themes last year with logistics investments in South Korea and Singapore.
In March, PGIM Real Estate and Singapore’s CapitaLand Investment announced a value-add warehouse investment vehicle in South Korea, having already acquired the Hansol Cold Storage Centre in Gwangju city for KRW 90.2 billion ($74 million) to seed the strategy.
In April, PGIM Real Estate and industrial giant ESR revealed plans to invest $100 million in developing a build-to-suit warehouse in western Singapore under a sale-and-leaseback agreement with Japanese drinks maker Pokka.
The fund manager also jumped into Hong Kong’s residential conversion market, taking a 90 percent stake in a $200 million joint venture with Weave Living to acquire the 435-room Rosedale Hotel in Kowloon for HK$1.37 billion ($175.4 million), according to market sources who spoke to Mingtiandi in April.
PGIM Real Estate had acquired a pair of hotels in Hong Kong at the start of the year for a combined HK$1.4 billion, including the Casa Hotel in Kowloon Tong, with plans to convert the properties into rental residential projects.
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