James Shepherd Named Head of APAC Research for Cushman & Wakefield

James Shepherd has been promoted to head of research for Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield, according to an update to the Glaswegian property executive’s LinkedIn account this week.

Shepherd, who has been with the US real estate consultancy for more than half a decade, was appointed to the senior regional role after serving for the past few years as the company’s head of research for Greater China.

Neither the Cushman & Wakefield communications team, nor the Shanghai-based executive had responded to inquiries from Mingtiandi concerning the personnel move by the time of publication.

Leading C&W’s Research Team in the Region

In his new role, the veteran of more than twenty years in the Greater China real estate industry will be in charge of Cushman’s team of around 80 research professionals in North and Southeast Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand as they report on industry trends and market transactions.

A graduate of Southampton Solent University in the UK, Shepherd led C&W’s China team to the top spot for Real Estate Research in China for three years in a row in 2016 to 2018, as rated by Euromoney Magazine. More recently, Cushman’s mainland research squad also received accolades for excellence at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards from 2017 through 2019. Shepherd was named to the RICS China Board in March 2018.

Two Decades in Greater China

First relocating to Asia in 1998, Shepherd caught on with property consultancy Sallmans Far East in Hong Kong before landing a broker role with Savills. The Scotsman shifted to Shanghai in 2001, where he worked with first Sallmans and then Chesterton Petty (which later was acquired by Knight Frank) in valuation and professional services roles.

Before joining Cushman & Wakefield in 2014, Shepherd also served stints with Ernst & Young and Colliers International in Shanghai.