International property consultancy JLL has promoted a veteran member of its team to lead its valuations and advisory division for Greater China, according to an announcement by the US-based firm late last week.
Based in Hong Kong, Sylvia Lau officially took over as Head of Valuation and Advisory Services for Greater China at the beginning of this month, after leading the unit’s mainland China operations since 2018.
Lau moved into the regional role, which puts her in charge of more than 300 team members in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, after her former boss, CK Lau, resigned last year to lead valuation and advisory services at rival firm Colliers International.
Moving into an Online Future
In taking charge of the division providing valuations and advice to developers, investors and other asset owners in the region, JLL is expecting Lau to bring the professional services-focused branch of its business more firmly into the online age.
“Besides further growing the business, Sylvia will also focus on streamlining our practices to provide truly integrated solutions for our clients, and accelerating the team’s digital transformation. I look forward to working closely with Sylvia in her new role,” JLL’s CEO for Greater China, KK Fung, said in a statement.
Fung expressed confidence that Lau, who has been with JLL since 2008, will apply her experience in valuing projects across industries, including agriculture, automotive, property development and technology, in leading the regional team.
Lau already serves as a member of JLL’s Asia Pacific Valuation Board, where she has been involved in developing strategies and priorities for a division which has been responsible for valuations integral to some of the world’s largest initial public offerings, including the Agricultural Bank of China, the Postal Savings Bank of China and China Unicom.
After graduating from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Lau started her valuation career at Sallmans in 1997. She also holds a Master of Laws degree from the City University of Hong Kong as well as a CPA certification from the US state of Washington.
Valuers Change Roles
CK Lau started his new role at Colliers in December of last year, taking over an opening which became available following the retirement of that company’s long-time valuations chief for the region, David Faulkner.
Also this month, Rita Wong, who had led JLL’s valuations and advisory services division in Hong Kong, served her last day with the firm after first joining in 1993. Wong has indicated in a statement on her LinkedIn page that she will be taking some time off.
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