Asia Real Estate People in the News 2019-12-09

In this week’s edition of People in the News, the vice president of China State Construction Engineering Corporation has resigned, while the chief executive of ANREV has stepped down after six years in post.

In other people moves around the region, Keppel REIT Management has appointed the ULI Australia chairman as an independent non-executive director, and CBRE in Singapore has brought on board a new head of valuation and advisory services. There were also new hires and promotions at GoHigh Capital, Alvarium Investments and Knight Frank.

Li Bai’an has resigned from his position as vice president of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, according to an announcement to the stock exchange. The state-owned construction giant stated in its bourse filing that Li will no longer hold a position at the company. His resignation follows the departure in October of the CSCEC’s chairman, Guan Qing, who was replaced by Zhou Naixiang on 10 October, according to a regulatory filing.

Linda Wu has been appointed as a managing director in capital markets for GoHigh Capital in Hong Kong. Wu has joined the fund manager after parting ways with mainland developer KWG Group Holdings, which was known as KWG Property Holding until last year, where she served as a director of investor relations and corporate finance for seven years before leaving the company in 2017. Prior to that, the University of California, Davis graduate had served as a senior associate at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in Shanghai and Hong Kong from 2006 to 2009, and as as assistant project manager for Hines in San Francisco between 2004 and 2005.

Ian Mackie has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of Keppel REIT Management, according to an announcement by Keppel. Mackie is the chairman of the Urban Land Institute Australia and sits on the board of the ULI Asia Pacific Foundation, as well as having served as a ULI global governing trustee since July. The University of Canberra graduate was the international director and Asia Pacific head of strategic partnerships at LaSalle Investment Management (Australia) from 2015 to 2018, and international director and head of private equity and strategic partnerships at LaSalle Investment Management Asia from 2000 to 2015.

Priyaranjan Kumar has been appointed as managing director and head of Singapore for investment firm Alvarium Investments, setting up the New York-based advisory firm’s Southeast Asia office. Formerly a regional managing director of Capital Markets for Cushman & Wakefield based in Singapore, Kumar began work at the firm formerly known as LJ Partnership earlier this month. The Sri Ram College of Commerce graduate spent nearly two decades at C&W in a progression of roles, starting in leasing before later graduating to the capital markets team. Prior to his time with Cushman & Wakefield, Kumar had served as an assistant manager for Colliers Jardine from 1997 to 2000.

Alan Dalgleish has stepped down from his position as chief executive of ANREV, according to an announcement by the non-profit. The real estate fund management industry body will now be helmed by its former chief executive and current representative for Europe, Jeremy Stewardson, who will step in as chief executive based in Hong Kong effective from the new year. Dalgleish had been in his post as the head of ANREV for six years after joining the organisation as a director of research and professional standards in 2012. Prior to joining ANREV, Dalgleish had served in various roles in Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore with CBRE, Colliers International and Hongkong Land.

Poh Soon Png has been appointed as head of valuation & advisory services for CBRE in Singapore with effect from 2 January 2020, after parting ways with Knight Frank. In his new role, Png will be reporting to Moray Armstrong, managing director of CBRE in Singapore and Vamshi KK Nakirekanti, head of valuation & advisory services for Southeast Asia. The National University of Singapore graduate is leaving Knight Frank after ten years, where he served most recently as senior director in valuation & advisory. Prior to his time with Knight Frank, Png had served as a principal executive for the Singapore Land Authority from 2007 to 2009 and as a senior valuer for the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore between 2002 and 2007.

Will Zheng has been hired by Knight Frank as a senior director in industrial and logistics for China. Before joining the property consultancy, Zheng served for three and a half years as the managing director of China Logistics Warehouses (Holdings) Co Ltd – a subsidiary of Beijing Properties Holdings – following one and a half years as managing director of Beijing Properties (Shanghai) Warehousing Co Ltd, also a subsidiary of Beijing Properties Holdings. Between 2009 and 2013, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics master’s graduate was responsible for managing logistics assets at CBRE Global Investors, which was formerly ING Real Estate Investment Management.

If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.