APAC Rental Residential Investment in Focus as Mingtiandi Forum Kicks Off Next Week

With rental apartments ranking as the only major real estate sector to experience growth in deals across Asia Pacific last year, Mingtiandi is preparing to host some of the region’s best known experts on the sector on our MTD TV video platform in the coming weeks.

Speakers from Weave Living, BlackRock, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Dash Living and LaSalle Investment Management, along with senior executives from other major companies active in the sector, will be sharing their insights on the Mingtiandi APAC Residential Forum, and if you haven’t registered yet, you can sign up to view at the link below.

The forum kicks off at 10:00 AM Hong Kong time on Wednesday, 20 March with a spotlight interview session with Weave Living founder and group CEO Sachin Doshi, who will be appearing with BlackRock managing director Hamish MacDonald, who serves as chief investment officer and head of real estate for Asia Pacific with the world’s largest asset manager.

The five-part programme, which is sponsored by Yardi, also features a spotlight interview with Dash Living founder, Aaron Lee who recently teamed with PGIM Real Estate for an acquisition in Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan area as his firm also expands in Japan, Singapore and Australia, as well as panel sessions on the Greater China, Japan and Australia markets.

Exclusive Interviews and Expert Panels

With investment in income-earning residential properties in China growing by around a third last year, compared to 2022, the second session in this year’s residential forum will focus on opportunities on the mainland.

In a panel on Thursday, 21 March Mingtiandi will welcome Selena Shi, a managing director responsible for acquisitions and for the company’s RMB fund at LaSalle Investment Management, as well as James MacDonald, head of research for China at Savills, and Johnny Shao, a managing director with CPE, a fund management unit of China’s CITIC Group.

Following the China session, the forum will take a tour of Asia Pacific’s most developed rental residential market with a panel session dedicated to strategies for the Japan market on Tuesday, 26 March.

On Wednesday, 27 March the forum will bring you the second spotlight interview in the series, an exclusive session with Dash Living founder Aaron Lee. In a conversation with Mingtiandi’s Michael Cole, Lee will share insights on how his company works with capital partners including PGIM Real Estate, Schroders and Hines, as well as how he intends to grow now that Dash has established operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Japan.

Exploring Japan and Australia

Sharing their experience and insights in the Japan panel will be Laurent Fischler, head of investments for Asia Pacific at Ivanhoé Cambridge, Christopher Handte, managing director for Japan with Tokyo Trust Capital and Chedli Boujellabia, managing partner and CEO at Alyssa Partners in Tokyo.

The forum will close on Thursday, 28 March with a look at Australia’s burgeoning build-to-rent sector, which is expected to nearly double in operating scale in 2024 with 15 projects scheduled to come online totalling 4,827 units, according to Franklin St research.

For the Australia session Mingtiandi will speak with Dan McLennan, founder and co-CEO at Macquarie Asset Management-backed Local: Residential, and Alek Misev, head of property for Aware Super, with additional speakers to be announced in the coming days.

For those of you now able to join us live for the shows, recordings will be available on the MTD TV section of our website. Mingtiandi’s 2023 residential forum attracted more than 4,000 views across the live and recorded versions.